Passive spherical foot, robotic leg, robot, and motion method thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to a passive spherical foot, a robotic leg, a robot, and a motion method thereof, and belongs to the field of space robot application technology. The robot includes four groups of robotic legs and a trunk part, and a passive spherical foot is installed on the robotic leg. The passive spherical foot mainly includes a passive ankle joint connection mechanism, an adhesion mechanism upper cover, an adhesion mechanism shell, a drive module, and a thin film pressure sensor. The passive ankle joint mechanism mainly includes an ankle joint pitch connection part, a parent-child screw, a torsion spring, and an ankle joint roll connection part; the drive module mainly includes a winding disk, a rope, a reduction motor, a Hall encoder, a pin shaft, an adhesion petal, a torsion spring, and an adhesion mechanism lower cover. The adhesion part of the drive module is composed of four groups of evenly distributed adhesion units. The space quadruped crawling robot of the present invention has a passive spherical foot and can sense the force on the robot foot end, thereby realizing the robot's adaptive crawling in a space environment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of space robot applications, and specifically relates to a passive spherical foot and robotic legs, a robot and a motion method thereof, which are mainly used to crawl on the surface of a spacecraft in a low-gravity space environment and perform on-orbit operation tasks. Technical Background

[0002] In mobile robotic applications, robots must adhere, grasp, or otherwise attach to objects to manipulate or secure them. In space, these operations might involve grasping satellites, capturing orbital debris, or anchoring objects during sample extraction. The unique low gravity environment of space also limits the feasibility of some attachment mechanisms. For example, electromagnetic adsorption mechanisms require ferromagnetic surfaces, which are uncommon in space structures. The lack of an atmosphere in low gravity often renders attachment methods such as suction cups or barbs ineffective. Instead, a variety of other attachment mechanisms have shown promise for space applications, including dry adhesive materials that provide controllable adhesion on flat and curved smooth surfaces. Because dry adhesive materials are not constrained by surface structural characteristics or the surrounding medium, their adhesion properties are present upon contact between surfaces, making them more suitable for rendezvous and physical attachment between space robots and satellites.

[0003] The mobility of mobile robots is often limited by their physical structure, making them unable to replace humans in many scenarios. Compared to mobile robots, legged robots offer flexible mobility. In space, legged robots, combined with attachment mechanisms, can adhere to and crawl on satellite surfaces, enabling them to perform on-orbit operations.

[0004] Aiming at in-orbit space services, a quadruped robot is designed that can achieve stable adhesion movement on the surface of space satellites. The robot with an attachment mechanism can interfere with the attitude of the space satellite, thereby achieving self-defense of the space satellite. This is of great significance for space satellite capture and attitude interference, and also broadens the application scenarios of quadruped robots.

[0005] Unver et al. described the first legged climbing robot, Geckobot, that uses gecko-inspired adhesives. The robot achieved high maneuverability and efficient detachment by pulling the PDMS adhesive surface with a rope and actively preloading the tail (Unver O, Uneri A, Aydemir A, et al. Geckobot: A geckoinspired climbing robot using elastomer adhesives[C]. 2006 IEEE InternationalConference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). IEEE, 2006: 2329-2335.). Inspired by geckos and lizards, MR Cutkosky et al. developed a quadruped climbing robot named Stickybot, which uses a gecko-like dry adhesive surface based on a directional polymer shank as the adhesive unit at the end of the robot's foot (Kim S, SpenkoM, Trujillo S, et al. Smooth vertical surface climbing with directional adhesion[J]. IEEE Transactions on robotics, 2008, 24(1): 65-74.). The climbing robot combines the multi-level flexibility of the overall structure with the directionality of the adhesive unit and adopts a force feedback control strategy combined with a stiffness controller to successfully climb on smooth vertical surfaces (including glass, tiles, and plastic panels). However, due to insufficient degrees of freedom, it can only climb upwards. Simon et al. proposed an inchworm-style gecko adhesive climbing robot ACROBOT as a prototype for internal and external inspection applications on the International Space Station (ISS). The robot can climb smooth surfaces in any gravity direction and in zero gravity (Kalouche S, Wiltsie N, Su HJ, et al. Inchworm style gecko adhesive climbing robot[C]. 2014 IEEE / RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. IEEE, 2014: 2319-2324.).The LEMUR 3 quadruped robot, developed by JPL, is designed to climb on extreme terrain in space. It uses a gripper based on four pairs of opposing adhesive units as its adhesive feet, and performs microgravity climbing on a simulated solar panel surface to simulate extravehicular operations on the International Space Station (Parness A, Abcouwer N, Fuller C, et al. Lemur 3: A limbed climbing robot for extreme terrain mobility in space[C]. 2017 IEEE international conference on robotics and automation (ICRA). IEEE, 2017: 5467-5473.).

[0006] So far, most crawling robots can only crawl on smooth surfaces and have relatively simple functions, while spatial quadruped crawling robots with passive spherical feet and their movement methods have not been effectively studied. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a passive spherical foot and robotic leg and robot and its movement method based on a dry adhesion mechanism and combined with an active adhesion / detachment mechanism in a low-gravity space environment, so as to realize crawling on the surface of a spacecraft in a low-gravity space environment and perform on-orbit operation tasks.

[0008] A passive ball foot, characterized in that it comprises, from top to bottom, a passive ankle joint connection mechanism, an adhesive mechanism upper cover, an adhesive mechanism housing, a drive module, an adhesive mechanism lower cover, and a thin film pressure sensor; the adhesive mechanism upper cover is mounted on the upper end of the adhesive mechanism housing; the drive module is mounted inside the adhesive mechanism housing; the adhesive mechanism lower cover is mounted on the lower end of the adhesive mechanism housing; and the thin film pressure sensor is mounted on the bottom of the drive module.

[0009] The above-mentioned passive ankle joint connection mechanism includes an ankle joint pitch connection member and an ankle joint roll connection member; the upper end of the ankle joint pitch connection member is used to connect to the machine leg; the two Y-direction left and right holes at the lower end of the ankle joint pitch connection member are respectively connected to the Y-direction left and right holes of the ankle joint roll connection member through the left pitch torsion spring, the right pitch torsion spring and the left pitch mother-and-child screw, and the right pitch mother-and-child screw, wherein one end of the torsion spring is embedded in the groove in the Y-direction hole of the ankle joint pitch connection member, and the other end is embedded in the groove on the side wall of the Y-direction hole of the ankle joint roll connection member; the X-direction forward and rearward holes of the ankle joint roll connection member are respectively connected to the X-direction forward and rearward holes of the adhesion mechanism housing through the front roll torsion spring, the rear roll torsion spring and the front roll mother-and-child screw, and the rear roll mother-and-child screw; wherein one end of the torsion spring is embedded in the groove in the X-direction hole of the ankle joint roll connection member, and the other end is embedded in the groove on the side wall of the X-direction hole of the adhesion mechanism housing;

[0010] The drive module comprises, from top to bottom, a winding drum, a reduction motor, and a Hall encoder; the winding drum is fixed to the output shaft of the reduction motor, and the Hall encoder is installed at the bottom of the reduction motor; the reduction motor is fixed to the adhesion mechanism housing by bolts; the drive module also includes four groups of evenly distributed adhesion units mounted on the outside of the lower cover of the adhesion mechanism in an articulated manner with an inner torsion spring, each group of adhesion units consisting of an inner adhesion petal and an outer adhesion petal connected in an articulated manner with an outer torsion spring; the end of the outer adhesion petal is connected to the lower end of a rope, the upper end of which is fixed to the winding drum;

[0011] Each group of adhesion units is located in the gap formed by the ankle pitch connector and the ankle roll connector in the expanded and contracted states. Their structures are the same and are arranged at a cross 90-degree angle. The angle between a single adhesion unit and the X / Y direction is 45 degrees.

[0012] A passive ball-foot operation method, characterized by including the following process: (Defining the line connecting the left and right holes of the lower end of the ankle joint pitch connector in the Y direction as the Y direction, the line connecting the forward and rear holes of the ankle joint roll connector in the X direction as the X direction, the upward direction perpendicular to the plane formed by the X-axis and the Y-axis as the Z direction, rotational movement around the X axis as the roll movement, and rotational movement around the Y axis as the pitch movement)

[0013] (1) Active adhesion / desorption process: When the reduction motor rotates, it drives the winding drum to rotate, driving the rope to pull the outer adhesion flap and the inner adhesion flap to produce corresponding rotational movement; at this time, the rope wound on the winding drum gradually increases, and the rope pulling the outer adhesion flap and the inner adhesion flap gradually decreases; when the rope moves around the winding drum until the outer adhesion flap and the inner adhesion flap fit the adhesion mechanism shell, the winding drum can no longer drive the rope to move, and the reduction motor is in a blocked or stopped state; the entire passive spherical foot reaches full In the desorption state, the inner and outer torsion springs in the mechanism are in a stressed state; when the reduction motor rotates in the reverse direction to drive the winding disk to rotate, the rope wound on the winding disk gradually decreases, and the rope pulling the outer and inner adhesion petals gradually increases. At the same time, the inner and outer torsion springs in the mechanism, which are in a stressed state, generate a reaction force on the outer and inner adhesion petals, causing the outer and inner adhesion petals to gradually open until they adhere to the working surface, and the entire passive spherical foot is in an adhered state;

[0014] (2) Adaptive adhesion process: The adhesion mechanism cover, adhesion mechanism housing, drive module, and thin film pressure sensor are collectively referred to as the adhesion body. The outer adhesion flap and the inner adhesion flap on the passive spherical sole are opened, and the passive spherical sole gradually approaches the working surface. During the process of the outer adhesion flap and the inner adhesion flap being bonded to the working surface, if the working surface has an inclination angle with the X direction, the ankle joint roll connector on the passive spherical sole will drive the entire adhesion body to rotate around the left and right hole axes of the ankle joint pitch connector in the Y direction until the outer adhesion flap and the inner adhesion flap are completely bonded to the working surface. If the working surface has an inclination angle with the Y direction, the ankle joint pitch connector and the ankle joint roll connector will not move, and the entire adhesion body will rotate around the forward and backward hole axes of the ankle joint roll connector in the X direction until the outer adhesion flap and the inner adhesion flap are completely bonded to the working surface.

[0015] (3) Detachment and reset process: Since the left pitch torsion spring, the right pitch torsion spring, the front roll torsion spring, and the rear roll torsion spring are connected to the ankle joint pitch connector and the ankle joint roll connector and the adhesion mechanism shell in the passive ankle joint connection mechanism, during the process of the passive spherical foot and the working surface adaptively adhering to produce the corresponding pitch / roll transformation, the left pitch torsion spring, the right pitch torsion spring, the front roll torsion spring, and the rear roll torsion spring are also subjected to force; after the passive spherical foot is detachable from the working surface, since the force on the left pitch torsion spring, the right pitch torsion spring, the front roll torsion spring, and the rear roll torsion spring disappears and returns to its original state, the corresponding connector also returns to its pre-adhesion state due to the reaction force, that is, the entire passive spherical foot is reset to its normal state after detachment;

[0016] (IV) Force sensing process: During the adhesion process, the passive spherical foot is pressed down until it is in contact with the working surface. The thin film pressure sensor installed at the bottom of the lower cover of the adhesion mechanism contacts the working surface, and the thin film pressure sensor generates an induction signal when it is under pressure.

[0017] The passive spherical foot of the present invention is applied to a machine leg, and is characterized in that it mainly includes a hip joint roll servo, a hip joint connector, an upper thigh connecting plate, a hip joint pitch servo, a knee joint servo, a lower thigh connecting plate, a knee joint connecting member, a calf connecting rod, and a passive spherical foot; wherein the hip joint connector is connected to the rotation output end of the hip joint roll servo and the rotation output end of the hip joint pitch servo respectively through bolts; the upper thigh connecting plate and the lower thigh connecting plate are connected to the hip joint pitch servo and the knee joint servo through bolts; the knee joint connector is connected to the rotation output end of the knee joint servo and the upper end of the calf connecting rod through bolts; and the lower end of the calf connecting rod is connected to the passive spherical foot through bolts.

[0018] The robotic leg described in the present invention is applied to a space quadruped crawling robot, and is characterized in that: it is composed of a left front leg, a left hind leg, a right front leg, a right hind leg and a torso; the above-mentioned leg configuration adopts a front elbow and back knee configuration, in which the knee joints of the left front leg and the right front leg are bent backward, presenting an elbow shape; the knee joints of the left hind leg and the right hind leg are bent forward, presenting a knee-leg shape; the torso mainly includes a controller, a torso connecting plate, and a battery.

[0019] The working method of the spatial quadruped crawling robot of the present invention is characterized by comprising the following steps:

[0020] (1) Adhesion crawling process: During the adhesion crawling process, the left front leg, left hind leg, right front leg, and right hind leg are set to the corresponding support state or swing state according to the crawling gait; in the support state, the passive spherical soles on the robot legs are in the adhesion state, and the corresponding pitch / roll transformation is generated according to the adhesion surface; when the robot legs are about to enter the swing state, the passive spherical soles perform a detachment operation until they are in a completely detached state; in the swing state, the passive spherical soles on the robot legs are in the detachment state and approach the next landing point as the robot legs swing; when the robot legs are about to enter the support state, the passive spherical soles are near the next landing point, the adhesion units in the passive spherical soles are deployed, and the robot legs continue to move until the passive spherical soles are in the adhesion state;

[0021] (2) Crawling process with the soles of the feet in the contracted state: the passive spherical soles of the left front leg, left hind leg, right front leg, and right hind leg are in a completely detached state, that is, the passive spherical soles of the feet are contracted into a spherical shape; during the crawling process, the left front leg, left hind leg, right front leg, and right hind leg are in the corresponding supporting state or swinging state according to the crawling gait setting, and the passive spherical soles of the machine legs only produce corresponding pitch / roll transformations according to the crawling surface, and no longer perform the active adhesion / detachment process.

[0022] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0023] 1. The quadruped robot of the present invention has a novel structure and a clear movement principle. It combines the active adhesion / detachment process of the passive spherical sole and can adapt to adhesion crawling and transition surface crawling on different surfaces.

[0024] 2. The passive spherical sole structure of the present invention is ingenious. A single adhesion unit has multiple adhesion petals, which are adaptive to the adhesion surface, thereby increasing the adhesion effect and providing a guarantee for the stable adhesion crawling motion of the robot.

[0025] 3. The passive spherical sole of the present invention is provided with a passive ankle joint connection mechanism, which realizes the sole reset through a torsion spring, so that the sole can better perform secondary adhesion while avoiding mechanism interference.

[0026] 4. The quadruped robot of the present invention can achieve adhesion crawling on the space surface through active adhesion / detachment of the passive spherical sole and coordinated movement of each robot leg, and can also crawl in the form of a ball foot with the sole in a contracted state, thus having better applicability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 This is a stereoscopic view of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with passive spherical feet according to the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 This is an exploded view of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with passive spherical feet according to the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 1. It is a top view of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with passive spherical feet according to the present invention;

[0030] Figure 4 This is a left view of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical foot according to the present invention;

[0031] Figure 5 This is an exploded view of the trunk of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with passive spherical feet according to the present invention;

[0032] Figure 6 This is a three-dimensional view of the left front leg of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical foot according to the present invention;

[0033] Figure 7 This is a front view of the left front leg of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical foot according to the present invention;

[0034] Figure 8This is an exploded view of the left front leg of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole according to the present invention;

[0035] Figure 9 This is a three-dimensional view of the passive spherical sole of the spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole according to the present invention;

[0036] Figure 10 This is a front view of a passive spherical sole of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole according to the present invention;

[0037] Figure 11 This is a left view of the passive spherical sole of the spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole according to the present invention;

[0038] Figure 12 This is a bottom view of the passive spherical sole of the spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole according to the present invention;

[0039] Figure 13 This is an exploded view of the passive spherical sole of the spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole according to the present invention;

[0040] Figure 14 This is an exploded view of a passive spherical sole and a passive ankle joint connection mechanism of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole according to the present invention;

[0041] Figure 15 This is an exploded view of a passive spherical foot drive module of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical foot according to the present invention;

[0042] Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of the working of a passive spherical sole driving module of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole according to the present invention;

[0043] Figure 17 This is a schematic diagram of the pitch transformation of the passive spherical sole of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole according to the present invention;

[0044] Figure 18 This is a schematic diagram of the roll transformation of the passive spherical sole of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole according to the present invention;

[0045] Figure 19 This is a schematic diagram of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with passive spherical feet adhering to and crawling on a curved surface according to the present invention;

[0046] Figure 20 This is a schematic diagram of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with passive spherical soles crawling in a state where the soles are retracted;

[0047] Names of the labels in the figure: A, left front leg; B, left hind leg; C, right front leg; D, right hind leg; E, torso; 1, controller; 2, copper column; 3, torso upper connecting plate; 4, battery; 5, plastic column; 6, torso lower connecting plate; 7, hip joint roll servo; 8, hip joint connector; 9, thigh upper connecting plate; 10, hip joint pitch servo; 11, knee joint servo; 12, thigh lower connecting plate; 13, knee joint connector; 14, calf connecting rod; 15, passive ball foot; 16, passive ankle joint connecting mechanism; 17, upper cover fixing bolt; 18, adhesion mechanism upper cover; 19, adhesion mechanism housing; 20, drive module; 21, lower cover fixing bolt; 22, thin film pressure sensor Device; 23. Ankle joint pitch connection; 24. Left pitch master screw; 25. Rear roll master screw; 26. Left pitch torsion spring; 27. Rear roll torsion spring; 28. Front roll master screw; 29. ​​Ankle joint roll connection; 30. Right pitch master screw; 31. Front roll torsion spring; 32. Right pitch torsion spring; 33. Winding drum; 34. Rope; 35. Gear motor; 36. Hall encoder; 37. Inner pin; 38. Outer pin; 39. Tether pin; 40. Outer adhesive flap; 41. Outer torsion spring; 42. Inner adhesive flap; 43. Inner torsion spring; 44. Adhesion mechanism lower cover; 45. Tether fixing bolt. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments:

[0049] Combine Figure 1-4 This embodiment is a spatial quadruped crawling robot with passive spherical soles, characterized by being composed of a left front leg A, a left hind leg B, a right front leg C, a right hind leg D, and a trunk E. The robot's legs adopt a front-elbow-back-knee configuration, with the knee joints of the left front leg A and the right front leg C bent backward, forming an elbow-like shape; the knee joints of the left hind leg B and the right hind leg D bent forward, forming a knee-leg-like shape. Aside from the leg configuration, the remaining structures and assembly components of the robot legs are identical. The trunk E is connected to the left front leg A, left hind leg B, right front leg C, and right hind leg D via bolts.

[0050] Combine Figure 5 This embodiment shows the trunk E of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with passive spherical feet. It primarily comprises a controller 1, copper pillars 2, an upper trunk connecting plate 3, a battery 4, plastic pillars 5, and a lower trunk connecting plate 6. The controller 1 is secured to the upper trunk connecting plate via copper pillars 2. The upper trunk connecting plate 3 and the lower trunk connecting plate 6 are connected via plastic pillars 5, forming a sandwich for storing the battery 4.

[0051] Combine Figure 6-8This embodiment is a left front leg A of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole. The structure of the robot's mechanical legs is the same for all the present inventions. Taking the left front leg A as an example, it mainly includes a hip joint roll servo 7, a hip joint connector 8, an upper thigh connecting plate 9, a hip joint pitch servo 10, a knee joint servo 11, a lower thigh connecting plate 12, a knee joint connector 13, a shank connecting rod 14, and a passive spherical sole 15. The hip joint connector 8 is connected to the rotation output end of the hip joint roll servo 7 and the rotation output end of the hip joint pitch servo 10 by bolts; the upper thigh connecting plate 9 and the lower thigh connecting plate 12 are connected to the hip joint pitch servo 10 and the knee joint servo 11 by bolts; the knee joint connector 13 is connected to the rotation output end of the knee joint servo 11 and the upper end of the shank connecting rod 14 by bolts; and the lower end of the shank connecting rod 14 is connected to the passive spherical sole 15 by bolts.

[0052] Combine Figure 9-18 This embodiment shows a passive spherical sole 15 for the left front leg of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole. The passive spherical sole structure of each robot leg is the same. For example, the passive spherical sole 15 for the left front leg comprises a passive ankle joint connection mechanism 16, upper cover fixing bolts 17, an adhesion mechanism upper cover 18, an adhesion mechanism housing 19, a drive module 20, lower cover fixing bolts 21, and a thin film pressure sensor 22. The adhesion mechanism upper cover 18 is connected to the upper end of the adhesion mechanism housing 19 via upper cover fixing bolts 17; the drive module 20 is connected to the interior of the adhesion mechanism housing 19 via lower cover fixing bolts 21; and the thin film pressure sensor 22 is mounted on the bottom of the drive module 20.

[0053] Figure 14It is an exploded view of the passive ankle joint connection mechanism 16, which includes the ankle joint pitch connection 23, the left pitch screw 24, the rear end roll screw 25, the left pitch torsion spring 26, the rear end roll torsion spring 27, the front end roll screw 28, the ankle joint roll connection 29, the right pitch screw 30, the front end roll torsion spring 31, and the right pitch torsion spring 32. The upper end of the ankle pitch connector 23 is connected to the lower end of the calf link 14 in the left front leg A by a bolt; the left and right holes in the Y direction of the lower end of the ankle pitch connector 23 are respectively connected to the left and right holes in the Y direction of the ankle roll connector 29 through the left pitch torsion spring 26, the right pitch torsion spring 32, the left pitch screw 24, and the right pitch screw 30, wherein one end of the torsion spring is embedded in the groove in the Y-direction hole of the ankle pitch connector 23, and the other end is embedded in the groove on the side wall of the Y-direction hole of the ankle roll connector 29; the forward and rearward holes of the ankle roll connector 29 are respectively connected to the forward and rearward holes of the adhesion mechanism housing 19X through the front roll torsion spring 31, the rear roll torsion spring 27, the front roll screw 28, and the rear roll screw 25; wherein one end of the torsion spring is embedded in the groove in the X-direction hole of the ankle roll connector 29, and the other end is embedded in the groove on the side wall of the X-direction hole of the adhesion mechanism housing 19.

[0054] Figure 15 The exploded view of the drive module 20 shows that the entire adhesion mechanism adhesion part is composed of 4 groups of evenly distributed adhesion units. Each group of adhesion units is located in the gap formed by the ankle joint pitch connector 23 and the ankle joint roll connector 29 in the expanded and contracted states. Their structures are the same and are arranged at a cross 90-degree angle. The angle between a single adhesion unit and the X / Y direction is 45 degrees, as shown in FIG. Figure 12 Here, one set of adhesion units is taken as an example, which includes a tether fixing bolt 45, a winding drum 33, a rope 34, a reduction motor 35, a Hall encoder 36, an inner pin 37, an outer pin 38, a tether pin 39, an outer adhesion flap 40, an outer torsion spring 41, an inner adhesion flap 42, a torsion spring 43, and an adhesion mechanism lower cover 44.

[0055] Figure 16 This is a working diagram of the passive ball foot drive module, combined with Figure 9 、 Figure 13 、 Figure 15 and Figure 16Explanation: The upper end of the rope 34 is fixed to the winding drum 33 by the tether fixing bolt 45, and the other end is connected to the outer adhesive flap 40 through the tether pin 39. The winding drum 33 is fixed on the output shaft of the reduction motor 35, and the Hall encoder 36 is installed at the bottom of the reduction motor. The reduction motor 35 is fixed in the adhesion mechanism housing 19 by bolts. The outer adhesion flap 40 includes a hinge structure, which is connected to the inner adhesion flap 2 through the outer pin 38. The inner adhesion flap 42 includes two hinge structures, one is connected to the outer adhesion flap 40, and the other is connected to the adhesion mechanism lower cover 44 through the inner pin 37. The adhesion mechanism lower cover 44 includes 4 hinge structures, which are connected to the four groups of adhesion units through pins. Combination Figure 9 Sectional view and Figure 15 To explain: the inner pin 37 is inserted into the inner torsion spring 43, and one end of the two ends extending from the inner torsion spring 43 is embedded in the lower cover 44 of the adhesion mechanism, and the other end is embedded in the inner adhesion petal 42; the outer pin 38 is inserted into the outer torsion spring 41, and one end of the two ends extending from the outer torsion spring 41 is embedded in the inner adhesion petal 42, and the other end is embedded in the outer adhesion petal 40.

[0056] Combine Figure 9-18 This embodiment is a passive spherical sole 15 of the left front leg of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole and its working method, which is characterized by including the following process:

[0057] (1) Active adhesion / desorption process: combination Figure 13-16 This embodiment is a method for actively adhering / detaching the passive spherical sole of the left front leg of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole, comprising the following steps:

[0058] When the reduction motor 35 rotates, it drives the winding drum 33 to rotate, driving the rope 34 to pull the outer adhesion petal 40 and the inner adhesion petal 42 to produce corresponding rotational movement; at this time, the rope 34 wound on the winding drum 33 gradually increases, and the rope 34 pulling the outer adhesion petal 40 and the inner adhesion petal 42 gradually decreases; when the rope 34 is wound around the winding drum 33 and moves until the outer adhesion petal 40 and the inner adhesion petal 42 are in contact with the adhesion mechanism shell 19, the winding drum 33 can no longer drive the rope 34 to move, and the reduction motor 35 is in a blocked or stopped state; the entire passive spherical foot reaches a completely detached state. In the state, the inner torsion spring 43 and the outer torsion spring 41 in the mechanism are in a stressed state; when the reduction motor 35 rotates in the reverse direction to drive the winding disk 33 to rotate, the rope 34 wound on the winding disk 33 gradually decreases, and the rope 34 pulling the outer adhesion petal 40 and the inner adhesion petal 42 gradually increases. At the same time, the inner torsion spring 43 and the outer torsion spring 41 in the mechanism are in a stressed state and generate a reaction force on the outer adhesion petal 40 and the inner adhesion petal 42, so that the outer adhesion petal 40 and the inner adhesion petal 42 gradually open until they adhere to the working surface, and the entire passive spherical foot is in an adhered state.

[0059] (2) Adaptive adhesion process: combination Figure 13-18 This embodiment is a method for adaptively adhering a passive spherical sole to the left front leg of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole, comprising the following steps:

[0060] The outer adhesion flap 40 and the inner adhesion flap 42 on the passive spherical sole are opened, and the passive spherical sole gradually approaches the working surface. During the process of the outer adhesion flap 40 and the inner adhesion flap 42 being bonded to the working surface, if the working surface has an inclination angle with the X direction, the ankle joint roll connector 29 on the passive spherical sole will drive the entire adhesion body (including the adhesion mechanism upper cover 18, the adhesion mechanism shell 19, the drive module 20, and the thin film pressure sensor 22) to rotate around the left and right hole axes of the ankle joint pitch connector 23 in the Y direction until the outer adhesion flap 40 and the inner adhesion flap 42 are completely bonded to the working surface. If the working surface has an inclination angle with the Y direction, the ankle joint pitch connector 23 and the ankle joint roll connector 29 will not move, and the entire adhesion body (including the adhesion mechanism upper cover 18, the adhesion mechanism shell 19, the drive module 20, and the thin film pressure sensor 22) will rotate around the ankle joint roll connector 29. X rotates toward the front and rear hole axis until the outer adhesive flap 40 and the inner adhesive flap 42 are completely adhered to the working surface. Figure 18 shown.

[0061] (III) Desorption and resetting process: Figure 9-18 This example is a method for detaching and resetting the passive spherical sole of the left front leg of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole, which includes the following steps:

[0062] Since the left pitch torsion spring 26, the right pitch torsion spring 32, the front roll torsion spring 31, and the rear roll torsion spring 27 are connected to the ankle joint pitch connector 23 and the ankle joint roll connector 29 in the passive ankle joint connection mechanism 16 and the adhesion mechanism shell 19, when the passive spherical foot 15 adaptively adheres to the working surface to produce corresponding pitch / roll transformation, the left pitch torsion spring 26, the right pitch torsion spring 32, the front roll torsion spring 31, and the rear roll torsion spring 27 are also subjected to force; after the passive spherical foot 15 is detached from the working surface, the force on the left pitch torsion spring 26, the right pitch torsion spring 32, the front roll torsion spring 31, and the rear roll torsion spring 27 disappears and returns to its original state, and the corresponding connecting parts also return to the state before adhesion due to the reaction force, that is, the entire passive spherical foot 15 is restored to its normal state after detachment.

[0063] (IV) Force Perception Process: Combination Figure 6-18 This embodiment is a method for sensing force on the left front leg of a spatial quadruped crawling robot with a passive spherical sole, including the following steps:

[0064] During the adhesion process, the passive spherical foot 15 is pressed down until it is in contact with the working surface. The film pressure sensor 22 installed at the bottom of the adhesion mechanism lower cover 44 contacts the working surface, and the film pressure sensor 22 is pressurized to generate a sensing signal.

[0065] Combine Figure 1-20 This embodiment is a spatial quadruped crawling robot with passive spherical feet and a motion method thereof, which is characterized by including the following process:

[0066] (1) Adhesion crawling process: combination Figure 1-8 and Figure 16-19 This embodiment is an adhesive crawling method for a spatial quadruped crawling robot with passive spherical feet, which includes the following steps:

[0067] During the adhesion crawling process, the left front leg A, left hind leg B, right front leg C, and right hind leg D are set in the corresponding support state or swing state according to the crawling gait. In the support state, the passive spherical sole 15 on the machine leg is in the adhesion state, and produces corresponding pitch / roll transformation according to the adhesion surface. When the machine leg is about to enter the swing state, the passive spherical sole 15 performs a detachment operation until it is in a completely detached state. In the swing state, the passive spherical sole 15 on the machine leg is in the detachment state, and approaches the next landing point as the machine leg swings. When the machine leg is about to enter the support state, the passive spherical sole 15 is near the next landing point, and the adhesion unit in the passive spherical sole 15 is unfolded, while the machine leg continues to move until the passive spherical sole 15 is in the adhesion state.

[0068] (2) Crawling process with the soles of the feet contracted: combined Figure 1-18 and Figure 20 This embodiment is a crawling method for a spatial quadruped crawling robot with passive spherical soles in a state where the soles are retracted, including the following steps:

[0069] The passive spherical soles 15 in the left front leg A, left hind leg B, right front leg C, and right hind leg D are in a completely detached state, that is, the passive spherical soles 15 are spherically contracted, as shown in FIG. Figure 20 During crawling, the left front leg A, left hind leg B, right front leg C, and right hind leg D are in a corresponding support or swinging state according to the crawling gait setting. The passive spherical foot 15 in the robot leg only generates corresponding pitch / roll transformations according to the crawling surface, and no longer performs active adhesion / detachment processes.

Claims

1. A passive ball-shaped sole, characterized in that: From top to bottom, it includes a passive ankle joint connection mechanism (16), an adhesion mechanism upper cover (18), an adhesion mechanism housing (19), a drive module (20), an adhesion mechanism lower cover (44), and a thin film pressure sensor (22); The adhesion mechanism upper cover (18) is mounted on the upper end of the adhesion mechanism housing (19); the driving module (20) is mounted inside the adhesion mechanism housing (19); the adhesion mechanism lower cover (44) is mounted on the lower end of the adhesion mechanism housing (19); and the film pressure sensor (22) is mounted on the bottom of the driving module (20); The passive ankle joint connection mechanism (16) includes an ankle joint pitch connection member (23) and an ankle joint roll connection member (29); the upper end of the ankle joint pitch connection member (23) is used to connect to the machine leg; The left and right holes on the lower end of the ankle joint pitch connection member (23) in the Y direction are connected to the left and right holes on the ankle joint roll connection member (29) in the Y direction through the left pitch torsion spring (26), the right pitch torsion spring (32) and the left pitch parent screw (24), the right pitch parent screw (30), respectively, wherein one end of the torsion spring is embedded in the groove in the Y direction hole of the ankle joint pitch connection member (23), and the other end is embedded in the groove on the side wall of the Y direction hole of the ankle joint roll connection member (29); The ankle joint transverse rolling connector (29) is connected to the X-direction holes on the front and rear sides of the adhesion mechanism housing (19) through the front end transverse rolling torsion spring (31), the rear end transverse rolling torsion spring (27), the front end transverse rolling screw (28), and the rear end transverse rolling screw (25), respectively; wherein one end of the torsion spring is embedded in the groove in the X-direction hole of the ankle joint transverse rolling connector (29), and the other end is embedded in the groove on the side wall of the X-direction hole of the adhesion mechanism housing (19); The driving module (20) includes, from top to bottom, a winding drum (33), a reduction motor (35), and a Hall encoder (36); wherein the winding drum (33) is fixed on the output shaft of the reduction motor (35), and the Hall encoder (36) is installed at the bottom of the reduction motor; the reduction motor (35) is fixed in the adhesion mechanism housing (19) by bolts; the driving module (20) also includes four groups of evenly distributed adhesion units installed on the outside of the adhesion mechanism lower cover (44) in an articulated manner in conjunction with an inner torsion spring (43), each group of adhesion units is formed by an inner adhesion flap (42) and an outer adhesion flap (40) connected in an articulated manner in conjunction with an outer torsion spring (41); the end of the outer adhesion flap (40) is connected to the lower end of a rope (34), and the upper end of the rope (34) is fixed on the winding drum (33); Each group of adhesion units is located in the gap formed by the ankle pitch connection member (23) and the ankle roll connection member (29) in the expanded and contracted states, and their structures are the same and arranged at a cross 90-degree angle. The angle between a single adhesion unit and the X-direction / Y-direction is 45 degrees.

2. A passive ball foot working method, characterized in that The following processes are included: The line connecting the two left and right holes of the lower end of the ankle joint pitch connector (23) in the Y direction is defined as the Y direction, the line connecting the two forward and rear holes of the ankle joint roll connector (29) in the X direction is defined as the X direction, the upward direction perpendicular to the plane formed by the X axis and the Y axis is defined as the Z axis direction, the rotational motion around the X axis is defined as the roll motion, and the rotational motion around the Y axis is defined as the pitch motion; Active adhesion / desorption process: When the reduction motor (35) rotates, it drives the winding disk (33) to rotate, driving the rope (34) to pull the outer adhesion flap (40) and the inner adhesion flap (42) to produce corresponding rotational movement; at this time, the rope (34) wound on the winding disk (33) gradually increases, and the rope (34) pulling the outer adhesion flap (40) and the inner adhesion flap (42) gradually decreases; when the rope (34) is wound around the winding disk (33) and moves until the outer adhesion flap (40) and the inner adhesion flap (42) are in contact with the adhesion mechanism housing (19), the winding disk (33) can no longer drive the rope (34) to move, and the reduction motor (35) is in a blocked or stopped state; the entire passive spherical foot When the palm reaches a completely detached state, the inner torsion spring (43) and the outer torsion spring (41) in the mechanism are in a stressed state; when the reduction motor (35) rotates in the reverse direction to drive the winding disk (33) to rotate, the rope (34) wound on the winding disk (33) gradually decreases, and the rope (34) pulling the outer adhesion flap (40) and the inner adhesion flap (42) gradually increases. At the same time, the inner torsion spring (43) and the outer torsion spring (41) in the mechanism in a stressed state generate a reaction force on the outer adhesion flap (40) and the inner adhesion flap (42), causing the outer adhesion flap (40) and the inner adhesion flap (42) to gradually open until they adhere to the working surface, and the entire passive spherical foot is in an adhered state; Adaptive adhesion process: The adhesion mechanism upper cover (18), the adhesion mechanism housing (19), the drive module (20), and the thin film pressure sensor (22) are collectively referred to as the adhesion body. The outer adhesion flap (40) and the inner adhesion flap (42) on the passive spherical sole are opened, and the passive spherical sole gradually approaches the working surface. During the process of the outer adhesion flap (40) and the inner adhesion flap (42) fitting with the working surface, if the working surface has an inclination angle with the X direction, the ankle joint roll connector (29) on the passive spherical sole is The entire adhesive body will be driven to rotate around the Y-axis of the left and right holes of the ankle joint pitch connector (23) until the outer adhesive flap (40) and the inner adhesive flap (42) are completely attached to the working surface; if the working surface has an inclination angle with the Y-axis, the ankle joint pitch connector (23) and the ankle joint roll connector (29) will not move, and the entire adhesive body will rotate around the X-axis of the front and rear holes of the ankle joint roll connector (29) until the outer adhesive flap (40) and the inner adhesive flap (42) are completely attached to the working surface; Detachment and reset process: Since the left pitch torsion spring (26), the right pitch torsion spring (32), the front roll torsion spring (31), and the rear roll torsion spring (27) are connected to the ankle joint pitch connection member (23) and the ankle joint roll connection member (29) in the passive ankle joint connection mechanism (16) and the adhesion mechanism shell (19), in the process of the passive spherical foot (15) and the working surface adaptively adhering to produce the corresponding pitch / roll transformation, the left pitch torsion spring (26), the right pitch torsion spring (31), and the rear roll torsion spring (27) are connected to the ankle joint pitch connection member (23) and the ankle joint roll connection member (29) in the passive ankle joint connection mechanism (16) and the adhesion mechanism shell (19), in the process of the passive spherical foot (15) and the working surface adaptively adhering to produce the corresponding pitch / roll transformation, The torsion spring (32), the front roll torsion spring (31), and the rear roll torsion spring (27) are also subjected to force; after the passive spherical foot (15) is detached from the working surface, the force on the left pitch torsion spring (26), the right pitch torsion spring (32), the front roll torsion spring (31), and the rear roll torsion spring (27) disappears and returns to its original state, and the corresponding connecting parts are also restored to the state before adhesion due to the reaction force, that is, the entire passive spherical foot (15) is restored to its normal state after detachment; Force sensing process: The passive spherical foot (15) is pressed down to adhere to the working surface during the adhesion process, and the thin film pressure sensor (22) installed at the bottom of the lower cover (44) of the adhesion mechanism contacts the working surface, and the thin film pressure sensor (22) generates a sensing signal when it is pressurized.

3. A robotic leg having a passive spherical sole as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that : Mainly includes hip joint roll servo (7), hip joint connector (8), upper thigh connecting plate (9), hip joint pitch servo (10), knee joint servo (11), lower thigh connecting plate (12), knee joint connector (13), calf connecting rod (14), passive spherical foot (15); The hip joint connector (8) is connected to the rotation output end of the hip joint roll servo (7) and the rotation output end of the hip joint pitch servo (10) by bolts; the upper thigh connecting plate (9) and the lower thigh connecting plate (12) are connected to the hip joint pitch servo (10) and the knee joint servo (11) by bolts; the knee joint connector (13) is connected to the rotation output end of the knee joint servo (11) and the upper end of the calf connecting rod (14) by bolts; and the lower end of the calf connecting rod (14) is connected to the passive spherical foot (15) by bolts.

4. A spatial quadruped crawling robot having the robotic legs as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that : It consists of a left front leg (A), a left hind leg (B), a right front leg (C), a right hind leg (D) and a trunk (E); the left front leg (A), the left hind leg (B), the right front leg (C) and the right hind leg (D) adopt a front-elbow-back-knee configuration, wherein the knee joints of the left front leg (A) and the right front leg (C) are bent backwards, presenting an elbow shape; the knee joints of the left hind leg (B) and the right hind leg (D) are bent forwards, presenting a knee-leg shape; The trunk part (E) mainly includes a controller (1), a trunk connecting plate, and a battery (4).

5. The operating method of the spatial quadruped crawling robot according to claim 4, characterized in that: The following processes are included: Adhesion crawling process: During the adhesion crawling process, the left front leg (A), left hind leg (B), right front leg (C), and right hind leg (D) are set in the corresponding support state or swing state according to the crawling gait; in the support state, the passive spherical soles on the robot legs are in the adhesion state, and produce corresponding pitch / roll transformation according to the adhesion surface; when the robot legs are about to enter the swing state, the passive spherical soles perform a detachment operation until they are in a completely detached state; in the swing state, the passive spherical soles on the robot legs are in the detachment state, and approach the next landing point as the machine legs swing; when the robot legs are about to enter the support state, the passive spherical soles are near the next landing point, the adhesion units in the passive spherical soles are expanded, and the robot legs continue to move until the passive spherical soles are in the adhesion state; Crawling process in the state of contracted soles: the passive spherical soles of the left front leg (A), left hind leg (B), right front leg (C), and right hind leg (D) are in a completely detached state, that is, the passive spherical soles of the feet are contracted into a spherical shape; during the crawling process, according to the crawling gait setting, the left front leg (A), left hind leg (B), right front leg (C), and right hind leg (D) are in the corresponding supporting state or swinging state. The passive spherical soles of the robot legs only produce corresponding pitch / roll transformations according to the crawling surface, and no longer perform the active adhesion / detachment process.

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