A driving system and method for remote control of a mine inspection robot

Abstract

The application relates to a driving system and method for remote control of a mine inspection robot, the remote driving control method comprising the following steps: a control center issuing a scheduling instruction for executing an inspection task to a master robot; the master robot issuing a first control instruction for driving a slave robot in response to the scheduling instruction; at least one master robot executing a first inspection task for acquiring first running state parameters of a mine car transportation track in response to the first control instruction; the master robot selectively generating a second control instruction for driving a slave robot based on a processing result of the first running state parameters; and at least one slave robot executing a second inspection task for acquiring second running state parameters of the mine car transportation track in response to the second control instruction.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of mine inspection system technology, and in particular to a drive system and method for remote control of a mine inspection robot. Background Technology

[0002] Coal mining typically uses belt conveyors to transport the mined coal. The operating conditions of these conveyors are extremely harsh, and problems such as coal falling off the conveyor belt and belt derailment are very likely to occur during transport. Therefore, daily inspection of belt conveyors is crucial, and belt (track) inspection robots have emerged to address this need.

[0003] CN109649982A discloses an automatic inspection system for a mining belt conveyor, including a track device, a position marking device, a wireless power supply device, a wireless signal transmission device, and an inspection mobile platform. The inspection mobile platform includes a motion device, a position identification device, a detection device, an image acquisition device, an alarm device, and a control and communication device. The inspection mobile platform moves on the track device and can detect pedestrians and surrounding environmental information along the belt conveyor in real time, and communicate with the surface control room in real time through the wireless signal transmission device.

[0004] CN102923465A discloses an automatic inspection system for a synchronous belt traction conveyor, comprising a motor, a reducer, a drive pulley, a synchronous belt, multiple support pulleys, driven pulleys, an inspection device, and a guide rail. The motor drives the drive pulley to move the synchronous belt, which is connected to the inspection device via a connecting device. The synchronous belt and the inspection device move synchronously. The inspection device can move to any idler position on the belt conveyor. The inspection compartment on the inspection device is equipped with a signal processor that collects and processes idler status signals, enabling it to determine if an idler has malfunctioned, promptly detect idler faults, and ensure the normal operation of the belt conveyor.

[0005] CN111498425A discloses a wire rope traction-type circulating detection system for underground belt conveyors in coal mines, comprising: an overhead cableway system installed above the conveyor belt, including a wire rope and a wire rope drive device, the wire rope drive device being connected to the power grid and powered by the grid to drive the wire rope to rotate in a direction parallel to the conveyor belt; multiple cable grippers, evenly spaced and connected to the wire rope; a belt conveyor condition monitoring device, connected to the cable grippers via hooks, moving synchronously with the cable grippers along a direction parallel to the conveyor belt by the wire rope, and equipped with various sensing devices; and a monitoring backend system, which is communicatively connected to the belt conveyor condition monitoring device, receives data information uploaded by the belt conveyor condition monitoring device, and determines the operating status of the belt conveyor based on the data information uploaded by the belt conveyor condition monitoring device.

[0006] In mine inspections, besides fault analysis and safety monitoring of conveyor belts, environmental monitoring of transport roadways is also crucial. This is because transport roadways have complex environments, high humidity, and are home to explosive and corrosive gases that threaten coal mine safety. Therefore, belt inspection robots need to be equipped with sensors to collect real-time concentrations of harmful gases such as methane, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, and to detect environmental temperature and humidity. When environmental data values ​​exceed standards, warnings are issued to promptly eliminate safety hazards.

[0007] To achieve simultaneous safety monitoring of conveyor operation and environmental parameters in transport tunnels, track-mounted (belt-mounted) inspection robots are typically expected to include image acquisition, temperature / humidity monitoring, gas concentration monitoring, and wireless data communication. This means that, in addition to the robot's own locomotion mechanism, a considerable number of sensors, data acquisition devices, communicators, and processors must be mounted on the track-mounted (belt-mounted) inspection robot. Adding an image acquisition module to a track-mounted (belt-mounted) inspection robot is particularly unsuitable, as it would make the robot too large, contradicting the confined working environment of transport tunnels. Furthermore, track-mounted (belt-mounted) inspection robots are usually positioned on the side and / or below, making it inconvenient to mount image acquisition equipment and creating significant blind spots, hindering comprehensive and clear observation of the conveyor track's operating conditions. The usual alternative is to add image acquisition equipment above the track. However, this greatly limits the flexibility and clarity of image acquisition and poses certain safety risks. For example, maintenance personnel need to regularly go down into the mine to inspect and maintain the image acquisition equipment above the track. Since adding a new track and image acquisition equipment above the mine, especially in the complex and variable environment of the mine where stability is difficult to predict accurately, the addition of the image acquisition track can disturb the strata and affect the stability of the geological structure, thus creating significant safety hazards for maintenance personnel and other workers in the mine. In addition, due to the large number of objects to be inspected in the mine, the large and complex inspection system and monitoring data place a huge burden on the data interaction, communication, processing, and machine control processes. At the same time, the large and complex data volume also increases the power load of the robotic inspection system, making it a pressing problem to ensure that the inspection system can maintain stable detection over a long period of time.

[0008] In addition to these limitations, track-mounted robots also face numerous constraints. Because they must traverse various challenging environments, and coal mines are characterized by high temperatures, dust, and humidity, these robots are susceptible to contamination and malfunctions, posing operational risks. Due to track laying limitations, track-mounted robots cannot patrol more treacherous or steep areas. Furthermore, in some curved transport tunnels with a certain angle of inclination, the track mechanisms or rack and pinion systems required for track-mounted robots increase the difficulty of installation and laying. Moreover, the fixed tracks create blind spots in their detection capabilities, particularly in image acquisition. Compared to track-mounted robots, tracked robots, with their tracked locomotives, possess stronger terrain adaptability, meeting the obstacle-crossing requirements of underground coal mine movement. However, under long-distance inspection conditions, the numerous obstacles on the transport tunnel surface make path planning difficult for tracked robots, increasing the complexity of positioning and navigation.

[0009] Therefore, the key to reducing the difficulty of mine area detection and control and improving detection accuracy lies in how to balance the configuration of detection tasks while selecting or modifying suitable inspection entities.

[0010] Furthermore, on the one hand, there are differences in understanding among those skilled in the art; on the other hand, the applicant studied a large number of documents and patents when making this invention, but due to space limitations, not all details and contents were listed in detail. However, this does not mean that the present invention does not possess the features of these prior art. On the contrary, the present invention already possesses all the features of the prior art, and the applicant reserves the right to add relevant prior art to the background art. Summary of the Invention

[0011] In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the present invention provides a drive system and method for remote control of a mining inspection robot, aiming to solve at least one or more technical problems existing in the prior art.

[0012] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides a driving method for remote control of a mine inspection robot, comprising:

[0013] The control center issues a dispatch instruction to the central control robot to execute the inspection task;

[0014] The master control robot responds to the scheduling command by issuing the first control command to drive the main control robot.

[0015] At least one master robot responds to a first control command to perform a first inspection task to acquire first operating status parameters about the mine car transport track;

[0016] The master robot can selectively generate a second control command to drive the slave robot based on the processing results of the first operating state parameters;

[0017] At least one slave robot responds to a second control command to perform a second inspection task to acquire second operating status parameters about the mine car transport track.

[0018] The drive system for remote control of mine inspection robots provided by this invention includes a central control robot and master control robots and slave control robots driven by the central control robot to perform different inspection tasks. The master control robots and slave control robots establish bidirectional data communication between the surface and underground through the central control robot, reducing the accuracy loss and result distortion caused by signal loss during cross-surface transmission. The central control robot undertakes some simple but critical signal analysis tasks, which can avoid the congestion of communication channels caused by the simultaneous transmission of a large amount of real-time detection data to the ground for processing, thus reducing the workload of communication equipment. At the same time, timely response and processing of simple but intuitive information such as temperature and gas concentration helps the system to quickly issue early warnings of potential mine accidents, reducing the losses that may be caused by delayed accident identification. In addition, due to the inconvenience of power supply in mines, it is a major problem for inspection robots to maintain inspection work for a long time. This invention addresses this issue. The invention selectively categorizes inspection tasks and plans the start-up nodes of inspection robots by configuring their settings. This reduces the amount of data interaction within the same time period, lowers the power consumption of inspection robots, and reduces energy waste. Furthermore, in this invention, the slave robot starts when the first operating status parameters obtained by the master robot are abnormal, which can reduce the system's detection pressure and allow some inspection robots to be in standby mode, thus reducing power consumption. In addition, classifying inspection tasks and starting them at different stages can avoid signal interference and communication pressure caused by the simultaneous activation of too many inspection robots. Moreover, this invention utilizes the slave robot with fixed-point detection to perform secondary fault identification of possible risk control areas based on image recognition. This can avoid the inconvenience caused by the need to add an image acquisition track at the top of the mine. At the same time, the mutual calibration of different types of data collected from different inspection robots can improve the accuracy of fault identification of mine conveyor belts.

[0019] Preferably, the master control robot can selectively generate second control commands to drive the slave control robot based on the processing results of the first operating state parameters, including:

[0020] In response to an anomaly in the first operating status parameter acquired by the master robot, the main control robot determines at least one risk control area related to the mine car transport track corresponding to the master robot;

[0021] The master control robot generates and drives at least one slave control robot to execute a second control command for a second inspection task targeting a risk control area.

[0022] Preferably, at least one master robot, in response to a first control command, performs a first inspection task to acquire first operating status parameters of the mine car transport track, including:

[0023] At least one master robot acquires at least one environmental parameter and / or vibration parameter related to the mine car transport track for the designated inspection area.

[0024] Preferably, at least one slave robot, in response to a second control command, performs a second inspection task to acquire second operating state parameters about the mine car transport track, including:

[0025] At least one slave robot acquires image and / or sound information of at least one risk control area related to the mine car transport track, which is determined by the master robot based on the first operating state parameters.

[0026] Preferably, the driving method for remote control of a mine inspection robot provided by the present invention further includes:

[0027] Upon receiving the second operating status parameter regarding the mine car transport track, the central control robot sends the second operating status parameter to the control center.

[0028] The control center processes the parameters of the second operating process and selectively outputs early warning information based on the processing results of the parameters of the second operating status.

[0029] Preferably, the driving method for remote control of a mine inspection robot provided by the present invention further includes:

[0030] The control center dynamically updates the distribution status of at least one slave robot outside the mine car transport track based on the processing results of the second inspection task performed by the slave robot, wherein the distribution status includes the distribution location and quantity.

[0031] Preferably, the first inspection task and / or the second inspection task further include determining one or more of the following: inspection start node, inspection cycle, and inspection interval.

[0032] Preferably, the present invention also relates to a drive system for remote control of a mine inspection robot, comprising:

[0033] At least one master robot is movably attached to the mine car transport track and is used to perform a first inspection task to acquire first operating status parameters of the mine car transport track.

[0034] At least one slave robot is movable independently of the mine car transport track and is used to perform a second inspection task to acquire second operating state parameters of the mine car transport track;

[0035] The master control robot is used to receive the scheduling instructions issued by the control center to execute the inspection task, and based on the scheduling instructions, issue a first control instruction to drive the master control robot to execute the first inspection task, and optionally generate a second control instruction to drive the slave control robot to execute the second inspection task based on the processing results of the first operating status parameters.

[0036] Preferably, the main control robot is configured with:

[0037] At least one environmental sensor is used to acquire a first operating state parameter containing at least one environmental parameter related to the mine car transport track;

[0038] An accelerometer is used to acquire initial operating state parameters containing vibration parameters related to the mine car transport track.

[0039] Preferably, the slave robot is configured with:

[0040] The image acquisition module is used to acquire second operating status parameters containing image information related to the mine car transport track;

[0041] The audio acquisition module is used to acquire second operating status parameters containing sound information related to the mine car transport track. Attached Figure Description

[0042] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the system layout of a drive system for remote control of a mining inspection robot according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0043] Figure 2 This is a structural block diagram of a drive system for remote control of a mining inspection robot according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0044] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating a preferred embodiment of the driving method for remote control of a mining inspection robot provided by the present invention.

[0045] List of reference numerals

[0046] 1: Mine car transport track; 2: Central control robot; 3: Master control robot; 4: Slave control robot; 5: Control center. Detailed Implementation

[0047] The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, so that the advantages and features of the present invention can be more easily understood by those skilled in the art, thereby providing a clearer and more explicit definition of the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0048] This invention provides a driving method and system for remote control of a mine inspection robot, or a remote control method and system for a mine inspection robot based on a distributed cluster. Specifically, see [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 3 The driving method for remote control of mining inspection robots may include the following steps:

[0049] Control center 5 issues a scheduling instruction to the master control robot 2 to execute the inspection task.

[0050] The master control robot 2 responds to the scheduling instructions of the control center 5 by issuing the first control command to drive the master control robot 3 to perform the first inspection task.

[0051] At least one master robot 3 responds to the first control command of the master robot 2 to perform a first inspection task to obtain the first operating status parameters of the mine car transport track 1.

[0052] The master control robot 2 receives and processes the first operating status parameters, and can selectively generate a second control command to drive at least one slave robot 4 based on the processing result of the first operating status parameters.

[0053] At least one slave robot 4 executes a second inspection task to acquire second operating status parameters about the mine car transport track 1 in response to a second control command from the master robot 2.

[0054] According to a preferred embodiment, the driving method for remote control of a mine inspection robot provided by the present invention further includes:

[0055] Control center 5 receives and stores the processing results of the master control robot 2 for the first operating state parameters, and can optionally output the first warning information. In particular, as an illustration of a non-limiting example, fault information is configured to be implemented in one or more forms, such as visual, audible, and perceptible vibrations.

[0056] According to a preferred embodiment, the driving method for remote control of a mine inspection robot provided by the invention may further include:

[0057] Control center 5 receives and stores the second operating status parameters acquired from controlled robot 4, and selectively outputs second early warning information based on the processing results of the second operating status parameters. Specifically, the central control robot 2 uploads the second operating status parameters acquired from controlled robot 4 to the ground centralized control platform (i.e., control center 5), where the centralized control platform performs analysis and processing of the second operating status parameters. More specifically, the first and second early warning information are formed based on the processing results of different data.

[0058] In particular, image recognition processing is extremely computationally intensive and consumes a large amount of system memory. In addition, the underground mine environment is complex and signal acquisition is easily interfered with. Therefore, performing image processing in the underground environment not only results in low accuracy and noise, but also slow feedback response, leading to low timeliness of the system's output warning information. Therefore, sending image and sound information back to the surface for centralized processing reduces the computational burden on the central control robot 2 and improves the response rate (because the central control robot 2 needs to process a large amount of detection data from the main control robot 3 alternately or simultaneously). Secondly, it can improve the accuracy of the system's fault identification in risk control areas, so as to ensure that subsequent rescue measures are accurate and effective.

[0059] According to a preferred embodiment, the driving method for remote control of a mine inspection robot provided by the present invention may further include:

[0060] The control center 5 dynamically updates the distribution status of at least one slave robot 4 outside the mine car transport track 1 based on the processing results of the second inspection task performed by the slave robot 4. Specifically, the distribution location and number of slave robots 4 outside the mine car transport track 1 can be adjusted based on the processing results of the second inspection task by the control center 5. In particular, based on the different levels of danger corresponding to the risk control areas, the number of slave robots 4 on standby in each risk control area is adaptively increased or decreased according to the urgency of the risk control area, so as to respond in a timely manner to the need for fault inspection confirmation in high-risk areas, enabling at least one slave robot 4 to go to the risk control area for risk confirmation through audio and video information collection. Further, based on the processing results of the first and second operating status parameters, the possible risk control areas are updated periodically, and the standby areas of the slave robots 4 are dynamically adjusted based on the danger level ranking of the risk control areas, or the number of slave robots 4 in each standby area is adjusted based on the danger level of each risk control area, so as to allow the slave robots 4 to respond to the accident confirmation request in a timely manner and go to the designated area to perform the confirmation task.

[0061] According to a preferred embodiment, based on the driving method for remote control of a mine inspection robot provided by the present invention, the present invention relates to an inspection system or control system for a remote control driving method for a mine inspection robot. Specifically, see... Figure 1 The drive system for remote control of a mine inspection robot provided by the present invention includes:

[0062] At least one master robot 3 is movably attached to the mine car transport track 1 for material transportation and configured to perform a first inspection task to acquire first operating status parameters of the mine car transport track 1.

[0063] At least one slave robot 4 is capable of moving independently of the mine car transport track 1 and is configured to perform a second inspection task to acquire second operating status parameters of the mine car transport track 1.

[0064] The master control robot 2 is configured to be operatively attached to the mine car transport track 1 for receiving and processing first operating status parameters from at least one master control robot 3 and / or second operating status parameters from at least one slave control robot 4.

[0065] According to a preferred embodiment, the drive system for remote control of a mine inspection robot further includes a control center 5, configured to receive and store first operating state parameters from a master robot 3 and second operating state parameters from a slave robot 4. Specifically, the control center 5 is capable of outputting the processing results of at least one first operating state parameter of at least one master robot 3 and / or at least one second operating state parameter of at least one slave robot 4 in one or more forms of visualization, audibility, and vibration.

[0066] Specifically, control center 5 analyzes and processes the collected first and second operating status parameters to issue alarms for abnormal information in the transport roadway. More specifically, control center 5 uses image processing and acoustic diagnostic techniques to determine if there are risks in the inspection area and issues alarms for belt conveyor malfunctions, so that ground monitoring objects can be promptly informed of the mine's operating conditions.

[0067] According to a preferred embodiment, see Figure 2 This invention can use one or more of a personal computer, industrial computer, or laptop computer as the host computer (i.e., control center 5). A wireless transmission unit and processor serve as the slave computers (master robot 2). The slave computers communicate with the inspection robots (master robot 3 and slave robot 4) via a data interface. Specifically, the processor is an STM32F103ZET6 microcontroller system, and the wireless transmission unit is an HQL010P wireless image and data integrated transmission board. Further, the HQL010P wireless image and data integrated transmission board has a near end and a far end. The near end connects to the STM32F103ZET6 via a serial data transmission port, and the far end connects to the host computer after the serial data transmission port is converted using a TTL-to-USB converter. When the host computer forwards instructions to the wireless transmission unit (receiver) of the slave computer via the wireless transmission unit (transmitter), the slave computer access node sends the instruction data to the STM32ZET6 via the data transmission interface, thereby controlling the movement of the inspection robot. After receiving a request message, the inspection robot first checks and analyzes the data packet, then executes the request in the message, and sends the response message back to the host computer (control center 5) in the same way.

[0068] According to a preferred embodiment, the upper-level (control center 5) and lower-level (central control robot 2) computers transmit and receive data via a serial port. When the upper-level computer sends data to the lower-level computer, it first initializes USART serial port 1 and sets the corresponding baud rate, preparing to receive the data sent by the upper-level computer. When the lower-level computer receives the data sent by the upper-level computer, the SBUF buffer is not empty and occupies the data address. At this time, the lower-level computer generates an interrupt, reads the data, matches the address, and receives the data that matches the address. Further, it initializes USART serial port 2 and sets the corresponding baud rate, performs CRC verification on the received data, and if the verification passes, executes the corresponding instruction. After waiting for the completion instruction, it sends a completion identifier to the serial port and finally disables the interrupt.

[0069] Specifically, this invention uses wireless transmission to realize communication between the upper and lower computers, and uses RS485 bus to realize the acceleration and deceleration control of the lower computer (central control robot 2) on the integrated drive and control inspection sub-robot that supports Modbus communication protocol. The upper computer serial communication software is written in Python language to successfully realize the data transmission and display functions.

[0070] According to a preferred embodiment, in this invention, the master control robot 2 is configured to selectively generate modulation instructions to drive at least one slave control robot 4 to perform a second inspection task in response to the processing result of a first operating state parameter. In other words, the operation of at least one slave control robot 4 is determined based on the inspection task result of the master control robot 3 or the processing result of the master control robot 2 on the first operating state parameter obtained by the master control robot 3.

[0071] According to a preferred embodiment, in this invention, the main control robot 3 can specifically be a belt-type inspection robot, which is movably attached to the mine car transport track 1 and configured to move along the mine car transport track 1 to acquire first operating state parameters regarding at least one target position or target interval of the mine car transport track 1. Specifically, there can be multiple main control robots 3. Multiple main control robots 3 can be attached to the mine car transport track 1 at the same or different set intervals. In particular, each main control robot 3 is configured to move within a preset section to acquire first operating state parameters regarding the mine car transport track 1 within a corresponding range.

[0072] According to a preferred embodiment, the main control robot 3 is configured to perform environmental safety monitoring and track safety monitoring of the transport roadway in the form of track loop detection. Specifically, the main control robot 3 may be equipped with a plurality of data acquisition devices for monitoring the operating status of the mine car transport track 1. More specifically, the main control robot 3 is configured to acquire a first operating status parameter, which includes at least the operating status information of the mine car transport track 1 and the surrounding environment information. In particular, the surrounding environment information may include temperature, humidity, and / or target gas concentration (such as methane, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide). The data acquisition devices used to acquire this environmental information may include at least one of the following: an environmental sensor, such as a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a dust concentration sensor, a target gas (such as methane, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide) concentration sensor, and an infrared thermal imager.

[0073] According to a preferred embodiment, the operating status information of the mine car transport track 1 includes at least vibration information caused by the movement of the mine car transport track 1, the frame, and / or idlers. Specifically, to obtain the operating status information of the mine car transport track 1, the first sub-robot is also equipped with an accelerometer for detecting the degree of track vibration and the robot's operating speed. Specifically, the acquisition device for obtaining vibration information related to the motion state of the mine car transport track 1 may include one or more of a three-axis accelerometer, a six-axis accelerometer, and a nine-axis accelerometer.

[0074] According to a preferred embodiment, in this invention, the slave robot 4 can specifically be a trackless inspection robot, such as a tracked inspection robot, which can move independently outside the mine car transport track 1 and obtain the second operating status parameters of the mine car transport track 1 in a manner corresponding to the inspection position / section handled by at least one master robot 3 attached to the mine car transport track 1.

[0075] According to a preferred embodiment, there can be multiple slave robots 4. These slave robots 4 can be freely distributed in a waiting area outside the mine car transport track 1. Alternatively, the multiple slave robots 4 can be distributed in the waiting area in a manner corresponding to at least one master robot 3. Specifically, a slave robot 4 can form a robot cluster with at least one master robot 3 within a predetermined inspection area. When the first operating status parameters acquired by the master robot 3, especially vibration information related to the surrounding environment and / or motion state of the mine car transport track 1, become abnormal, at least one slave robot 4 is instructed to proceed to the inspection area corresponding to at least one master robot 3 to perform a second inspection task to acquire the second operating status parameters of that inspection area.

[0076] According to a preferred embodiment, the second inspection task performed by the slave robot 4 includes at least acquiring image / video information and audio information regarding the operating status of the mine car transport track 1. Specifically, the slave robot 4 may be configured with an image acquisition module for acquiring image / video information and an audio acquisition module for acquiring audio information.

[0077] According to a preferred embodiment, common faults of belt conveyors include conveyor belt faults, drive unit faults, idler and frame faults, and fire accidents caused by one or more of the above faults. Specifically, conveyor belt faults include conveyor belt slippage, conveyor belt misalignment, and longitudinal and / or transverse tearing of the conveyor belt. In particular, since the belt inspection robot (i.e., the main control robot 3) cannot directly collect the conveyor belt speed when the conveyor belt slips, and conveyor belt slippage is usually accompanied by phenomena such as temperature rise and smoke, conveyor belt slippage can be determined by temperature and smoke detection. Conveyor belt misalignment can be monitored using a belt deviation sensor, and the deviation of the conveyor belt from the center line of the mine car transport track 1 can be determined by combining video image monitoring to extract feature points on the side of the conveyor belt. Longitudinal and transverse tearing of the conveyor belt can be detected by measuring the tension force using a tensioning device, or by non-contact methods such as ultrasound or electromagnetic methods. Alternatively, conveyor belt tearing can be determined by image recognition processing based on machine vision.

[0078] According to a preferred embodiment, drive unit failures mainly include motor failures and reducer failures. Specifically, motor failures can include abnormal phenomena such as motor overheating, overcurrent, and vibration. In particular, motor overheating can be determined using temperature testing paper or a sensing resistor. Motor vibration can be tested using a vibration sensor. Reducer failures are mainly due to wear of the reducer gear bearings, and are usually accompanied by abnormal noise and vibration; therefore, reducer failures can be determined through vibration testing.

[0079] According to a preferred embodiment, idler roller and frame failures include idler roller malfunction or structural damage. Specifically, abnormal noise, vibration, and temperature rise are the main manifestations of idler roller failure; therefore, idler roller failure can be determined by temperature acquisition supplemented by sound feature extraction. Frame failure mainly manifests as frame structural deformation, which can typically be determined using mechanical testing combined with image / graphical acquisition.

[0080] Specifically, accelerometers are commonly used sensors in the field of coal mine safety. They can monitor the vibration of equipment or structures in coal mines in real time, measuring information such as the amplitude, frequency, and phase of vibration signals. They can also monitor the vibration level of robots during coal mine inspections in real time. This invention adds an accelerometer to a belt-type inspection robot (main control robot 3). By analyzing its acceleration changes, the working status of the inspection robot and the transport vehicle can be determined. When abnormal vibrations of varying magnitudes occur during the movement of the main control robot 3, the measurement results from the accelerometer will show an irregular trend of large increases or decreases. Furthermore, the acceleration of the vibration is proportional to the amplitude; when the amplitude increases, the acceleration also increases accordingly.

[0081] According to a preferred embodiment, changes in acceleration can represent changes in amplitude. Under stable operating conditions, the track will exhibit a normal, gentle vibration pattern. However, if terrain changes or faults occur, the track's vibration will change abruptly. The impact or trend of terrain changes and fault vibrations on acceleration differs. Therefore, the master control robot 2 can be configured to continuously compare the acceleration changes within the current unit of time with those within the previous unit of time. If the acceleration data of any master control robot 3 changes compared to the vibration of the previous unit of time, the area corresponding to that master control robot 3 can be determined as a risk control area. The advantage of this configuration is that it eliminates the need to consider that mine cars with different loads or different loads may exhibit different amplitudes; the vibration of the previous unit can be used as a benchmark for different mine cars.

[0082] According to a preferred embodiment, the unit time used to measure acceleration changes can be set by on-site personnel based on the laying conditions of the mine car transport track 1 and the roadway environment. Specifically, if the area where the mine car transport track 1 is laid is relatively flat and short, the unit time can be appropriately increased to reduce the computational burden; if the area where the mine car transport track 1 is laid is relatively steep and winding, and the terrain is too complex, the unit time can be appropriately reduced to increase the monitoring density and prevent missing key monitoring points.

[0083] According to a preferred embodiment, when the main control robot 3 experiences abnormal vibration, typical scenarios may include: a foreign object falling onto the conveyor belt causing a momentary impact force on the area, thus intensifying the vibration of the mine car transport track 1; the conveyor belt slipping or deviating, causing an imbalance in the track forces and intensifying the track vibration; or the conveyor belt speed regulation malfunction causing the transport vehicle to become unstable and derail, resulting in a momentary decrease in track vibration. Regardless of the scenario, these are all important factors affecting safe production in the mining area. Relying solely on data collected by environmental sensors cannot accurately determine the occurrence of an accident, or the data collected by environmental sensors may have a lag in responding to accident occurrences. Therefore, it is necessary to detect abnormal vibrations of the conveyor using an accelerometer.

[0084] According to a preferred embodiment, when the motion state of the mine car transport track 1 is abnormal (e.g., acceleration exceeds a threshold), at least one slave robot 4 is driven to the risk control area confirmed by the master robot 3 to perform a second inspection task, i.e., to acquire image and sound information of the risk control area. Further, the master robot 2 uploads the image and sound information acquired by the slave robot 4 based on the second inspection task to the control center 5. The control center 5 can determine the risk level of the risk control area based on the image and sound information acquired by the slave robot 4 through deep learning-based image recognition processing and combined with manual calibration, and divide each inspection section into risk control areas of different priorities or importance according to the risk level determination.

[0085] In this method, it is impossible to distinguish between terrain factors and fault factors when determining the risk control area. Therefore, the master control robot 2 will drive the slave control robot 4 to the risk control area based on the acceleration change information of each master control robot 3, and have it perform the task of detecting and collecting sound and image information related to the risk control area. The sound and image information related to the risk control area acquired by the slave control robot 4 is transmitted back to the ground base station via the master control robot 2. The ground control terminal uses deep learning and machine vision to judge the fault through a neural network recognition model, and with the assistance of personnel, selects appropriate measures.

[0086] According to a preferred embodiment, in this invention, the master robot 3 and the slave robot 4 may also be equipped with a power supply module and a positioning module. Specifically, the power supply module is used to supply power to the master robot 3 and / or the slave robot 4 and the detection and acquisition equipment attached thereto. In particular, to solve the many inconveniences caused by traditional wired charging methods, the power supply module can adopt a wireless charging method. The positioning module is used to determine the coordinate position of the master robot 3 and / or the slave robot 4 in the mine, so that the positioning module can mark several positional information in the running direction of the belt conveyor and establish a correspondence between the fault location and the identification location.

[0087] Specifically, when the master control robot 2 determines the potential fault point of the idler roller or conveyor belt based on the first operating status parameters obtained by the main control robot 3, particularly the vibration information related to the operating status of the mine car transport track 1, the main control robot 3 and the conveyor belt move in real time. When the slave control robot 4 moves to the previous fault point, the fault point may have moved to another location downstream. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the positions of both the inspection robot and the conveyor belt simultaneously during inspection.

[0088] According to a preferred embodiment, the relative position of the inspection robot and the conveyor belt can be determined using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Specifically, multiple electronic tags can be deployed at each carrying idler roller of the belt conveyor and in the gap between the conveyor belt edges. The master robot 3 and slave robot 4 have built-in card readers, and can determine their current position based on the identified electronic tags, thus solving the problem of identifying the corresponding positions of the idler rollers and the conveyor belt during belt conveyor inspection. In particular, each electronic tag deployed on the idler rollers and the conveyor belt can be numbered, and the number information containing coordinates can be written into the electronic tag. Furthermore, during the inspection robot's movement, it can receive position information from the electronic tags on the conveyor belt and idler rollers that are close to it. The position information on the idler roller frame serves as the primary positioning reference, and the position information on the conveyor belt serves as the secondary positioning reference. When a possible fault occurs in the conveyor belt, the movement position of the fault point is determined based on the primary position information of the idler roller frame and the secondary position information of the conveyor belt, thereby facilitating the inspection robot's rapid location of the fault point.

[0089] According to a preferred embodiment, the inspection tasks performed by the master robot 3 and the slave robot 4 also include determining the inspection start node, inspection cycle, and inspection interval. The master robot 2 matches information with the master robot 3 and the slave robot 4 through the inspection points.

[0090] According to a preferred embodiment, in this invention, the master control robot 2 should be positioned as close as possible to the ground area to reduce signal loss due to excessive transmission distance, and also to minimize signal distortion caused by the unstructured environment of the transport roadway. Specifically, the master control robot 3 can be positioned on the track between the upper and lower idlers of the mine car transport track 1 to perform cyclic detection tasks continuously or periodically along the mine car transport track 1.

[0091] Specifically, if the inspection robot track is set at the top of the transport tunnel, a flexible (such as steel wire) or rigid (such as I-beam) robot track must be specially installed. This may also limit the height of materials on the conveyor belt, reducing transport efficiency and increasing monitoring costs. Therefore, this invention places the main control robot 3 below the conveyor belt, making full use of the available space in the existing structure, reducing installation steps, and thus lowering installation difficulty and maintenance costs. Furthermore, the main control robot 3 only carries sensors related to the environmental safety parameters of the transport tunnel and its own vibration. When the environmental safety parameters and vibration information acquired by the main control robot 3 are abnormal, the central control robot 2 initially designates the area generating the abnormal information as a risk control zone. The central control robot 2 drives at least one slave robot 4 to the risk control zone to perform the task of collecting sound and image information. The central control robot 2 transmits the sound and image information related to the risk control zone acquired by the slave robot 4 to the ground terminal (control center 5) to confirm the status of the risk control zone.

[0092] As a result, the master control robot 2 only handles command transmission and reception and some underground data processing. The master control robot 3 and the slave control robot 4 can perform different detection tasks based on their different mobile platforms, distinguishing the redundant detection tasks that should originally be undertaken independently by the belt inspection robot (master control robot 3), thus rationally allocating detection resources. Furthermore, the functional advantages of different inspection robots improve the coverage and accuracy of data collection. In particular, in this invention, the slave control robot 4 only starts when the first operating status parameter obtained by the master control robot 3 is abnormal, which can reduce the detection pressure on the system and avoid signal interference caused by the activation of too many inspection robots. In addition, the accuracy of fault identification of mining conveyor belts is improved by using different types of data collected from different inspection robots for mutual calibration.

[0093] According to a preferred embodiment, in this invention, the master robot 3 and slave robot 4 establish a data communication line between the underground environment and the ground base station through the master robot 2, reducing the accuracy loss and result distortion caused by signal loss during cross-ground transmission. Furthermore, the master robot 2 undertakes part of the signal analysis task, which avoids the simultaneous transmission of large amounts of real-time detection data to the ground for processing, thus preventing congestion of the communication channel and increasing the workload of the communication equipment.

[0094] Specifically, the mine inspection robot control system provided by this invention features a central control robot 2 with independent processing capabilities to flexibly schedule the master control robot 3 and slave control robots 4. This enables two different inspection modes: track-based cyclical detection focused on environmental exploration and fixed-point directional detection focused on equipment exploration. Inspection tasks are issued via the ground-based master control terminal and distributed layer by layer from the underground central control robot 2. While granting slave control robots 4 a certain degree of freedom in their exploration, this system also integrates all levels of sub-robots into a unified whole. This avoids the repetitive and ineffective work of managers issuing inspection tasks independently to each robot, facilitates inspection data management, standardizes multi-robot operation procedures, and significantly improves the timeliness and accuracy of fault identification.

[0095] As a non-limiting example, a specific flow of a driving method for remote control of a mining inspection robot is provided:

[0096] Control center 5 issues a scheduling instruction to the master control robot 2 to execute the inspection task.

[0097] In response to the scheduling instructions of the control center 5, the master control robot 2 sends a first control instruction to the master control robot 3 attached to the mine car transport track 1 to drive it to perform the first inspection task.

[0098] At least one master robot 3 responds to the first control command of the master robot 2 to perform the first inspection task regarding environmental safety monitoring and track safety monitoring of the mine car transport track 1.

[0099] The main control robot 3 sends the first inspection results, which contain at least one environmental parameter and / or vibration data (or acceleration data) related to the mine car transport track 1, to the central control robot 2 in real time.

[0100] The master control robot 2 records the environmental parameters and / or vibration data (or acceleration data) collected by each master control robot 3 based on time and space sequence. When any master control robot 3 collects abnormal environmental parameters and / or vibration data (or acceleration data), it confirms that the travel area of ​​at least one master control robot 3 at the current moment is a risk control area and generates a second control command to drive the slave control robot 4.

[0101] At least one slave robot 4 responds to the second control command of the master robot 2 and goes to the risk control area in the form of directional and fixed-point detection to perform the task of collecting image and sound information, and sends the second inspection results containing the image and sound information of the risk control area to the master robot 2.

[0102] The main control robot 2 compresses and packages the second inspection results and sends them to the control center 5. The control center 5 uses deep learning and machine vision to identify faults through neural network recognition models, and with the assistance of staff, makes fault determinations and takes corresponding response measures.

[0103] Specifically, the master control robot 2 is configured to process and analyze the environmental parameters and / or acceleration data detected by the master control robot 3. When the environmental parameters and / or acceleration data exceed standard values, the master control robot 2 instructs the control center 5 to issue a warning signal. Alternatively, the control center 5 can generate and output a warning signal in response to the processing results of the master control robot 2 on the environmental parameters and / or acceleration data acquired by the master control robot 3.

[0104] It should be noted that the specific embodiments described above are exemplary. Those skilled in the art can devise various solutions inspired by the disclosure of this invention, and these solutions all fall within the scope of this invention and its protection. Those skilled in the art should understand that this specification and its accompanying drawings are illustrative and not intended to limit the scope of the claims. The scope of protection of this invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents. This specification contains multiple inventive concepts; terms such as "preferredly," "according to a preferred embodiment," or "optionally" indicate that the corresponding paragraph discloses an independent concept. The applicant reserves the right to file divisional applications based on each inventive concept.

Claims

1. A driving method for remote control of a mine inspection robot, characterized in that, include: The control center (5) issues a scheduling instruction to the main control robot (2) to perform the inspection task; The master control robot (2) responds to the scheduling instruction by issuing a first control instruction to drive the master control robot (3); At least one of the main control robots (3) responds to the first control command to perform a first inspection task to obtain the first operating status parameters of the mine car transport track (1); the main control robot (3) sends the first inspection result containing at least one environmental parameter and / or vibration data or acceleration data related to the mine car transport track (1) to the main control robot (2) in real time. The master control robot (2) can selectively generate a second control command to drive the slave control robot (4) based on the processing result of the first operating state parameters; wherein, the master control robot (2) continuously compares the acceleration change in the current unit time with the acceleration change in the previous unit time. If the acceleration data of any master control robot (3) changes compared with the vibration in the previous unit time, it is determined that the area corresponding to the master control robot (3) is a risk control area, and a second control command is generated to drive at least one of the slave control robots (4) to go to the risk control area to perform the second inspection task. The control robot (2) is equipped with a unit time for measuring the change in acceleration. The unit time is configured by the on-site personnel according to the laying conditions of the mine car transport track (1). If the laying area of ​​the mine car transport track (1) is relatively flat and short, the unit time is increased; if the laying area of ​​the mine car transport track (1) is relatively steep and tortuous, the unit time is decreased. At least one of the slave robots (4) performs a second inspection task in response to the second control command to acquire second operating status parameters about the mine car transport track (1); During mobile inspection, the master robot (3) and the slave robot (4) respectively use built-in card readers to receive location information from multiple electronic tags placed near them at each carrying idler of the belt conveyor that transports the mined coal and at the edge gap of the conveyor belt. When a potential fault occurs on the conveyor belt, the position information on the idler frame is used as the primary positioning reference, and the position information on the conveyor belt is used as the secondary positioning reference. Based on the primary position information of the idler frame and the secondary position information of the conveyor belt, the movement position of the fault point is determined, which facilitates the inspection robot to quickly locate the fault point.

2. The driving method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The master control robot (2) can selectively generate second control commands to drive the slave control robot (4) based on the processing results of the first operating state parameters, including: In response to an anomaly in the first operating status parameter obtained by the master robot (3), the master robot (2) determines at least one risk control area related to the mine car transport track (1) corresponding to the master robot (3); The master control robot (2) generates a second control command to drive at least one of the slave control robots (4) to perform a second inspection task for the risk control area.

3. The driving method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The first inspection task performed by at least one of the main control robots (3) in response to the first control command to obtain the first operating status parameters of the mine car transport track (1) includes: At least one of the main control robots (3) acquires at least one environmental parameter and / or vibration parameter related to the designated inspection area and the mine car transport track (1).

4. The driving method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The at least one of the slave robots (4) performs a second inspection task in response to the second control command to obtain second operating status parameters about the mine car transport track (1), including: At least one of the slave robots (4) acquires image and / or sound information of at least one risk control area related to the mine car transport track (1) determined by the master robot (3) based on the first operating state parameters.

5. The driving method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: In response to receiving the second operating status parameter regarding the mine car transport track (1), the master control robot (2) sends the second operating status parameter to the control center (5). The control center (5) processes the second operating status parameter and selectively outputs warning information based on the processing result of the second operating status parameter.

6. The driving method according to claim 5, characterized in that, Also includes: The control center (5) dynamically updates the distribution status of at least one of the slave robots (4) outside the mine car transport track (1) based at least on the processing results of the second inspection task performed by the slave robots (4), wherein the distribution status includes the distribution location and quantity.

7. The driving method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first inspection task and / or the second inspection task also include determining one or more of the following: inspection start node, inspection cycle, and inspection interval.

8. A drive system for remote control of a mine inspection robot, characterized in that, include: At least one master robot (3) is movably attached to the mine car transport track (1) and is used to perform a first inspection task to obtain a first operating state parameter of the mine car transport track (1); the master robot (3) sends the first inspection result containing at least one environmental parameter and / or vibration data or acceleration data related to the mine car transport track (1) to the master robot (2) in real time; at least one slave robot (4) is movably independent of the mine car transport track (1) and is used to perform a second inspection task to obtain a second operating state parameter of the mine car transport track (1); The master control robot (2) is used to receive the scheduling instructions for performing inspection tasks issued by the control center (5), and based on the scheduling instructions, issue a first control instruction to drive the master control robot (3) to perform the first inspection task and a second control instruction to drive the slave control robot (4) to perform the second inspection task based on the processing results of the first operating state parameters; wherein, the master control robot (2) continuously compares the acceleration change in the current unit time with the acceleration change in the previous unit time. If the acceleration data of any master control robot (3) changes compared with the vibration in the previous unit time, it is determined that the area corresponding to the master control robot (3) is a risk control area, and a second control instruction is generated to drive at least one of the slave control robots (4) to go to the risk control area to perform the second inspection task; The control robot (2) is equipped with a unit time for measuring the change in acceleration. The unit time is configured by the on-site personnel according to the laying conditions of the mine car transport track (1). If the laying area of ​​the mine car transport track (1) is relatively flat and short, the unit time is increased; if the laying area of ​​the mine car transport track (1) is relatively steep and tortuous, the unit time is decreased. A belt conveyor is used to transport mined coal. Multiple electronic tags are installed at each load-bearing idler and in the gap between the edges of the conveyor belt. The master robot (3) and the slave robot (4) are equipped with card readers. During the inspection, the inspection robot receives position information from electronic tags on the conveyor belt and idler rollers that are close to it. The position information on the idler roller frame is used as the main positioning reference, and the position information on the conveyor belt is used as the auxiliary positioning reference. When the conveyor belt has a possible fault, the movement position of the fault point is determined based on the main position information of the idler roller frame and the auxiliary position information of the conveyor belt, so as to facilitate the inspection robot to quickly locate the fault point.

9. The drive system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The main control robot (3) is equipped with: At least one environmental sensor is used to acquire a first operating state parameter containing at least one environmental parameter related to the mine car transport track (1); An accelerometer is used to acquire first operating state parameters containing vibration parameters related to the mine car transport track (1).

10. The drive system according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that, The slave robot (4) is equipped with: The image acquisition module is used to acquire second operating status parameters containing image information related to the mine car transport track (1); The audio acquisition module is used to acquire second operating status parameters containing sound information related to the mine car transport track (1).

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