An elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device

Abstract

The application provides an elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device, which comprises multiple soft body driving sections. Each soft body driving section is in the shape of a circular truncated cone and is provided with a strain limiting layer on the surface. The soft body driving sections are sequentially connected to form a circular truncated cone. The soft body driving section with the smallest diameter is a transport end driving section. The transport end driving section is internally provided with multiple grabbing air cavities which are arranged at intervals around the axis. The other soft body driving sections are steering driving sections. Each steering driving section is provided with a support air cavity on the axis and multiple steering air cavities around the support air cavity. The support air cavities of adjacent two steering driving sections are sequentially connected, and the steering air cavities of adjacent two steering driving sections are one-to-one connected. The application has the beneficial effect that different air cavities in the soft body driving sections are inflated to make the transport end driving section grab the target object or transport the target object to a specified position in a three-dimensional space, and various complex grabbing actions can be completed.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of soft robot driver equipment, and particularly relates to an elephant trunk type pneumatic soft driving device. BACKGROUND

[0002] As one of important development directions in the field of robots, soft robots have high structural softness, good environmental adaptability and wide application scenarios. Bionic design of soft robots is an important part of the field of soft robot research, and the design inspiration is derived from nature. Through research on diversified biological populations (structure research and motion mechanism research of individuals), a clever design method is sought. The elephant trunk is composed of a large number of muscle tissues, can swing flexibly in space, and can assist elephants in eating through winding and adsorption. The structure of the elephant trunk itself is relatively simple, but it can complete various complex actions. The current elephant trunk type robot is composed of a variable cross-section joint body driven by a plurality of universal joints and steel wires through a stepping motor, and it is difficult to complete complex grasping actions and has limited application scenarios. SUMMARY

[0003] Therefore, in order to solve the problems that the current elephant trunk type robot is difficult to complete complex grasping actions and has limited application scenarios, embodiments of the present application provide an elephant trunk type pneumatic soft driving device.

[0004] Embodiments of the present application provide an elephant trunk type pneumatic soft driving device, which comprises a plurality of soft driving segments. Each soft driving segment is in the shape of a circular truncated cone and is provided with a strain limiting layer on the surface. The soft driving segments are sequentially connected to form a circular truncated cone.

[0005] The soft driving segment with the smallest diameter is a transportation end driving segment, and the transportation end driving segment is internally provided with a plurality of grasping air chambers which are arranged at intervals around the axis.

[0006] The other soft driving segments are turning driving segments. Each turning driving segment is provided with a support air chamber on the axis and a plurality of turning air chambers around the support air chamber. The support air chambers of adjacent two turning driving segments are sequentially connected, and the turning air chambers of adjacent two turning driving segments are one-to-one connected.

[0007] Further, the number of grasping air chambers is three, and the three grasping air chambers are uniformly distributed around the axis of the transportation end driving segment.

[0008] Further, the cross-sectional shape of the grasping air chamber is crescent-shaped.

[0009] Further, the shape of the turning air chamber is semicircular.

[0010] Further, the number of the steering driving segments is two, the diameters of the steering driving segments are in ascending order, and the number of the steering air cavities in the second steering driving segment is greater than that in the first steering driving segment.

[0011] Further, the number of the steering air cavities in the first steering driving segment is four, and the four steering air cavities are uniformly distributed around the axis of the first steering driving segment.

[0012] Further, the number of the steering air cavities in the second steering driving segment is eight, which includes four inner-layer steering air cavities and four outer-layer steering air cavities, and the four outer-layer steering air cavities are arranged around the four inner-layer steering air cavities, wherein the four inner-layer steering air cavities are connected to the four steering air cavities in the first steering driving segment one by one.

[0013] Further, each outer-layer steering air cavity is located between two adjacent inner-layer steering air cavities.

[0014] Further, the length of the steering driving segment is greater than the length of the transportation end driving segment.

[0015] Further, the strain limiting layer is a fiber line spirally arranged on the surface of the soft body driving segment.

[0016] The technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the present application has the following beneficial effects:

[0017] 1. The elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device is composed of soft body driving segments, and the soft body driving segments are different in distribution. By inflating different air cavities in each soft body driving segment, the torsion angle and direction of each soft body driving segment can be effectively controlled, the soft body driving segments can be deformed to achieve the expected action, the transportation end driving segment at the front end can grasp the target object in the three-dimensional space or transport the target object to a specified position, and the driving device can present different forms according to different requirements, thereby completing various complex grasping actions.

[0018] 2. The elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device can perform grasping through the transportation end driving segment and play a bearing role through each steering driving segment. The distribution of the air cavities in the steering driving segment adopts a multi-layer design, which greatly improves the rotation efficiency of the driving device and enhances the accuracy.

[0019] 3. The elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device can connect different grasping devices such as suction cups, hooks, rigid clamps, etc. at the front end of the transportation end driving segment, and has wide application and strong operability. Different grasping tools can be used to grasp different objects. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a nose-like pneumatic soft body driving device according to the present application;

[0021] Figure 2 is a front view of a nose-like pneumatic soft body driving device according to the present application;

[0022] Figure 3 is Figure 2 A-A sectional view of the above-mentioned;

[0023] Figure 4 is Figure 2 B-B sectional view of the above-mentioned;

[0024] Figure 5 is Figure 2 C-C sectional view of the above-mentioned.

[0025] In the figure: 1, transport end driving section; 2, first steering driving section; 3, second steering driving section; 4, strain limiting layer; 5, grabbing air cavity; 6, steering air cavity; 7, inner layer steering air cavity; 8, outer layer steering air cavity; 9, supporting air cavity. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the following will further describe the embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following introduces a relatively preferred one of the multiple possible embodiments of the present application, which is intended to provide a basic understanding of the present application, but is not intended to identify key or decisive elements or limit the scope of protection.

[0027] In all the examples shown and discussed herein, any specific value should be interpreted as merely exemplary and not as a limitation. Thus, other examples of the exemplary embodiments can have different values.

[0028] Techniques, methods, and equipment known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art can not be discussed in detail, but should be considered as part of the description, where appropriate.

[0029] It should be noted that like reference numerals and letters refer to like items in the following drawings, and thus, once an item is defined in one drawing, it need not be discussed further in subsequent drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the sizes of the components shown in the drawings can not be drawn to scale for the sake of convenience.

[0030] Further, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. By means of example, the terms "installation", "connection" should be interpreted broadly, for example, can be fixed connection, can also be detachable connection, or integrally connected; can be mechanical connection, can also be electrical connection; can be directly connected, can also be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, can be internal communication of two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0031] Please refer to Figures 1-5 The embodiment of the present application provides a kind of elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device, it is applied to soft robot, the elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device mainly includes multiple soft body driving sections.

[0032] As Figure 1 And 2 Each of the soft body driving section is circular table, each of the soft body driving section is sequentially connected to form circular table, i.e. the elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device as a whole is circular table.The number of the soft body driving section can be flexibly set to multiple according to the need of actual application scene length, for example, the number of the soft body driving section is set to three in the embodiment, each of the soft body driving section is made of silica gel material.

[0033] Each of the soft body driving section surface is equipped with strain limiting layer 4, the application limiting layer can limit the radial deformation of each of the soft body driving section, so that the soft body driving section can only be deformed along the axial direction.As the strain limiting layer 4 in the embodiment is spiral wound fiber line arranged on the surface of the soft body driving section, the fiber line can be directly arranged on the surface of the soft body driving section when the soft body driving section is formed.

[0034] The elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device gradually increases from front to back diameter, wherein the diameter of the smallest soft body driving section is the transport end driving section 1, the front end of the transport end driving section 1 is used to connect the grabber, and the transport end driving section 1 drives the grabber to move.

[0035] As Figure 3 The transport end driving section 1 is internally provided with a plurality of grabbing air chambers 5 arranged around its axis at intervals. A higher gas pressure is introduced into one of the grabbing air chambers 5, and a lower gas pressure is introduced into the other grabbing air chambers 5, so that the transport end driving section 1 bends towards the side opposite to the grabbing air chamber 5 with higher gas pressure. And also can be through adjusting the gas pressure size of each of the grabbing air chamber 5 with lower gas pressure, fine tuning the transport end driving section 1, so that the grabber connected to the transport end driving section 1 is closer to the target to be grabbed.

[0036] It should be noted that the transport end driving section 1 is a circular truncated cone, the transport end driving section 1 is close to the front end and has a small diameter, and the grabbing air cavity 5 is more easily bent at the small diameter, so that the grabber is more easily grabbed.

[0037] The number of the grabbing air cavities 5 can be flexibly set according to actual needs. In this embodiment, the number of the grabbing air cavities 5 is set to three, and the three grabbing air cavities 5 are uniformly distributed around the axis of the transport end driving section 1. In addition, in order to make the transport end driving section 1 more easily bend towards a predetermined direction, the cross-sectional shape of the grabbing air cavity 5 is set to a crescent shape, and the diameter of the outer arc surface of the grabbing air cavity 5 is greater than the diameter of the inner arc surface, so that the grabbing air cavity 5 is more easily deformed under the action of air pressure and has a faster response speed.

[0038] The other soft body driving sections are turning driving sections, and the length of each turning driving section is greater than the length of the transport end driving section 1. The function of each soft body driving section is to enhance the load-bearing capacity and ensure the load-bearing capacity of the elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device.

[0039] As shown in Figure 4 and 5 Each turning driving section is provided with a support air cavity 9 on the axis and a plurality of turning air cavities 6 around the support air cavity 9, the support air cavities 9 of adjacent two turning driving sections are sequentially connected, and the turning air cavities 6 of adjacent two turning driving sections are one-to-one connected. The support air cavity 9 is continuously inputted with air pressure, and the turning air cavity 6 is selectively inputted with air pressure according to needs. The air pressure of the support air cavity 9 is greater than the air pressure in the turning air cavity 6, so that the load-bearing capacity of the turning driving section can be ensured.

[0040] The number of the turning driving sections can be flexibly set according to the required length of the actual application scene. In this embodiment, the number of the turning driving sections is two, and the diameters of the first turning driving section 2 and the second turning driving section 3 are sequentially from small to large. The number of the turning air cavities 6 in the second turning driving section 3 is greater than the number of the turning air cavities 6 in the first turning driving section 2.

[0041] Specifically, the number of steering air cavities 6 in the first steering driving section 2 is four, and the four steering air cavities 6 are evenly distributed around the axis of the first steering driving section 2. The number of steering air cavities 6 in the second steering driving section 3 is eight, which includes four inner layer steering air cavities 7 and four outer layer steering air cavities 8, and the four outer layer steering air cavities 8 are arranged around the four inner layer steering air cavities 7. Among them, the four inner layer steering air cavities 7 are connected one by one with the four steering air cavities 6 in the first steering driving section 2. Each outer layer steering air cavity 8 is located between two adjacent inner layer steering air cavities 7. In this way, the four inner layer steering air cavities 7 correspond to the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest steering directions, and the four outer layer steering air cavities 8 correspond to the southeast and northwest steering directions.

[0042] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the first steering driving section 2 and the second steering driving section 3 are connected to each other through the connecting section 4, and the connecting section 4 is connected to the transport end driving section 1. Figure 4 and 5 As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the first steering driving section 2 and the second steering driving section 3 are connected to each other through the connecting section 4, and the connecting section 4 is connected to the transport end driving section 1. The shape of the steering air cavity 6 is semicircular, and the arc surface of the steering air cavity 6 is arranged outward. The cross-sectional shape of the steering air cavity in the first steering driving section 2 is the same as that of the inner layer steering air cavity 7, so that the steering air cavity 6 in the first steering driving section 2 is connected in one-to-one alignment with the inner layer steering air cavity 7. Because the diameter of the second steering driving section 3 is larger, in order to ensure better bending effect, the cross-sectional area of the outer layer steering air cavity 8 is larger than that of the inner layer steering air cavity 7.

[0043] The specific process of the elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device for grabbing and transporting target objects is as follows: first, the support air cavities 9 in the first steering driving section 2 and the second steering driving section 3 are inflated, so that the elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device has a certain carrying capacity; then according to the position of the target object, one of the inner layer steering air cavities 7 is inflated first, so that the elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device bends towards the target object, and then one of the outer layer steering air cavities 8 is inflated, so that the elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device bends towards the target object and is closer to the target object; finally, the pressure in one of the grabbing air cavities 5 inside the transport end driving section 1 is input, so that the transport end driving section 1 bends and drives the grabber to grab the target object. In this way, the elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device can grab the target object or transport the target object to a designated position in the three-dimensional space.

[0044] In this document, the orientation words such as front, back, up, down, etc. are defined according to the position of the parts in the drawing and the position of the parts relative to each other, only for the purpose of expressing the technical scheme clearly and conveniently. It should be understood that they are relative concepts, which can be changed accordingly according to different ways of use and placement, and the use of the orientation words should not limit the scope of the application.

[0045] In the case of no conflict, the above-mentioned embodiments and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0046] The above description is only the preferred embodiment of the present application, and is not intended to limit the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An elephant trunk type pneumatic soft body driving device, characterized by comprising: The soft body driving section comprises a plurality of soft body driving segments, each of which is in the shape of a circular truncated cone and has a strain limiting layer on the surface thereof, and the soft body driving segments are sequentially connected to form a circular truncated cone; The soft body driving segment with the smallest diameter is a transportation end driving segment, and the transportation end driving segment is internally provided with a plurality of grabbing air cavities which are arranged at intervals around the axis thereof, the cross-sectional shape of the grabbing air cavities is in the shape of a crescent, and the diameter of the outer arc surface of the grabbing air cavities is greater than that of the inner arc surface thereof; Each of the other soft body driving segments is a steering driving segment, wherein each steering driving segment is provided with a support air cavity on the axis thereof and a plurality of steering air cavities around the support air cavity, the support air cavities of adjacent two steering driving segments are sequentially connected, the steering air cavities of adjacent two steering driving segments are one-to-one connected, the steering air cavities are in the shape of a semicircle, and the arc surfaces of the steering air cavities are outwardly arranged; The number of the steering driving segments is two, and the diameters of the steering driving segments are sequentially arranged from small to large as a first steering driving segment and a second steering driving segment, the number of the steering air cavities in the second steering driving segment is greater than that in the first steering driving segment; The number of the steering air cavities in the first steering driving segment is four, and the four steering air cavities are uniformly distributed around the axis of the first steering driving segment; The number of the steering air cavities in the second steering driving segment is eight, which includes four inner layer steering air cavities and four outer layer steering air cavities, the four outer layer steering air cavities are arranged around the four inner layer steering air cavities, the four inner layer steering air cavities are one-to-one connected with the four steering air cavities in the first steering driving segment, and each outer layer steering air cavity is located between adjacent two inner layer steering air cavities.

2. The elephant's trunk-like pneumatic soft body driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the grabbing air cavities is three, and the three grabbing air cavities are uniformly distributed around the axis of the transportation end driving segment.

3. The elephant's trunk-like pneumatic soft body driving device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The length of the steering driving segment is greater than that of the transportation end driving segment.

4. The elephant's trunk-like pneumatic soft actuator of claim 1, wherein: The strain limiting layer is a fiber line which is spirally wound on the surface of the soft body driving segment.

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