Human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection welding ROV, system and tracking method

Abstract

The present application relates to human-computer interaction underwater pipeline inspection welding ROV, system and tracking method, belong to underwater robot technical field. Solve the problem of greater difficulty in underwater environment to complete the underwater pipeline welding task. Including buoyancy material, vertical propeller, welding mechanical arm, welding high-definition camera, underwater welding gun, frame, forward high-definition camera, slide table, downward high-definition camera, horizontal propeller and mechanical arm, the frame is installed on both sides of buoyancy material, the frame is installed on the front side of forward high-definition camera, downward high-definition camera, slide table, mechanical arm, the slide table is installed on welding mechanical arm, the underwater welding gun is installed on welding mechanical arm, the welding high-definition camera is installed on underwater welding gun, the frame is installed with vertical propeller, horizontal propeller. Break the traditional artificial method's working depth, working time, welding technical level and other factors's limitation, protect personnel life health safety, improve underwater welding quality, reduce operation difficulty, reduce production cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a pipeline inspection welding ROV, a system and a tracking method, and belongs to the technical field of underwater robots. Background Art

[0002] With the development of marine energy projects, a large number of marine structures, such as offshore platforms, submarine pipelines, and cross-sea bridges, have been extensively constructed. Their safety and reliability require the support of underwater welding technology. Currently, underwater welding is mostly performed manually, with divers diving to designated work areas to complete the task. First, due to human physiological limitations, the maximum diving depth using standard mixed gas is 100 meters, and the maximum diving depth using saturated gas is only 650 meters. This restricts the operating area and makes it impossible to perform welding tasks in deep or open waters. Second, the diver's welding skill level directly affects the quality of underwater welded joints. Furthermore, the maximum working time of a single session is also limited by the amount of oxygen carried. Considering these factors, the development of underwater welding robots is imperative to protect the health and safety of personnel, improve underwater welding quality, reduce production costs, and overcome the depth limitations of underwater welding.

[0003] Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), a type of unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), have garnered significant attention in recent years. ROVs typically draw power from a mother ship via a cable and receive various operational commands from a host computer. Their ample power allows them to perform more time-consuming and complex tasks. They also facilitate information collection and data transmission. ROVs are structurally divided into two main components: a surface control system and an underwater vehicle. The surface control system includes a main control computer, remote control system, tracking and positioning system, and underwater communication interfaces. Currently, the application of ROVs in welding is still in its infancy. Several universities and companies, both domestically and internationally, have experimented with ROV design and research, and several key issues have emerged as key areas of focus. For example, most of the existing underwater welding robots are unable to identify, locate and track underwater pipelines, requiring operators to operate continuously for a long time, increasing manpower and costs; underwater structure flaw detection is mostly carried out by personnel controlling the movement of ROVs based on the shore interface and observing with the naked eye, which is difficult, costly and inefficient; due to the complex underwater environment and ocean current disturbances, the dynamic positioning and attitude maintenance capabilities of ROVs during operation are difficult to guarantee; weld angles are tricky, making welding work difficult, etc.

[0004] Existing ROVs have some technical solutions in the field of welding, but they face the following problems:

[0005] 1. Some solutions assume that welding tasks can be completed in a purely autonomous manner, but it is currently difficult for robots to complete welding tasks in complex and time-varying underwater environments.

[0006] 2. The invention, publication number CN106180964A, is titled "Underwater Welding Robot Based on Image Recognition." Its technical solution uses image recognition technology to detect weld positions by performing binary segmentation processing on pipeline images. However, this method overly relies on the selection of image segmentation thresholds, requiring constant adjustment of the threshold size in different scenarios. Furthermore, it is susceptible to background interference in complex marine environments and cannot correctly identify the weld positions of pipelines.

[0007] 3. The defect inspection method of underwater structures needs to be optimized. The existing technical solutions mainly rely on personnel to observe defects, and cannot achieve automatic detection of structural damage. For example, the invention with publication number CN103785923A is called a local dry underwater welding robot based on ROV. In its technical solution, the operator uses a camera to judge the damage to the structure. There are inevitable problems such as difficulty in personnel identification and inspection, the camera has blind spots that cannot fully cover the monitoring area, and the long inspection cycle and low efficiency, which makes it impossible to accurately locate the defects of the structure.

[0008] 4. The publication number is CN205362952U, and the name of the invention is six-degree-of-freedom mobile platform. In its technical solution, the welding task is carried out by sitting on the bottom, and universal wheels are used to adjust the welding position angle. However, the underwater environment is mostly complex. The seabed is mainly composed of organisms and sediment deposits, mostly clay and silt. The closer to the open sea, the more obvious this phenomenon is. Therefore, the applicability of this solution is not high, and the realization of tasks such as attitude adjustment and dynamic positioning needs to be considered more practically.

[0009] 5. Conventional welding manipulators have limited degrees of freedom. For example, the welding gun manipulator employed in patent application CN218050962U, titled "An Underwater Welding Robot," lacks steering mechanisms such as servos, making it inefficient for underwater welding. Some proposals incorporate multiple degrees of freedom into the manipulator design but fail to account for the impact of the manipulator's motion on the robot's posture, resulting in a lack of real-time posture adjustment capabilities.

[0010] Therefore, it is urgent to propose a human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection welding ROV, system and tracking method to solve the above technical problems. Summary of the Invention

[0011] The present invention aims to address the difficulty of completing sewer pipe welding tasks in underwater environments by providing a human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV, system, and tracking method. The following provides a brief overview of the present invention to provide a basic understanding of certain aspects of the present invention. It should be understood that this overview is not an exhaustive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify key or important aspects of the present invention, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0012] The technical solution of the present invention:

[0013] The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV includes buoyancy materials, vertical thrusters, welding robotic arms, high-definition welding cameras, underwater welding guns, a frame, forward-facing high-definition cameras, slides, downward-facing high-definition cameras, horizontal thrusters, and robotic arms. Buoyancy materials are installed on the left and right sides of the frame, and a forward-facing high-definition camera, a downward-facing high-definition camera, a slide, and a robotic arm are installed on the front side of the frame. The welding robotic arm is installed on the slide and located above the robotic arm. A welding high-definition camera is installed on the underwater welding gun, and the frame is equipped with vertical thrusters and horizontal thrusters.

[0014] Preferably: the welding robot arm includes a welding arm mounting base, a first connecting rod, a second connecting rod, a third connecting rod, a first steering gear, a fourth connecting rod, a fifth connecting rod, a sixth connecting rod, a seventh connecting rod, an eighth connecting rod and a second steering gear, the underwater welding gun is connected to the first connecting rod and one end of the fifth connecting rod, the two ends of the second connecting rod are respectively connected to the middle part of the first connecting rod and the welding arm mounting base shaft, the two ends of the third connecting rod are respectively connected to the other end of the first connecting rod and one end of the fourth connecting rod in sequence, the other end of the fourth connecting rod is connected to the output end of the first steering gear, the other end of the fifth connecting rod is connected to the sixth connecting rod and one end of the eighth connecting rod, the two ends of the seventh connecting rod are respectively connected to the other end of the sixth connecting rod and the welding arm mounting base shaft, the other end of the eighth connecting rod is connected to the output end of the second steering gear, and the first steering gear and the second steering gear are bolted to the welding arm mounting base.

[0015] Preferably: the slide includes a slide mounting seat, a slide motor, a screw rod, a slide rod and a slider, the slide mounting seat is connected to the frame, both ends of the screw rod are connected to the slide mounting seat bearings, both ends of the slide rod are fixedly connected to the slide mounting seat, the screw rod and the slide rod are arranged in parallel, a through hole and a threaded hole are processed on the slider, the slider is slidably connected to the slide rod through the through hole, the slider is threadedly connected to the screw rod through the threaded hole, the upper part of the slider is bolted to the welding arm mounting seat, one end of the screw rod is connected to the slide motor, and the slide motor is bolted to the slide mounting seat.

[0016] Preferably, the mechanical arm comprises a mechanical arm mounting seat, a mechanical arm motor, a worm, a worm wheel, a ninth connecting rod, a tenth connecting rod, an eleventh connecting rod, an arc-shaped plate, a magnetizer and a magnetic flux detector, the mechanical arm mounting seat is connected with the frame body, the mechanical arm mounting seat is provided with the mechanical arm motor and the worm wheel, the output end of the mechanical arm motor is connected with the worm, the two worm wheels are symmetrically arranged on the two sides of the worm, and the worm wheels are engaged with the worm, one end of the ninth connecting rod is connected with the worm wheel, the other end of the ninth connecting rod is connected with one end of the eleventh connecting rod, the two ends of the tenth connecting rod are respectively connected with the middle part of the eleventh connecting rod and the mechanical arm mounting seat, the other end of the eleventh connecting rod is connected with the outer side of the arc-shaped plate, the inner side of the arc-shaped plate is provided with the magnetizer, and the inner side of the arc-shaped plate is further provided with the magnetic flux detector, and the magnetic flux detector is located in front of the magnetizer.

[0017] Preferably, the system further comprises an ROV main control cabin, a welding machine cabin and an ROV power cabin, the frame body comprises an upper plate, a lower plate, a left side plate and a right side plate, the left side plate and the right side plate are arranged on the two sides of the parallel arranged upper plate and lower plate, the ROV main control cabin, a buoyancy material, a vertical thruster and a horizontal thruster are arranged on the upper part of the upper plate, a forward high-definition camera is arranged on the lower part of the upper plate, a welding machine cabin, a sliding table, a downward high-definition camera and an ROV power cabin are arranged on the upper part of the lower plate, the downward high-definition camera penetrates through the lower plate, and a mechanical arm is arranged on the lower part of the lower plate.

[0018] Preferably, the frame body is made of polyethylene.

[0019] The human-computer interactive underwater pipeline inspection welding ROV system comprises a 12V power supply, a main control board, a video optical transmitter, a mechanical arm control board, a water leakage detection module, a wire feeder potentiometer, a wire feeder overcurrent detection module, a welding machine potentiometer, a welding machine overcurrent detection module and an inertial navigation system, the main control board is electrically connected with the video optical transmitter, the mechanical arm control board and the inertial navigation system, the mechanical arm control board is electrically connected with the water leakage detection module, the wire feeder potentiometer, the wire feeder overcurrent detection module, the welding machine potentiometer and the welding machine overcurrent detection module, the 12V power supply is electrically connected with the main control board, the video optical transmitter and the mechanical arm control board, and the wire feeder potentiometer, the wire feeder overcurrent detection module, the welding machine potentiometer and the welding machine overcurrent detection module are electrically connected with the welding machine cabin.

[0020] Preferably: the ROV power cabin includes two switching power supplies, which are a 100W12V switching power supply and a 3200W24V switching power supply respectively. The 100W12V switching power supply is electrically connected to the 12V power supply, the 3200W24V switching power supply is electrically connected to the vertical thruster and the horizontal thruster, the manipulator control board is electrically connected to the underwater stepping motor and the underwater servo, the main control board is electrically connected to the depth gauge, the magnetizer, the magnetic flux detector, the DVL, the vertical thruster, and the horizontal thruster, the video optical terminal is electrically connected to the forward high-definition camera, the downward high-definition camera, and the welding high-definition camera, the video optical terminal is connected to the digital optical terminal through an optical fiber, the digital optical terminal is electrically connected to the hard disk recorder, and the 220V power supply interface is electrically connected to the digital optical terminal, the two switching power supplies of the ROV power cabin, and the host computer main control board through the main switch.

[0021] The tracking method of the human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection welding ROV includes the following steps:

[0022] Step 1: Operate the human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV to the designated task area;

[0023] Step 2: The camera identifies and calculates the image information of the underwater pipeline, and places the two curved plates on both sides of the sewer pipe to start automatic tracking of the pipe;

[0024] Step 3: During the automatic tracking process, the camera continues to identify and calculate the underwater pipeline image information, and continuously magnetizes the tracked underwater pipeline through the magnetizer, and records and processes the information. When the pipeline is damaged, the magnetic lines at the defect will be distorted. Based on the image interface sent back by the camera, the welding robot arm is driven to move through the operating slide, and the height and angle of the underwater welding gun are further adjusted through the underwater servo to complete the welding work at the pipeline defect.

[0025] Preferably: in step 3, the image information recognition algorithm process includes the following steps:

[0026] Step 3.1: Preprocess the original image of the underwater pipeline;

[0027] Step 3.2: Perform image segmentation. Based on the obvious difference in grayscale information on both sides of the underwater pipeline edge, use the edge detection technology based on the Canny operator to perform image segmentation.

[0028] Step 3.3: Extract the straight line features in the image. In the underwater pipeline image, the pipeline edge is the boundary between the pipeline and the background and has obvious straight line characteristics. The Hough transform method can be used to extract the straight line features.

[0029] Step 3.4: Identify the sewer pipe and use the line feature clustering method to identify the line information where the pipe is located to calculate the center position and heading deviation of the pipe.

[0030] The present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0031] 1. The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of existing purely manual or purely autonomous welding solutions. By establishing a human-machine interactive interface and using a human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV as a carrier for manual operation, it breaks through the limitations of traditional manual methods such as working depth, working time, and welding technology level, protects the life and health safety of personnel, improves underwater welding quality, and reduces production costs. It also avoids the problems of the existing purely autonomous intelligent robots in underwater welding work, such as the difficulty of pre-programming, the strong time-varying disturbance of the seabed environment, and the complex and changeable working conditions. It has strong adaptability and higher feasibility.

[0032] 2. The present invention obtains real-time position information of the pipeline by extracting and identifying features of underwater pipeline images. In conjunction with a magnetizer and a magnetic flux detector, it can achieve purely autonomous tracking and flaw detection tasks of the pipeline, which can effectively reduce the burden on operators, reduce operational difficulty, and improve the degree of automation of pipeline inspections.

[0033] 3. The present invention makes welding operations easier to complete by designing a slide and a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, taking into account both the stability and flexibility of movement, and providing capability support for welding work. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV;

[0035] Figure 2 It is the arrangement diagram of vertical thrusters and horizontal thrusters;

[0036] Figure 3 It is a structural diagram of the welding robot arm;

[0037] Figure 4 It is a structural diagram of the slide;

[0038] Figure 5 It is a structural diagram of the magnetic field detection robotic arm;

[0039] Figure 6 This is a diagram of the human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV system;

[0040] Figure 7 It is the connection diagram of the electronic control system;

[0041] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the shore-side control system;

[0042] Figure 9 It is the flow chart of the image recognition algorithm.

[0043] In the figure, 1-ROV main control cabin, 2-buoyancy material, 3-vertical thruster, 4-welding manipulator arm, 5-welding HD camera, 6-underwater welding gun, 7-frame, 8-forward HD camera, 9-welding cabin, 10-slide, 11-downward HD camera, 13-horizontal thruster, 14-ROV power cabin, 15-manipulator arm, 20-12V power supply, 21-main control board, 22-video optical terminal, 23-manipulator arm control board, 24-water leakage detection module, 25-wire feeder potentiometer, 26-wire feeder overcurrent detection module, 27-welding machine potentiometer, 28-welding machine overcurrent detection module, 29-inertial navigation, 30-depth gauge, 31-DV L, 100-slide mount, 101-slide motor, 102-screw, 103-slide, 104-slider, 150-robotic arm mount, 151-robotic arm motor, 152-worm, 153-worm gear, 154-ninth connecting rod, 155-tenth connecting rod, 156-eleventh connecting rod, 157-arc plate, 158-magnetizer, 159-magnetic flux detector, 40-welding arm mount, 41-first connecting rod, 42-second connecting rod, 43-third connecting rod, 44-first servo, 45-fourth connecting rod, 46-fifth connecting rod, 47-sixth connecting rod, 48-seventh connecting rod, 49-eighth connecting rod, 410-second servo. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention more clearly apparent, the present invention is described below using specific embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understood that these descriptions are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. In addition, in the following description, descriptions of well-known structures and technologies are omitted to avoid unnecessary confusion of the concepts of the present invention.

[0045] Specific implementation method 1: Combination Figure 1-5The present embodiment is described. The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV of the present embodiment includes a buoyancy material 2, a vertical thruster 3, a welding robot arm 4, a welding high-definition camera 5, an underwater welding gun 6, a frame 7, a forward high-definition camera 8, a slide 10, a downward high-definition camera 11, a horizontal thruster 13 and a robot arm 15. The left and right sides of the frame 7 are each equipped with a buoyancy material 2. The front side of the frame 7 is equipped with a forward high-definition camera 8, a downward high-definition camera 11, a slide 10, and a robot arm 15. The slide 10 is equipped with a welding robot arm 4. The welding robot arm 4 is located above the robot arm 15. The welding robot arm 4 is located above the robot arm 15. An underwater welding gun 6 is installed at the upper end, and a welding high-definition camera 5 is installed on the underwater welding gun 6. Four evenly arranged vertical thrusters 3 are installed on the plane of the frame 7, and four evenly arranged horizontal thrusters 13 are installed on the rear side of the frame 7. The two middle horizontal thrusters 13 are arranged in the rear direction, and the other two side horizontal thrusters 13 are arranged at an acute angle to the rear direction; the vertical thrusters can enable the AUV to complete dynamic positioning, fixed depth navigation and other movement tasks, and during welding, the slide will drive the continuous movement of the welding robot arm, which will cause the overall gravity and buoyancy center of the ROV to change. By testing the robot arm in The ROV's center of gravity and buoyancy at different positions are recorded to obtain the corresponding relationship, and the vertical thrusters are used to adjust the ROV's posture to prevent the ROV from rolling on a large scale; in the horizontal direction, there are two horizontal thrusters at the tail arranged along the longitudinal direction of the ROV, which are mainly used for the longitudinal drive of the robot, and the two horizontal thrusters at the front are arranged in a vector form, and the influence of the movement of the manipulator position on the ROV's posture is optimized and considered, which can realize the ROV's basic motion control such as fixed height, fixed point, horizontal lateral movement, rotation in place and dynamic positioning. Such an arrangement can enable the ROV to achieve horizontal lateral movement, rotation and other movements, and can provide the ROV with more More power, enhanced resistance to flow disturbances; based on underwater pipeline images obtained by underwater high-definition cameras, high-performance computers are used to extract and identify images to obtain real-time position and posture information of the pipeline; and through underwater cameras, operators can perform real-time operations to complete various work tasks. There are four horizontal thrusters and four vertical thrusters. The horizontal thrusters are arranged in a vector pattern and can complete motion control such as fixed height, fixed point, horizontal traverse, and rotation in place, ensuring that the pipeline tracking task can be completed after receiving the actual position and posture information of the pipeline. The ROV can also adjust the center of gravity and buoyancy according to the actual working situation to adjust the position and posture.The power module and the voltage stabilizing module ensure stable power supply of each device in the ROV, have the function of autonomously tracking the underwater pipeline, have the function of autonomously detecting defects of the pipeline, have the function of remotely completing welding at the defect of the pipeline, can complete the inspection and welding of the underwater pipeline in a complex seabed environment with high quality, provide a solid guarantee for the development and utilization of marine resources, efficiently realize the tracking, detection and welding tasks of the underwater pipeline, break through the limitations of the traditional manual method in terms of working depth, working time, welding technical level and other factors, protect the life and health safety of personnel, improve the quality of underwater welding, reduce the operation difficulty, and reduce the production cost.

[0046] Specific implementation method two: combined with Figure 1-5 In this embodiment, the man-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV includes a welding arm mounting seat 40, a first connecting rod 41, a second connecting rod 42, a third connecting rod 43, a first steering engine 44, a fourth connecting rod 45, a fifth connecting rod 46, a sixth connecting rod 47, a seventh connecting rod 48, an eighth connecting rod 49, and a second steering engine 410. The two sides of the underwater welding gun 6 are fixedly connected with one end of the first connecting rod 41 and one end of the fifth connecting rod 46, respectively. The two ends of the second connecting rod 42 are axially connected with the middle part of the first connecting rod 41 and the welding arm mounting seat 40, respectively. The two ends of the third connecting rod 43 are sequentially axially connected with the other end of the first connecting rod 41 and one end of the fourth connecting rod 45, respectively. The other end of the fourth connecting rod 45 is connected with the output end of the first steering engine 44. The other end of the fifth connecting rod 46 is axially connected with one end of the sixth connecting rod 47 and one end of the eighth connecting rod 49. The two ends of the seventh connecting rod 48 are axially connected with the other end of the sixth connecting rod 47 and the welding arm mounting seat 40, respectively. The other end of the eighth connecting rod 49 is connected with the output end of the second steering engine 410. The first steering engine 44 and the second steering engine 410 are bolted with the welding arm mounting seat 40. The first steering engine 44 and the second steering engine 410 are underwater steering engines. In actual work, according to the information captured by the high-definition welding camera 5, the position and attitude of the welding gun can be continuously adjusted to a suitable position through driving the sliding table and the underwater steering engine. The design is reasonable, the structure is stable, and the welding work is more convenient.

[0047] Specific implementation method three: combined with Figure 1-5Describe this embodiment. This embodiment is a human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV. The slide 10 includes a slide mounting seat 100, a slide motor 101, a screw rod 102, a slide rod 103 and a slider 104. The slide mounting seat 100 is fixedly connected to the frame 7. Both ends of the screw rod 102 are connected to the slide mounting seat 100 bearings. Both ends of the slide rod 103 are fixedly connected to the slide mounting seat 100. The screw rod 102 and the slide rod 103 are arranged parallel to each other. A through hole and a threaded hole are processed on the slider 104. The slider 104 is slidably connected to the slide rod 103 through the through hole. The slider 104 is threadedly connected to the screw rod 102 through the threaded hole. The upper part of the slider 104 is bolted to the welding arm mounting seat 40. One end of the screw rod 102 is connected to the slide motor 101, and the slide motor 101 is bolted to the slide mounting seat 100.

[0048] Specific implementation method four: Combination Figure 1-5The present embodiment is described. The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV of the present embodiment has a manipulator 15 comprising a manipulator mounting base 150, a manipulator motor 151, a worm 152, a worm gear 153, a ninth connecting rod 154, a tenth connecting rod 155, an eleventh connecting rod 156, an arc plate 157, a magnetizer 158 and a magnetic flux detector 159. The manipulator mounting base 150 is connected to the frame 7 axis. The manipulator motor 151 is fixedly mounted on the manipulator mounting base 150 and the worm gear 153 is rotatably mounted thereon. The output end of the ninth connecting rod 154 is connected to the worm 152, and the two worm wheels 153 are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the worm 152, and the worm wheels 153 are meshed with the worm 152. One end of the ninth connecting rod 154 is fixedly connected to the worm wheel 153, and the other end of the ninth connecting rod 154 is axially connected to one end of the eleventh connecting rod 156. The two ends of the tenth connecting rod 155 are respectively axially connected to the middle part of the eleventh connecting rod 156 and the robot arm mounting seat 150. The other end of the eleventh connecting rod 156 is axially connected to the outer side surface of the arc plate 157. The eleventh connecting rod 156 is connected to the arc plate 157. A magnetizer 158 is provided on the inner side of the arc plate 157 corresponding to the joint, and a magnetic flux detector 159 is also provided on the inner side of the arc plate 157. The magnetic flux detector 159 is located in front of the magnetizer 158. The slide motor 101 and the manipulator motor 151 are both underwater stepping motors, and the manipulator 15 is a magnetic field detection manipulator. The rotation of the motor drives the arc plate to move horizontally through the turbine worm rod to wrap the pipeline for all-round three-dimensional flaw detection. The manipulator mounting seat 150 can move vertically and is equipped with a multi-degree-of-freedom welding machine. During actual work, the arm can continuously adjust the position and posture of the welding gun to the appropriate position by driving the slide and rotating the servo according to the information captured by the high-definition camera, making the welding work more convenient; the posture adjustment in the horizontal and vertical planes can be carried out, and the relative position of the detection robot arm and the pipeline can be adjusted according to the tracking of the ROV. The underwater pipeline is magnetized by the magnetizer in the form of electromagnetic yoke magnetization to generate magnetic flux components, and the magnetic field conditions are detected and recorded by the magnetic flux detector for further information processing, ultimately achieving the purpose of pipeline flaw detection.

[0049] Specific implementation method five: Combination Figure 1-5 Describe this embodiment. The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV of this embodiment also includes an ROV main control cabin 1, a welding cabin 9 and an ROV power cabin 14. The frame 7 includes an upper plate, a lower plate, a left plate and a right plate. The left plate and the right plate are fixedly installed on both sides of the upper plate and the lower plate arranged in parallel. The ROV main control cabin 1, the buoyancy material 2, the vertical thruster 3 and the horizontal thruster 13 are installed on the upper part of the upper plate. The forward high-definition camera 8 is installed on the lower part of the upper plate. The welding cabin 9, the slide 10, the downward high-definition camera 11 and the ROV power cabin 14 are installed on the upper part of the lower plate. The downward high-definition camera 11 passes through the lower plate, and the lower part of the lower plate is installed with a mechanical arm 15.

[0050] Specific implementation method six: combination Figure 1-5 To describe this embodiment, the frame 7 of the human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV of this embodiment is made of polyethylene.

[0051] Specific implementation method seven: combination Figure 1-8 The present embodiment is described. The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV system of the present embodiment is based on the human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV, including a 12V power supply 20, a main control board 21, a video optical terminal 22, a robotic arm control board 23, a water leakage detection module 24, a wire feeder potentiometer 25, a wire feeder overcurrent detection module 26, a welding machine potentiometer 27, a welding machine overcurrent detection module 28 and an inertial navigation 29. The main control board 21 is electrically connected to the video optical terminal 22, the robotic arm control board 23, and the inertial navigation 29. The inertial navigation 29 is an inertial navigation module. The robotic arm control board 23 is electrically connected to the water leakage detection module 24, the wire feeder potentiometer 25, the wire feeder overcurrent detection module 26, the welding machine potentiometer 27, the welding machine overcurrent detection module 28 and the inertial navigation 29. The current detection module 26, the welding machine potentiometer 27 and the welding machine overcurrent detection module 28 are electrically connected, the 12V power supply 20 is electrically connected to the main control board 21, the video optical terminal 22, and the mechanical arm control board 23, the wire feeder potentiometer 25, the wire feeder overcurrent detection module 26, the welding machine potentiometer 27 and the welding machine overcurrent detection module 28 are electrically connected to the welding machine cabin; through the information collection and fusion of navigation sensors such as DVL, inertial navigation, depth gauge, etc., the ROV's precise underwater navigation and positioning is completed, and the location information of the damaged part of the pipeline can be determined. It is equipped with a multi-degree-of-freedom detection mechanical arm, which can adjust the horizontal and vertical postures. According to the tracking situation of the ROV, the position of the damaged part can be adjusted. The relative position of the robot arm and the pipeline is detected. The underwater pipeline is magnetized by a magnetizer in the form of an electromagnetic yoke to generate a magnetic flux component. The magnetic field is detected and recorded by a magnetic flux detector for further information processing, ultimately achieving the purpose of pipeline flaw detection. The environmental perception detection sensor mainly includes three high-definition cameras, inertial navigation, depth gauge, DVL, etc. for precise navigation and positioning of the ROV. The power system consists of four underwater thrusters in the horizontal direction and four underwater thrusters in the vertical direction. The operating device is mainly equipped with two major operating devices, including a welding robot arm and a magnetic field detection robot arm. During operation, the ROV is manipulated by personnel to reach the designated underwater mission area. , based on the camera to identify and settle the image information of the underwater pipeline, and transmit the information to the power propulsion system through the main control board to automatically track the pipeline. At the same time, the magnetizer on the magnetic field detection robot arm continuously magnetizes the tracked underwater pipeline, and uses the Hall element as a magnetic flux detector to obtain the magnetic field information around the pipeline, and records and processes the information. When the pipeline is damaged, the magnetic lines at the defect will be distorted. After the magnetic flux sensor recognizes the defect and processes the information, it will alarm the upper computer. After receiving the alarm information, the operator operates the welding robot arm to perform welding based on the image interface sent back by the camera to complete the welding work at the pipeline defect.

[0052] Specific implementation method eight: combination Figure 1-8The present embodiment is described. The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV system of the present embodiment has an ROV power cabin 14 including two switching power supplies, which are a 100W12V switching power supply and a 3200W24V switching power supply. The 100W12V switching power supply is electrically connected to the 12V power supply 20, and the 3200W24V switching power supply is electrically connected to the vertical thruster 3 and the horizontal thruster 13. The manipulator control board 23 is electrically connected to the underwater stepper motor and the underwater servo. The main control board 21 is electrically connected to the depth gauge 30, the magnetizer 158, the magnetic flux detector 159, the DVL31, the vertical thruster 3, and the horizontal thruster. 13 is electrically connected, the video optical terminal 22 is electrically connected to the forward high-definition camera 8, the downward high-definition camera 11, and the welding high-definition camera 5, the video optical terminal 22 is connected to the digital optical terminal through an optical fiber, the digital optical terminal is electrically connected to the hard disk recorder, the 220V power supply interface is electrically connected to the digital optical terminal, the two switching power supplies of the ROV power cabin 14, and the host computer main control board through the main switch, the 220V power supply interface is electrically connected to the two switching power supplies of the ROV power cabin through a transformer, the power supply module and the voltage stabilizing module are to ensure the stable power transmission of each device in the ROV, the host computer main control board is electrically connected to the main control board, and the lower part of the frame 7 is connected to the third steering gear through the third steering gear. The manipulator mounting base 150 is connected, and the third servo is connected to the manipulator control board; the 2-core power line in the optoelectronic composite umbilical cable is connected to the switch power input end, the output 24V is used to power the propeller of the power system, and the output 12V is used to power the circuit board and various sensors. The optical terminal inputs the video signal of the forward-looking camera, the downward-looking camera, and the welding camera. The optical fiber is connected to the video optical terminal to transmit the video information to the shore-end host computer system. The host computer control command communicates with the main control board through the optical terminal serial port. At the same time, the optical terminal outputs the pipeline video information obtained by the downward-looking camera to the main control board through the USB interface for processing. The main control board controls the switch of the external lighting through the IO interface. The depth gauge is connected via the IIC interface, and the serial port communicates with the inertial navigation, magnetic flux sensor, and magnetizer. The 8 thrusters are driven by PWM signals. The serial port communicates with the manipulator control board to issue manipulator and welder control commands and obtain welder and wire feeder status information. The manipulator control board obtains the current water leakage status of the control cabin and power cabin, as well as the current status of the wire feeder and welder, through the ADC interface. The PWM signal drives the stepper motor to achieve translation and sliding, rotation of the manipulator servo, speed control of the wire feeder, and voltage control of the welder. The ROV's zero-buoyancy optoelectronic composite umbilical cable is connected to the shore control system, with two cores of 1.A 5-square-meter power line is connected to the 220V AC power supply at the shore end, and a single-mode optical fiber is connected to the digital optical terminal switch at the shore end. The two USB interfaces of the optical terminal are connected to two monitors for real-time transmission of the welding gun image and the front-view camera image, and the two-way video signal is connected to the hard disk recorder. The optical terminal communicates with the shore end main control board through the serial port for status information feedback and control command transmission of the welding machine and wire feeder. The host computer main control board reads the position information of the external joystick through the ADC interface, analyzes the motion control command and the robot arm control command, and communicates with the serial port capacitive screen through serial port 2 to obtain the ROV system status information. Real-time visualization displays control the closing of a 220V AC relay via an IO output interface. The shore-side control system is connected to the interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV system via a zero-buoyancy cable, completing energy supply and information transmission. As an underwater sensing and operation system, the interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV system features environmental perception, state measurement, propulsion, electrical control, fault detection, and the operation of welding and detection manipulators. This ensures stable operation and effective coordination of underwater equipment such as high-definition cameras, optical transceivers, DVLs, inertial navigation systems, depth gauges, manipulators, and thrusters.

[0053] Specific implementation method nine: Combination Figure 1-9 This embodiment describes a tracking method for a human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV. The tracking method is based on the human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV system and includes the following steps:

[0054] Step 1: The operator controls the human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV to reach the designated task area through the vertical thruster 3 and the horizontal thruster 13 in the power propulsion system;

[0055] Step 2: The forward high-definition camera 8 and the downward high-definition camera 11 in the camera identify and calculate the underwater pipeline image information, and transmit the information to the power propulsion system through the main control board. The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV is operated to make the two curved plates 157 on both sides of the sewer pipe and start automatic tracking of the pipe.

[0056] Step 3: During the automatic tracking process, the camera continues to identify and settle the underwater pipeline image information, and continuously magnetizes the tracked underwater pipeline through the magnetizer 158, uses the Hall element as a magnetic flux detector to obtain the magnetic field information around the pipeline, and records and processes the information. When the pipeline is damaged, the magnetic lines of force at the defect will be distorted. The fault detection system mainly obtains the current water leakage status of the control cabin and power cabin and the current status of the wire feeder and welder through the ADC interface of the control board to ensure that the emergency surface repair work is completed as quickly as possible when the ROV fails. After receiving the alarm information, the operator drives the welding robot arm 4 to move through the operating slide 10 based on the image interface sent back by the forward high-definition camera 8, the downward high-definition camera 11, and the welding high-definition camera 5 in the camera, and further adjusts the height and angle of the underwater welding gun 6 through the underwater servo to complete the welding work at the pipeline defect.

[0057] Specific implementation method ten: Combination Figure 1-9 This embodiment describes the tracking method of the human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection welding ROV in this embodiment. In step 3, the image information recognition algorithm process includes the following steps:

[0058] Step 3.1: Preprocess the original underwater pipeline image, including image denoising and image enhancement. This process uses the median filter method to optimize the image's grayscale distribution, enhance image contrast, and improve image quality.

[0059] Step 3.2: Perform image segmentation. Based on the obvious difference in grayscale information on both sides of the underwater pipeline edge, use the edge detection technology based on the Canny operator to perform image segmentation.

[0060] Step 3.3: Extract the straight line features in the image. In the underwater pipeline image, the pipeline edge is the boundary between the pipeline and the background and has obvious straight line characteristics. The Hough transform method can be used to extract the straight line features.

[0061] Step 3.4: Identify the sewer pipe and use the line feature clustering method to identify the line information where the pipe is located to calculate the center position and heading deviation of the pipe.

[0062] The system uses cameras and searchlights to obtain original images of underwater pipelines, recognizes them based on Hough transform and K-means clustering algorithms, and outputs the calculated pipeline position and posture information to the main control board and robotic arm control board, completing fully autonomous pipeline tracking.

[0063] The underwater pipeline is magnetized by a magnetizer, and the magnetic flux detector obtains the magnetic field information, which is then recorded and processed to complete the purely autonomous pipeline flaw detection task.

[0064] A simple and efficient human-machine interaction interface is established between the host computer main control board of the shore-side control system and the underwater sensing operation system (human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV system), providing strong support for welding tasks and enhancing the feasibility and reliability of task implementation;

[0065] The ROV achieves precise underwater navigation and positioning through navigation sensors such as DVL, inertial navigation, and depth gauges. The thrust distribution algorithm outputs power to eight thrusters arranged in a vector pattern, enabling the ROV to achieve dynamic positioning and complete welding tasks stably, accurately, and flexibly.

[0066] By designing the slide and steering gear rotation mechanism, the robot arm achieves multiple degrees of freedom, enhancing the flexibility of the welding gun. Furthermore, the ROV body posture change caused by the robot arm position adjustment is taken into account. Based on the corresponding relationship between the movement amount and the change in gravity and buoyancy, the thrust distribution strategy is optimized, and the thrusters are used to maintain the robot's operating posture to ensure the normal progress of the welding work.

[0067] Generally speaking, to accomplish the aforementioned mission requirements, the ROV's structural frame is constructed from high-density polyethylene sheeting, with buoyancy provided on the top. Four horizontal thrusters propel the ROV horizontally, while four vertical thrusters provide vertical motion. The pressure cabin is divided into two main sections: a control cabin and a power cabin, constructed from 6061-T6 aluminum alloy. The control cabin primarily handles image processing, position sensor calculations, and motion control for the manipulator and the ROV itself, while the power cabin primarily houses voltage-stabilizing modules to supply power to the equipment. Both pressure cabins are connected to shore via a four-core zero-buoyancy power line. The shore terminal consists of a 370V DC power supply, a power carrier network switch, and a computer. The computer runs the ROV display and control software, which displays the ROV's underwater camera images, position information, and position information. It also reads the shore operator's joystick commands and converts them into control commands for the ROV.

[0068] In the above embodiments, as long as there are no contradictory technical solutions, they can be permuted and combined. Those skilled in the art can exhaust all possibilities based on the mathematical knowledge of permutations and combinations. Therefore, the present invention will no longer describe the technical solutions after permutations and combinations one by one, but it should be understood that the technical solutions after permutations and combinations have been disclosed by the present invention.

[0069] The foregoing description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications and variations of the present invention are possible. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, or improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention are intended to be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. Human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV, characterized by: The invention comprises a buoyancy material (2), a vertical thruster (3), a welding robot arm (4), a welding high-definition camera (5), an underwater welding gun (6), a frame (7), a forward high-definition camera (8), a slide (10), a downward high-definition camera (11), a horizontal thruster (13) and a robot arm (15), wherein the buoyancy material (2) is installed on the left and right sides of the frame (7), the forward high-definition camera (8), the downward high-definition camera (11), the slide (10) and the robot arm (15) are installed on the front side of the frame (7), the welding robot arm (4) is installed on the slide (10), and the welding robot arm (4) is located above the robot arm (15), the underwater welding gun (6) is installed with a welding high-definition camera (5), and the frame (7) is installed with the vertical thruster (3) and the horizontal thruster (13); The welding robot arm (4) comprises a welding arm mounting seat (40), a first connecting rod (41), a second connecting rod (42), a third connecting rod (43), a first steering gear (44), a fourth connecting rod (45), a fifth connecting rod (46), a sixth connecting rod (47), a seventh connecting rod (48), an eighth connecting rod (49) and a second steering gear (410), wherein the underwater welding gun (6) is connected to one end of the first connecting rod (41) and the fifth connecting rod (46), the two ends of the second connecting rod (42) are respectively connected to the middle part of the first connecting rod (41) and the axis of the welding arm mounting seat (40), and the two ends of the third connecting rod (43) are respectively connected to the middle part of the first connecting rod (41) and the axis of the welding arm mounting seat (40). The other end of the first connecting rod (41) and one end of the fourth connecting rod (45) are connected in sequence by shafts, the other end of the fourth connecting rod (45) is connected to the output end of the first servo (44), the other end of the fifth connecting rod (46) is connected to the sixth connecting rod (47) and one end of the eighth connecting rod (49), the two ends of the seventh connecting rod (48) are connected to the other end of the sixth connecting rod (47) and the welding arm mounting seat (40), the other end of the eighth connecting rod (49) is connected to the output end of the second servo (410), and the first servo (44) and the second servo (410) are connected to the welding arm mounting seat (40) by bolts; The robot arm (15) includes a robot arm mounting seat (150), a robot arm motor (151), a worm (152), a worm gear (153), a ninth connecting rod (154), a tenth connecting rod (155), an eleventh connecting rod (156), an arc plate (157), a magnetizer (158) and a magnetic flux detector (159). The robot arm mounting seat (150) is connected to the frame (7). The robot arm motor (151) and the worm gear (153) are installed on the robot arm mounting seat (150). The output end of the robot arm motor (151) is connected to the worm (152). The two worm gears (153) are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the worm (152), and the worm gears ( 153) is engaged with the worm (152), one end of the ninth connecting rod (154) is connected to the worm wheel (153), the other end of the ninth connecting rod (154) is axially connected to one end of the eleventh connecting rod (156), the two ends of the tenth connecting rod (155) are respectively axially connected to the middle part of the eleventh connecting rod (156) and the mechanical arm mounting seat (150), the other end of the eleventh connecting rod (156) is axially connected to the outer side of the arc plate (157), the inner side of the arc plate (157) is provided with a magnetizer (158), and the inner side of the arc plate (157) is also provided with a magnetic flux detector (159), and the magnetic flux detector (159) is located in front of the magnetizer (158).

2. The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The slide (10) includes a slide mounting seat (100), a slide motor (101), a screw rod (102), a slide rod (103) and a slider (104), wherein the slide mounting seat (100) is connected to the frame (7), both ends of the screw rod (102) are connected to the slide mounting seat (100) bearing, both ends of the slide rod (103) are fixedly connected to the slide mounting seat (100), the screw rod (102) and the slide rod (103) are arranged in parallel, a through hole and a threaded hole are processed on the slider (104), the slider (104) is slidably connected to the slide rod (103) through the through hole, the slider (104) is threadedly connected to the screw rod (102) through the threaded hole, the upper part of the slider (104) is bolted to the welding arm mounting seat (40), one end of the screw rod (102) is connected to the slide motor (101), and the slide motor (101) is bolted to the slide mounting seat (100).

3. The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The invention also includes an ROV main control cabin (1), a welding cabin (9) and an ROV power cabin (14). The frame (7) includes an upper plate, a lower plate, a left plate and a right plate. The upper plate and the lower plate are arranged in parallel and are installed on both sides with a left plate and a right plate. The upper part of the upper plate is installed with an ROV main control cabin (1), a buoyancy material (2), a vertical thruster (3) and a horizontal thruster (13). The lower part of the upper plate is installed with a forward high-definition camera (8). The upper part of the lower plate is installed with a welding cabin (9), a slide (10), a downward high-definition camera (11) and an ROV power cabin (14). The downward high-definition camera (11) passes through the lower plate. The lower part of the lower plate is installed with a mechanical arm (15).

4. The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The frame (7) is made of polyethylene.

5. Human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV system, characterized by: The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV according to any one of claims 1 to 4 comprises a 12V power supply (20), a main control board (21), a video optical terminal (22), a robotic arm control board (23), a water leakage detection module (24), a wire feeder potentiometer (25), a wire feeder overcurrent detection module (26), a welding machine potentiometer (27), a welding machine overcurrent detection module (28) and an inertial navigation system (29), wherein the main control board (21) is electrically connected to the video optical terminal (22), the robotic arm control board (23), and the inertial navigation system (29). The robot control board (23) is electrically connected to the water leakage detection module (24), the wire feeder potentiometer (25), the wire feeder overcurrent detection module (26), the welding machine potentiometer (27) and the welding machine overcurrent detection module (28); the 12V power supply (20) is electrically connected to the main control board (21), the video optical terminal (22) and the robot control board (23); the wire feeder potentiometer (25), the wire feeder overcurrent detection module (26), the welding machine potentiometer (27) and the welding machine overcurrent detection module (28) are electrically connected to the welding cabin.

6. The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV system according to claim 5 is characterized in that: The ROV power cabin (14) includes two switching power supplies, which are a 100W 12V switching power supply and a 3200W 24V switching power supply. The 100W 12V switching power supply is electrically connected to the 12V power supply (20), the 3200W 24V switching power supply is electrically connected to the vertical thruster (3) and the horizontal thruster (13), the manipulator control board (23) is electrically connected to the underwater stepper motor and the underwater steering gear, the main control board (21) is electrically connected to the depth gauge (30), the magnetizer (158), the magnetic flux The detector (159), DVL (31), vertical thruster (3), and horizontal thruster (13) are electrically connected. The video optical terminal (22) is electrically connected to the forward high-definition camera (8), the downward high-definition camera (11), and the welding high-definition camera (5). The video optical terminal (22) is connected to the digital optical terminal through an optical fiber. The digital optical terminal is electrically connected to the hard disk recorder. The 220V power supply interface is electrically connected to the digital optical terminal, the two switching power supplies of the ROV power cabin (14), and the host computer main control board through the main switch.

7. A tracking method for a human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection welding ROV, characterized by: The human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV system according to claim 6 comprises the following steps: Step 1: Operate the human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection and welding ROV to the designated task area; Step 2: The camera recognizes and calculates the image information of the underwater pipeline, and places the two arc plates (157) on both sides of the sewer pipe to start automatic tracking of the pipe; Step 3: During the automatic tracking process, the camera continues to identify and calculate the underwater pipeline image information, and continuously magnetizes the tracked underwater pipeline through the magnetizer (158), and records and processes the information. When the pipeline is damaged, the magnetic lines at the defect will be distorted. Based on the image interface sent back by the camera, the operating slide (10) drives the welding robot arm (4) to move, and the underwater steering gear further adjusts the height and angle of the underwater welding gun (6) to complete the welding work at the pipeline defect.

8. The tracking method for a human-machine interactive underwater pipeline inspection welding ROV according to claim 7, characterized in that: In step 3, the image information recognition algorithm process includes the following steps: Step 3.1: Preprocess the original image of the underwater pipeline; Step 3.2: Perform image segmentation. Based on the obvious difference in grayscale information on both sides of the underwater pipeline edge, use the edge detection technology based on the Canny operator to perform image segmentation. Step 3.3: Extract the straight line features in the image. In the underwater pipeline image, the pipeline edge is the boundary between the pipeline and the background and has obvious straight line characteristics. The Hough transform method can be used to extract the straight line features. Step 3.4: Identify the sewer pipe and use the line feature clustering method to identify the line information where the pipe is located to calculate the center position and heading deviation of the pipe.

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