A rigid grasping robot based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases

Abstract

This invention relates to a rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases, comprising a Kresling crease wrist mechanism, a Waterbomb crease finger segment mechanism, and a base. The base is coaxially disposed at the bottom of the Kresling crease wrist mechanism; the Waterbomb crease finger segments are evenly distributed circumferentially at the bottom of the base. The finger segment mechanism utilizes the three-dimensional design of the peaks and valleys in the Waterbomb crease, replacing the peaks and valleys with rods to achieve bending and grasping at each fingertip. The wrist mechanism utilizes the torsion characteristic of the Kresling crease, allowing the manipulator's fingers to bend and twist simultaneously during grasping. By combining origami theory with the three-dimensional design of the mechanism, the manipulator achieves both grasping and twisting movements for capturing non-cooperative targets in space. This invention utilizes Waterbomb and Kresling creases to achieve the manipulator's retractability; the wrist and finger parts can be completely retracted, resulting in a smaller space occupied during launch and ensuring convenient transportation. Once the manipulator reaches the designated working track, it can be fully deployed for grasping operations.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of aerospace capture technology, and in particular to a rigid capture manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of the aerospace industry, space warfare among nations has intensified, and the presence of a large amount of space debris in orbits poses a significant threat to existing spacecraft. Therefore, the capture of non-cooperative targets is becoming increasingly crucial. Currently available space robots generally suffer from drawbacks such as complex structures, excessive weight, and numerous drive components. However, using a two-finger manipulator for capture may lead to issues such as poor dexterity, inability to perform complex tasks, and insufficient stability in object grasping. Spacecraft require launch vehicles to reach their designated orbits before their components can be deployed for operation. Therefore, a space capture manipulator with a smaller launch volume is needed to save space and reduce launch costs. Furthermore, in the complex and harsh environment of space, an excessive number of drive motors can reduce the reliability of the capture manipulator. Therefore, space capture robots must possess advantages such as light weight, fewer actuators, simple structure, excellent capture performance, and high reliability. Summary of the Invention

[0003] To address the aforementioned problems, the present invention aims to provide a rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases, which has advantages such as good flexibility, high unfolding-to-retract ratio, and light weight.

[0004] The technical solution adopted in this invention is as follows:

[0005] The present invention proposes a rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases, comprising a Kresling crease wrist mechanism, a Waterbomb crease finger mechanism, and a base; the base is coaxially disposed at the bottom of the Kresling crease wrist mechanism; the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism is evenly distributed circumferentially at the bottom of the base.

[0006] Furthermore, the Kresling crease wrist mechanism includes a static platform, a moving platform, Kresling connectors, a telescopic rod, and a first member; the static platform and the moving platform are arranged correspondingly above and below each other; the Kresling connectors are evenly distributed on the lower surface edge of the static platform and the upper surface edge of the moving platform and correspond to each other, forming a rotating pair with the static platform and the moving platform respectively; the first member and the telescopic rod correspond to the valley and peak in the Kresling crease respectively, and their upper and lower ends are connected to the corresponding Kresling connectors on the static platform and the moving platform respectively, forming a rotating pair to realize the wrist torsion using the Kresling crease; the moving platform has an opening in the middle, and the base is coaxially connected to the bottom of the moving platform through the opening.

[0007] Furthermore, a Hooke-like hinge structure is formed between the first rod and its two Kresling joints; a Hooke-like hinge structure is formed between the telescopic rod and its two Kresling joints.

[0008] Furthermore, the Kresling joint is connected to both the stationary and moving platforms via a rotating pair through a hole-shaft fit.

[0009] Furthermore, the base has base slots evenly distributed on its bottom; the top ends of the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism are connected to the base through the base slots.

[0010] Furthermore, the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism is formed by longitudinally stacking and fixing several Waterbomb crease finger units in sequence.

[0011] Furthermore, the Waterbomb crease finger unit includes a hexagonal frame, a hexagonal frame connector, a first frame connector, a second frame connector, a third frame connector, a second rod, a Waterbomb first connector, a Waterbomb second connector, a Waterbomb third connector, and a Waterbomb connector base; the hexagonal frame has six sides, two of which are the inner and outer grasping sides, and the remaining four sides are the non-grabbing sides; two hexagonal frames are provided, arranged symmetrically above and below; each side of the upper and lower hexagonal frames is provided with a hexagonal frame connector and a second rod; The two hexagonal skeleton joints on the inner and outer capture sides of the hexagonal skeleton are each connected to a third skeleton joint via a pin, forming a revolute joint. One end of each of the two second rods on the same side is coaxially and concentrically connected to the two third skeleton joints via pins, with the other ends converging at a single point to form the Waterbomb third joint. On the non-capture side of the hexagonal skeleton, the hexagonal skeleton joints on both sides of each side are connected to a first skeleton joint via a pin, and the first skeleton joint is connected to a second skeleton joint via a pin. These three structures form a Hooke's hinge-like structure, and one end of each of the two second rods on the same side is coaxially and concentrically connected to the two second skeleton joints via pins. The two ends of the Waterbomb connector converge at one point to form the second Waterbomb connector. The second Waterbomb connector then mates with the first Waterbomb connector to form a rotating joint. The third Waterbomb connectors between the corresponding sides of the upper and lower hexagonal frames on the catching side are connected by Waterbomb connector bases, and the third Waterbomb connectors and the Waterbomb connector bases mate with each other to form a rotating joint. The first Waterbomb connectors between the corresponding sides of the upper and lower hexagonal frames on the non-catching side are connected by Waterbomb connector bases, and the first Waterbomb connectors and the Waterbomb connector bases mate with each other to form a rotating joint. The first Waterbomb connector, the second Waterbomb connector, and the corresponding Waterbomb connector base form a Hooke's hinge-like structure. The Waterbomb connector base is used to restrict each Waterbomb connector to only retract inwards, corresponding to the inward retraction of the Waterbomb origami, thereby forming a complete Waterbomb crease finger segment unit, realizing the bending of the finger segment using the Waterbomb crease.

[0012] Furthermore, the two hexagonal skeleton joints on any side of the hexagonal skeleton are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the hexagonal skeleton; the hexagonal skeleton and the second rod must be connected to the hexagonal skeleton joints simultaneously and ensure that they can rotate 180°; the third skeleton joint on the inner and outer capture sides is designed to be inclined at 45°, that is, there is a 45° angle between the second rod and the hexagonal skeleton, and the second rods on both sides of each side of the hexagonal skeleton form an isosceles right triangle with that side.

[0013] Furthermore, the Waterbomb crease finger segments are welded and fixed together by corresponding upper and lower hexagonal skeletons to ensure that the Waterbomb crease finger segment mechanism has a sufficiently small volume after shrinking.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0015] 1. Based on the Kresling and Waterbomb creases in origami theory, this invention establishes a novel grasping mechanical structure and rationally utilizes origami theory to satisfy the bending grasping of the finger segment module and the torsion of the wrist module, thus integrating grasping and torsion into one invention.

[0016] 2. This invention utilizes Kresling and Waterbomb creases to achieve a foldable and retractable grasping manipulator, which can significantly reduce the folded volume of the spatial grasping mechanism, make full use of the payload space of the launch vehicle, and significantly reduce launch costs.

[0017] 3. The present invention adopts a rope-driven driving method, which not only reduces the overall mass of the mechanism, but also makes the mechanism simple and reliable to operate. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the capture state structure of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the collapsing structure of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the unfolded structure of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the Kresling crease wrist mechanism;

[0022] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism unit in its unfolded state;

[0023] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism unit in its retracted state;

[0024] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism in a bent-grabbing state;

[0025] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the connection structure of the Waterbomb connector and base;

[0026] Figure 9 This diagram illustrates the inner and outer capture and non-capture sides of the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism unit.

[0027] In the attached figures, the following reference numerals are used: 1-Kresling crease wrist mechanism 1; 2-Base; 3-Waterbomb crease finger segment mechanism; 4-Waterbomb crease finger segment unit; 5-Caught object; 11-Static platform; 12-Moving platform; 13-Kresling first connector; 14-Kresling second connector; 15-Kresling third connector; 16-Telescopic rod; 17-First rod; 21-Base slot; 22-Base positioning hole; 41-Hexagonal skeleton; 42-Hexagonal skeleton connector; 43-First skeleton connector; 44-Second skeleton connector; 45-Third skeleton connector; 46-Second rod; 47-Waterbomb first connector; 48-Waterbomb second connector; 49-Waterbomb third connector; 410-Waterbomb connector base; 411-Rope drive hole; 412-Inner catching side; 413-Outer catching side; 414-Non-catching side. Detailed Implementation

[0028] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0029] It should be noted that in the description of this invention, the terms "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom", "one side", "the other side", "left", "right", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not mean that the device or element must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation.

[0030] See appendix Figures 1 to 8 This paper presents a specific structure of an embodiment of a rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases proposed in this invention. Figures 1 to 2As shown, the robotic arm includes a Kresling crease wrist mechanism 1, a base 2, and a Waterbomb crease finger segment mechanism 3. The base 2 is coaxially connected to the bottom of the Kresling crease wrist mechanism 1; the Waterbomb crease finger segments 3 are evenly distributed around the bottom of the base 2. In this embodiment, there are three Waterbomb crease finger segments 3.

[0031] like Figure 3 As shown, the Kresling crease wrist mechanism 1 includes a static platform 11, a movable platform 12, a Kresling first connector 13, a Kresling second connector 14, a Kresling third connector 15, a telescopic rod 16, and a first rod 17. The static platform 11 and the movable platform 12 are vertically aligned. The Kresling first connectors 13 are evenly distributed on the lower surface edge of the static platform 11 and the upper surface edge of the movable platform 12, corresponding vertically to each other, forming a rotating pair with the static platform 11 and the movable platform 12. The Kresling second connectors 14 are evenly distributed on the lower surface edge of the static platform 11, forming a rotating pair with the static platform 11, and corresponding one-to-one with the Kresling first connectors 13 on the lower surface of the static platform 11. The Kresling third connectors 15 are evenly distributed on the upper surface edge of the movable platform 12, forming a rotating pair with the movable platform 12, and corresponding one-to-one with the Kresling first connectors 13 on the upper surface of the movable platform 12. The two ends of the first rod 17 are respectively connected to the corresponding Kresling connectors on the static platform 11 and the movable platform 12. A Hooke's hinge-like structure is formed between the first Kresling joint 13 and the second Kresling joint 14 on the stationary platform 11 and the third Kresling joint 15 on the moving platform 12, respectively. The first rod 17 replaces the peak part of the Kresling crease and corresponds to the prism part of the Kresling, serving as the main support. The telescopic rod 16 corresponds to the valley part of the Kresling crease, serving as the manifestation of the torsional crease. Together, they realize the torsion of the wrist using the Kresling crease. If a larger torsion angle is required, more Kresling crease units can be added in series. In this embodiment, one Kresling crease unit is used to meet the overall requirements. A base positioning hole 22 is opened in the middle of the moving platform 12. The base 2 is coaxially fitted to the bottom of the moving platform 12 through the base positioning hole 22. At the same time, in the cooperation between the base 2 and the moving platform 12, the rotational movement is restricted by the pin connection, thereby fixing the base 2 to the Kresling crease wrist mechanism 1.

[0032] The Kresling first connector 13, Kresling second connector 14 and Kresling third connector 15 are all connected to the stationary platform 11 and the moving platform 12 via a hole-shaft fit as rotating pairs.

[0033] The bottom of the base 2 has three base slots 21 evenly distributed; the top of the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism 3 is connected to the base 2 through the base slots 21.

[0034] like Figure 4-7 As shown, the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism 3 is formed by longitudinally stacking and fixing several Waterbomb crease finger units 4 in sequence.

[0035] The Waterbomb crease finger unit 4 includes a hexagonal frame 41, a hexagonal frame connector 42, a first frame connector 43, a second frame connector 44, a third frame connector 45, a second rod 46, a Waterbomb first connector 47, a Waterbomb second connector 48, a Waterbomb third connector 49, a Waterbomb connector base 410, and a rope drive hole 411. The hexagonal frame 42 has six sides, two of which are the inner capture side 81 and the outer capture side 82, and the remaining four sides are the non-capture side 83. Two hexagonal frames 41 are provided, arranged symmetrically vertically. Each side of the two hexagonal frames 41 has a hexagonal frame connector 42 and a second rod 46 on both sides, with the hexagonal frame connector 42 fixedly connected to the hexagonal frame 41. The two hexagonal frame connectors 42 on the corresponding sides of the inner capture side 81 and the outer capture side 82 of the hexagonal frame 41 are connected through holes. A third skeleton joint 45 is connected to the shaft, forming a rotary joint. One end of the two second rods on the same side of the inner capture side 81 and the outer capture side 82 are coaxially and concentrically connected to the third skeleton joints 45 on both sides by pins, and the other end converges at a point to form the Waterbomb third joint 49. The hexagonal skeleton joints 42 on each side of the non-capture side 83 of the hexagonal skeleton 41 are connected to the first skeleton joint 43 by a hole shaft. The first skeleton joint 43 is connected to the second skeleton joint 44 by a hole shaft. The hexagonal skeleton joint 42, the first skeleton joint 43 and the second skeleton joint 44 form a Hooke's hinge-like structure. One end of the two second rods on the same side are coaxially and concentrically connected to the second skeleton joints 44 on both sides by pins, and the other end converges at a point to form the Waterbomb second joint 48. The Waterbomb second joint 48 then cooperates with the Waterbomb first joint 47 hole shaft to form a rotary joint.

[0036] The third Waterbomb connectors 49 formed between the second rods 46 on each side of the inner capture side 81 and outer capture side 82 of the upper hexagonal frame 41 are respectively connected to the third Waterbomb connectors 49 formed between the second rods 46 on each side of the inner capture side 81 and outer capture side 82 of the lower hexagonal frame 41 through the Waterbomb connector bases 410. Both the upper and lower Waterbomb third connectors 49 and the Waterbomb connector bases 410 are rotating pairs formed by hole-shaft fitting. Similarly, the first Waterbomb connectors 47 on each side of the non-capture side 83 of the upper and lower hexagonal frames 41 are respectively connected through Waterbomb connector bases 410. The rbomb connector base 410 is connected, and the first Waterbomb connector 47 and the Waterbomb connector base 410 are connected by a hole shaft to form a rotating pair. The first Waterbomb connector 47, the second Waterbomb connector 48 and the corresponding Waterbomb connector base 410 form a Hooke-like hinge structure. The Waterbomb connector base 410 is used to restrict each Waterbomb connector to only retract inward, corresponding to the inward retraction of the Waterbomb origami, thereby forming a complete Waterbomb crease finger segment unit, realizing the bending of the finger segment by using the Waterbomb crease.

[0037] Symmetrical about the Waterbomb connector base 410 as the central axis, there are two hexagonal skeleton structures 41 connected to hexagonal skeleton connectors 42. Each hexagonal skeleton connects 12 rods through the hexagonal skeleton connectors 42. Every 4 rods share a Waterbomb connector and Waterbomb connector base 410. The Waterbomb connector base 410 is the most critical cross intersection center point in the Waterbomb crease.

[0038] The Waterbomb crease finger unit 4 contains six Waterbomb connector bases 410. Each of the six Waterbomb connector bases 410 needs to be displaced inwards. To ensure complete retraction, the Waterbomb connectors do not interfere with each other. The complete retraction of the Waterbomb crease finger unit 4 is achieved by simultaneously retracting the six Waterbomb connector bases 410 inwards, significantly reducing transportation difficulty and costs.

[0039] When the first skeleton connector 43 and the third skeleton connector 45 rotate counterclockwise by a certain angle, and the Waterbomb connector 52 rotates clockwise by a certain angle, the Waterbomb crease finger unit 4 can be folded up. When both connectors rotate 90° simultaneously, the Waterbomb crease finger unit 4 can be completely folded up.

[0040] In this embodiment, the two skeleton joints 42 on any side of the hexagonal skeleton 41 are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the hexagonal skeleton 41; the hexagonal skeleton 41 and the second rod 46 must be connected to the skeleton joints 42 simultaneously and ensure that they can rotate 180°; the third skeleton joint 45 on the inner and outer capture sides is designed to be inclined at 45°, and the first skeleton joint 43 and the second skeleton joint 44 are connected by a hole and shaft to form a rotating pair, which can satisfy any angle of inclination, and there is a 45° angle between the second rod 46 and the hexagonal skeleton 41, and the second rod 46 on both sides of each side of the hexagonal skeleton 41 forms an isosceles right triangle with that side.

[0041] In this embodiment, the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism 3 is composed of six Waterbomb crease finger units 4 connected in series. Each unit is identical, and every two Waterbomb crease finger units 4 are connected by a hexagonal frame 41 and fixed by welding, ensuring that the volume of the Waterbomb unfolding module after folding is sufficiently small. The length of the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism 3 is significantly reduced after folding.

[0042] By driving several drive ropes through the rope drive hole 411, the bending and grasping of the finger segments can be achieved. Finally, through the combined action of the Kresling crease wrist mechanism 1 and the Waterbomb crease finger segment mechanism 3, the twisting and grasping of the robotic hand can be achieved.

[0043] All matters not covered in this invention are common knowledge.

[0044] The embodiments described above are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Various modifications and improvements made by those skilled in the art to the technical solutions of the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention should fall within the protection scope defined by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases, characterized in that: It includes a Kresling crease wrist mechanism, a Waterbomb crease finger segment mechanism, and a base; the base is coaxially disposed at the bottom of the Kresling crease wrist mechanism; the Waterbomb crease finger segment mechanism is evenly distributed circumferentially at the bottom of the base; The Kresling crease wrist mechanism includes a static platform, a moving platform, Kresling connectors, a telescopic rod, and a first member. The static platform and the moving platform are arranged vertically and horizontally. The Kresling connectors are evenly distributed on the lower edge of the static platform and the upper edge of the moving platform, respectively, and correspond to each other, forming a rotating pair with the static platform and the moving platform. The first member and the telescopic rod correspond to the valleys and peaks in the Kresling crease, respectively, and their upper and lower ends are connected to the corresponding Kresling connectors on the static platform and the moving platform, respectively, forming a rotating pair to realize the wrist torsion using the Kresling crease. The moving platform has an opening in the middle, and the base is coaxially connected to the bottom of the moving platform through this opening.

2. The rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases according to claim 1, characterized in that: A Hooke-like hinge structure is formed between the first rod and its two Kresling joints; a Hooke-like hinge structure is formed between the telescopic rod and its two Kresling joints.

3. The rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases according to claim 1, characterized in that: The Kresling joint is connected to both the static and dynamic platforms via a rotating pair using a hole-shaft fit.

4. The rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases according to claim 1, characterized in that: The base has base slots evenly distributed on its bottom; the top of the Waterbomb crease finger mechanism is connected to the base through the base slots.

5. A rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases according to claim 4, characterized in that: The Waterbomb crease finger mechanism is formed by longitudinally stacking and fixing several Waterbomb crease finger units in sequence.

6. A rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases according to claim 5, characterized in that: The Waterbomb crease finger unit includes a hexagonal frame, a hexagonal frame connector, a first frame connector, a second frame connector, a third frame connector, a second rod, a Waterbomb first connector, a Waterbomb second connector, a Waterbomb third connector, and a Waterbomb connector base. The hexagonal frame has six sides, two of which are the inner and outer grasping sides, and the remaining four are non-grabbing sides. Two hexagonal frames are arranged symmetrically, one above the other. Each side of both the upper and lower hexagonal frames has a hexagonal frame connector and a second rod. Both the inner and outer hexagonal skeleton joints on the hexagonal skeleton frame are connected to a third skeleton joint via a pin, forming a rotating joint. One end of each of the two second rods on the same side is coaxially and concentrically connected to the two third skeleton joints via pins, with the other ends converging at a single point to form the Waterbomb third joint. On the non-capturing side of the hexagonal skeleton frame, each hexagonal skeleton joint on both sides is connected to a first skeleton joint via a pin, and the first skeleton joint is connected to a second skeleton joint via a pin. These three structures form a Hooke's hinge-like structure. One end of each of the two second rods on the same side is coaxially and concentrically connected to the two second skeleton joints via pins. The two ends converge at one point to form the second Waterbomb connector; the second Waterbomb connector then mates with the first Waterbomb connector to form a rotating joint; the third Waterbomb connectors between the corresponding sides of the upper and lower hexagonal skeletons on the catching side are connected by Waterbomb connector bases, and the third Waterbomb connectors and the Waterbomb connector bases mate with each other to form a rotating joint; the first Waterbomb connectors between the corresponding sides of the upper and lower hexagonal skeletons on the non-catching side are connected by Waterbomb connector bases, and the first Waterbomb connectors and the Waterbomb connector bases mate with each other to form a rotating joint; a Hooke-like hinge structure is formed between the first Waterbomb connector, the second Waterbomb connector, and the corresponding Waterbomb connector base; the Waterbomb connector base is used to restrict each Waterbomb connector to only retract inwards, corresponding to the inward retraction of the Waterbomb origami, thereby forming a complete Waterbomb crease finger segment unit, realizing the bending of the finger segment using the Waterbomb crease.

7. A rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases according to claim 6, characterized in that: The two hexagonal skeleton joints on any side of the hexagonal skeleton are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the hexagonal skeleton; the hexagonal skeleton and the second rod must be connected to the hexagonal skeleton joints simultaneously and ensure that they can rotate 180°; the third skeleton joint on the inner and outer capture sides is designed to be inclined at 45°, that is, there is a 45° angle between the second rod and the hexagonal skeleton, and the second rods on both sides of each side of the hexagonal skeleton form an isosceles right triangle with that side.

8. A rigid grasping manipulator based on Kresling and Waterbomb creases according to claim 6, characterized in that: The Waterbomb crease finger segments are welded together by corresponding upper and lower hexagonal skeletons to ensure that the Waterbomb crease finger segment mechanism has a sufficiently small volume after shrinking.

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