A quadruped robot

Abstract

This application discloses a quadruped robot, including a torso unit. The torso unit includes a support beam, and the support beam includes an upright, plate-like body located at the center of the torso unit in the transverse direction. The two ends of the body extend along the longitudinal direction of the torso unit to the front and rear ends, respectively. The quadruped robot of this application can maintain good structural stability when walking under load, which is beneficial for improving load-bearing capacity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of robotics, and in particular to a quadruped robot. Background Technology

[0002] The load-bearing capacity of current quadruped robots needs to be improved. Common malfunctions during weight-bearing walking include excessive deformation of the torso, or even breakage. Summary of the Invention

[0003] On the one hand, this application provides the following technical solution:

[0004] A quadruped robot includes a torso unit, the torso unit including a support beam, the support beam including an upright plate-shaped body located in the middle of the torso unit in the transverse direction, and the two ends of the body extending along the longitudinal direction of the torso unit to the front end and rear end of the torso unit, respectively.

[0005] Optionally, in the quadruped robot described above, the front and rear ends of the torso unit are provided with support frames for mounting side-swing actuators arranged laterally along the torso unit, and the two ends of the support beam are respectively fixedly connected to the corresponding support frames.

[0006] Optionally, in the above-mentioned quadruped robot, when the quadruped robot runs, the left front leg and the right hind leg of the quadruped robot lift or lower synchronously, and at the same time, the right front leg and the left hind leg of the quadruped robot lower or lift synchronously; the support beam at least bears the torsional force around the longitudinal axis of the torso unit that occurs when the quadruped robot is running.

[0007] Optionally, the quadruped robot described above includes a first side plate and a second side plate located on both sides of the support beam in the lateral direction of the torso unit. Both the first side plate and the second side plate are fixedly connected to the support frame. A first compartment is formed between the first side plate and the support beam, and a second compartment is formed between the second side plate and the support beam.

[0008] Optionally, in the above-mentioned quadruped robot, each of the four legs of the quadruped robot includes a thigh and a lower leg. A knee actuator for driving the lower leg to rotate relative to the thigh is provided at the end of the thigh away from the lower leg. A front swing actuator is also provided at the end of the thigh away from the lower leg. The front swing actuator is installed at the power output end of the side swing actuator. The rotation axis of the side swing actuator is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the torso unit. The rotation axis of the front swing actuator is perpendicular to the rotation axis of the side swing actuator. The rotation axis of the knee actuator is parallel to the rotation axis of the front swing actuator. The support beam bears at least the external load in the direction of gravity. The external load is transmitted sequentially along the support frame, the side swing actuator, the front swing actuator, and the thigh to the lower leg.

[0009] Optionally, the quadruped robot described above includes a support plate horizontally arranged between the first side plate and the second side plate, the support plate being fixedly connected to the lower part of the support beam.

[0010] Optionally, in the above-mentioned quadruped robot, the upper and lower parts of the support beam are respectively provided with a first plate and a second plate that are fixedly connected to the body, and the first plate, the body and the second plate together form an I-shape.

[0011] Optionally, in the above-mentioned quadruped robot, the first plate, the main body, and the second plate are integrally formed.

[0012] Optionally, in the above-mentioned quadruped robot, the body has multiple through holes that extend laterally through the body along the torso unit, and the through holes are distributed longitudinally along the torso unit, making the body shaped like a ladder.

[0013] Optionally, in the quadruped robot described above, the first plate and / or the second plate have multiple mounting holes near the edge of the plate.

[0014] Compared with traditional quadruped robots, the quadruped robot provided in this application has the following advantages: by setting a structurally reasonable support beam in the torso unit, the quadruped robot can maintain good structural stability when walking under load, thus improving its load capacity. Attached Figure Description

[0015] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application 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 only embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without creative effort.

[0016] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the quadruped robot provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0017] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the quadruped robot provided in an embodiment of this application from another perspective;

[0018] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the torso unit of the quadruped robot provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0019] Figure 4 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the torso unit of the quadruped robot provided in an embodiment of this application from another perspective;

[0020] Figure 5 This is a front view of the torso unit of the quadruped robot provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0021] Figure 6 This is a top view of the torso unit of the quadruped robot provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0022] Figure 7 yes Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the supporting beam 2 in the diagram;

[0023] Figure 8 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the torso unit of a quadruped robot in the prior art.

[0024] The diagram is marked as follows:

[0025] 1. Output shaft; 2. Support beam; 21. First plate; 22. Body; 23. Second plate; 3. First compartment; 4. First side plate; 5. Support frame; 6. Side swing actuator; 7. Front swing actuator; 8. Knee actuator; 9. Lower leg; 10. Thigh; 11. Support plate; 12. Outer shell; 13. Battery compartment; 14. Support frame. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0027] See Figures 1 to 7This application provides a quadruped robot, including a torso unit and four leg units. Each leg unit includes a thigh 10 and lower legs 9 hinged together. The thigh 10 is closer to the torso unit than the lower legs 9. The torso unit includes a support beam 2, which includes an upright plate-shaped body 22 located at the center of the torso unit in the transverse direction. The two ends of the body 22 extend along the longitudinal direction of the torso unit to the front and rear ends, respectively. It should be noted that the longitudinal direction of the torso unit refers to the forward-backward direction when the quadruped robot walks, which can be understood as the head-to-tail direction of a mechanical dog. The transverse direction of the torso unit is the horizontal direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, i.e., the left-right direction when the quadruped robot walks. The body 22 of the support beam 2 is centrally located in the left-right direction of the quadruped robot and roughly occupies the entire size of the torso unit in the head-to-tail direction. At the same time, since the body 22 is a vertically arranged plate, the body 22 forms the necessary size in the height direction. With the above-mentioned arrangement of the support beam 2, the quadruped robot of this application can still maintain the structural stability of the torso unit when walking under heavy load, reducing the occurrence of large deformation and breakage, and thus can better complete the task of transferring materials.

[0028] The force distribution on the torso unit of a quadruped robot varies depending on the application scenario. Three common scenarios include carrying stationary objects, carrying live objects, and carrying no objects. For example, if a user buys a box of fruit at a supermarket and wants to deliver it to a friend's house, the box can be fixed to the quadruped robot's support beam 2, and the quadruped robot will carry it. The weight of the fruit acts as an external load on the support beam 2. The task of transferring goods by the quadruped robot from the supermarket to the friend's house is thus a stationary object transport.

[0029] After delivering the fruit, if the user wants to go somewhere else, they can ride on the quadruped robot. The quadruped robot will act as a means of transportation. The user's weight and the force generated by the twisting or swinging of their body will be applied as an external load to the support beam 2. During the journey from the friend's house to the aforementioned location, the quadruped robot completes the task of transferring supplies, which is to carry live animals.

[0030] After arriving at the aforementioned location, the user has something to do and wants the quadruped robot to go home on its own. At this time, the quadruped robot can return home alone without any load. During the journey from the aforementioned location to the user's home, the quadruped robot completes the unloaded transfer.

[0031] It is easy to understand that the three scenarios mentioned above, arranged in order of increasing stress complexity, are: transfer without load, transfer with stationary load, and transfer with live load. In this application, because the body 22 of the support beam 2 is set as an upright plate-like structure and located in the middle of the transverse direction of the torso unit, with both ends extending along the longitudinal direction of the torso unit to the front and rear ends respectively, it can withstand the force well in all three scenarios. Taking the most complex scenario of transferring with live load as an example, whether the user's body swings back and forth, swings left and right, or even twists, the force generated can be well borne by the support beam 2, making the torso unit of the quadruped robot less prone to deformation or breakage. And in, for example... Figure 8 In the prior art shown, the torso unit of the quadruped robot is composed of a shell 12 and a support frame 14. The support frame 14 is located inside the shell 12, and the shell 12 contains a battery compartment 13. Since the support frame 14 is located in the middle of the longitudinal direction of the torso unit, even in the simplest scenario of unloaded transfer, the torque generated by the alternating undulation of the front and rear when the quadruped robot runs can easily cause the torso unit to deform or even break. In other scenarios with complex force conditions, it is even more difficult to withstand the force.

[0032] The dimension occupied by the support beam 2 in the height direction is generally not less than half of the overall dimension of the torso unit in that direction. Preferably, the support beam 2 occupies the overall dimension of the torso unit in the height direction, that is, the support beam 2 extends from the ventral side to the back side of the torso unit in the vertical direction. When the support beam 2 does not extend completely from the ventral side to the back side, the support beam 2 should be placed as close as possible to the back side of the torso unit, that is, at the upper part of the quadruped robot.

[0033] In a preferred embodiment, such as Figure 7 As shown, the upper and lower parts of the support beam 2 are respectively provided with a first plate 21 and a second plate 23, which are fixedly connected to the body 22. The first plate 21, the body 22, and the second plate 23 together form an I-shape. The upper and lower parts of the support beam 2 are two opposing parts in the vertical direction. The upper part of the support beam 2 refers to the part near the back side of the torso unit, and the lower part refers to the part near the abdomen side of the torso unit. The first plate 21 and the second plate 23 are both horizontally arranged, so that the first plate 21, the body 22, and the second plate 23 together form an I-shape. This makes the support beam 2 more resistant to torsion, that is, the support beam 2 is less likely to twist and deform when the quadruped robot walks. When manufacturing the support beam 2, the first plate 21, the body 22, and the second plate 23 can be integrally formed, which can give the support beam 2 better structural strength. Of course, the three can also be manufactured separately and then fixed together by means such as welding, riveting, or bolting.

[0034] like Figure 7 As shown, in this embodiment, the body 22 has multiple through holes extending laterally through the body 22 along the torso unit. These through holes are distributed longitudinally along the torso unit, making the body 22 trapezoidal in shape. The longitudinal direction of the torso unit is... Figure 7 From the front end region F to the rear end region B of the first plate 21, multiple through holes are distributed on the body 22 along this direction. These through holes serve two purposes: firstly, they reduce weight; secondly, they facilitate the arrangement of other components of the torso unit on both sides of the body 22. For example, cables from the torso unit can pass through these through holes to electrically connect components located on both sides of the body 22. It should be noted that, in addition to being configured as... Figure 7 The rectangle can also be set to other shapes, such as a circle or an ellipse.

[0035] To facilitate connection with other components, the first plate 21 and / or the second plate 23 may have multiple mounting holes near their edges. For example, Figure 7 The first plate 21 has mounting holes in the front end region F and the rear end region B for connecting with the support frame 5 described later, and the second plate 23 has two rows of mounting holes for connecting with the support plate 11 described later.

[0036] like Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown, in this embodiment, both the front and rear ends of the torso unit are provided with support frames 5 arranged laterally along the torso unit for mounting the side-swing actuators 6. The two ends of the support beam 2 are fixedly connected to the corresponding support frames 5. The support frame 5 located at the front end of the torso unit is used to mount two side-swing actuators 6 connected to the left and right front legs respectively, and the support frame 5 located at the rear end of the torso unit is used to mount two side-swing actuators 6 connected to the left and right hind legs respectively. The support beam 2 and the support frame 5 can be fixed by bolts.

[0037] To further improve the overall structural strength of the torso unit, in this embodiment, the quadruped robot includes a first side plate 4 and a second side plate located on both sides of the support beam 2 in the lateral direction of the torso unit. Both the first side plate 4 and the second side plate are fixedly connected to the support frame 5. A first compartment 3 is formed between the first side plate 4 and the support beam 2, and a second compartment is formed between the second side plate and the support beam 2. The portion of the support frame 5 where the lateral swing actuator 6 is mounted is typically circular; therefore, the first side plate 4 and the second side plate can be configured as a semi-cylindrical arc plate structure, such as... Figure 1 and Figure 3As shown, taking the first compartment 3 as an example, the concave side of the first side plate 4 faces the support beam 2, and the two ends of the first side plate 4 match the edge shape of the support frame 5. Components such as battery modules and controllers can be arranged in the first compartment 3 and the second compartment. To facilitate the installation of components in the compartments, the quadruped robot may include a support plate 11 horizontally arranged between the first side plate 4 and the second side plate, and the support plate 11 is fixedly connected to the lower part of the support beam 2. Figure 4 and Figure 6 As shown, the support plate 11 is located on the ventral side of the torso unit, that is, the side facing the ground when the quadruped robot walks. The upper surface of the support plate 11, i.e., the side facing the compartment, can be provided with multiple shallow grooves. These grooves can be used to divide different installation areas and can also be used to position the components to be installed. In this embodiment, the upper surface of the support plate 11 has eight grooves, four of which are located in the first compartment 3, and the other four are located in the second compartment. It should be noted that the area of ​​the support plate 11 can be set to occupy all or only a portion of the ventral side of the torso unit. In this embodiment, in the longitudinal direction of the torso unit, the length of the support plate 11 is approximately two-thirds of the length of the support beam 2. Therefore, the area of ​​the support plate 11 occupies approximately two-thirds of the ventral side of the torso unit. Figure 4 As shown.

[0038] When walking at a relatively high speed, the quadruped robot enters a running mode. In this mode, the quadruped robot moves forward with a two-beat gait; that is, when the quadruped robot runs, its left foreleg and right hind leg lift or lower simultaneously, and its right foreleg and left hind leg lower or lift simultaneously. It should be understood that only two legs are on the ground at any given time; that is, the left and right forelegs alternately lift and lower, and simultaneously, the right and left hind legs alternately lift and lower. In the running state, the alternating changes in the point of contact cause a torsional force around the longitudinal axis in the torso unit. The support beam 2 is at least used to withstand this torsional force to ensure the overall structural stability of the torso unit.

[0039] To achieve leg movement, an actuator can be used as a driving device. For example... Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, in this embodiment, a knee actuator 8 is provided at the end of the thigh 10 away from the lower leg 9 for driving the lower leg 9 to rotate relative to the thigh 10. A front swing actuator 7 is also provided at the end of the thigh 10 away from the lower leg 9. The front swing actuator 7 is installed at the power output end of the side swing actuator 6, and the output shaft 1 of the front swing actuator 7 is fixedly connected to the thigh 10. The support beam 2 bears at least the external load in the direction of gravity, and this external load is transmitted sequentially along the support frame 5, the side swing actuator 6, the front swing actuator 7, and the thigh 10 to the lower leg 9.

[0040] The rotation axis of the lateral swing actuator 6 is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the torso unit. The lateral swing actuator 6 is used to adjust the distance between the two legs in the transverse direction of the torso unit. Taking the lateral swing actuator 6 connected to the left front leg as an example, when the lateral swing actuator 6 is in motion, it can drive the left front leg to swing to the left as a whole, thereby increasing the distance between it and the right front leg. Conversely, it can also drive the left front leg to swing to the right as a whole, thereby decreasing the distance between it and the right front leg.

[0041] The rotation axis of the front swing actuator 7 is perpendicular to the rotation axis of the side swing actuator 6. The front swing actuator 7 drives the thigh 10 to rotate relative to the torso unit, thereby causing the thigh 10 to move the lower leg 9 forward or backward. The rotation axis of the knee actuator 8 is parallel to the rotation axis of the front swing actuator 7. The knee actuator 8 drives the lower leg 9 to rotate relative to the thigh 10, thereby completing the flexion and extension of the leg. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the knee actuator 8 is located at the end of the thigh 10 away from the lower leg 9. This facilitates the arrangement of a large-volume actuator as the knee actuator 8. The thigh 10 is provided with a transmission mechanism connecting the knee actuator 8 and the lower leg 9. This transmission mechanism can be a traditional linkage mechanism, gear mechanism, or belt mechanism, etc., and this application does not limit it.

[0042] This specification describes the structure of each part in a progressive manner, with each part highlighting its differences from existing structures. The overall and partial structures of the quadruped robot can be obtained by combining the structures of the above-mentioned multiple parts.

[0043] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to make or use this application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this application. Therefore, this application is not to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A quadruped robot, comprising a torso unit, characterized in that, The torso unit includes a support beam, which includes an upright plate-shaped body located in the middle of the transverse direction of the torso unit. The two ends of the body extend along the longitudinal direction of the torso unit to the front and rear ends of the torso unit, respectively. The front and rear ends of the torso unit are provided with support frames for mounting the side-swing actuators, which are arranged laterally along the torso unit. The two ends of the support beam are respectively fixedly connected to the corresponding support frames. When the quadruped robot runs, its left front leg and right hind leg rise or fall synchronously, and its right front leg and left hind leg fall or rise synchronously; the support beam at least bears the torsional force around the longitudinal axis of the torso unit that occurs when the quadruped robot is running. The upper and lower parts of the support beam are respectively provided with a first plate and a second plate that are fixedly connected to the main body. The first plate, the main body, and the second plate together form an I-shape.

2. The quadruped robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The unit includes a first side plate and a second side plate located on both sides of the support beam in the transverse direction of the torso unit. Both the first side plate and the second side plate are fixedly connected to the support frame. A first compartment is formed between the first side plate and the support beam, and a second compartment is formed between the second side plate and the support beam.

3. The quadruped robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The quadruped robot has four legs, each consisting of a thigh and a lower leg. A knee actuator is located at the end of the thigh furthest from the lower leg, for driving the lower leg to rotate relative to the thigh. A forward swing actuator is also located at the end of the thigh furthest from the lower leg. The forward swing actuator is mounted on the power output end of the side swing actuator. The rotation axis of the side swing actuator is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the torso unit. The rotation axis of the forward swing actuator is perpendicular to the rotation axis of the side swing actuator. The rotation axis of the knee actuator is parallel to the rotation axis of the forward swing actuator. The support beam bears at least the external load in the direction of gravity. The external load is transmitted sequentially along the support frame, the side swing actuator, the forward swing actuator, and the thigh to the lower leg.

4. The quadruped robot according to claim 2, characterized in that, It includes a support plate horizontally arranged between the first side plate and the second side plate, and the support plate is fixedly connected to the lower part of the support beam.

5. The quadruped robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first plate, the main body, and the second plate are integrally formed.

6. The quadruped robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The body has multiple through holes that extend laterally through the body along the torso unit, and the through holes are distributed longitudinally along the torso unit, making the body shaped like a ladder.

7. The quadruped robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first plate and / or the second plate have multiple mounting holes near their edges.

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