An IPMC-based bio-inspired octopus device

Abstract

The present application relates to a kind of underwater robots, the purpose is to provide a kind of IPMC-based bionic odd shrimp device, which should be simple, small in size with the characteristics of local structure, facilitate underwater detection.Techinical scheme is a kind of bionic odd shrimp device based on IPMC drive, the device includes head, body and tail piece connected in sequence, and a plurality of wings connected on both sides of the body;Characterized in that: the head is provided with tentacle;The body includes a plurality of shell bodies connected in sequence and respectively provided with the wing piece, the closed inner cavity is formed between each shell body and connected with the head, three IPMC drive controllers and battery for controlling wing piece, tentacle and tentacle are arranged in the inner cavity;The head is provided with a small hole instead of odd shrimp eye, camera and illuminating lamp are arranged in the small hole;The wing piece, tail piece are all made of IPMC drive material and electrically connected IPMC drive controller.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to an underwater robot, in particular a bionic odd shrimp device driven based on IPMC material. BACKGROUND

[0002] CN114789782B discloses an underwater robot, comprising a body and a plurality of leg modules connected to the body; the leg module comprises a connecting arm, a thigh, a calf, a first driving mechanism and a second driving mechanism; mainly used to solve the technical problem that the foot end of the existing foot type robot is difficult to control in water due to large inertia. However, such underwater robots are usually propelled by propellers, which are noisy and have low energy efficiency, limiting their working ability as reconnaissance monitoring and long-distance cruising, which is very disadvantageous for detecting underwater organisms; in addition, the underwater robot works underwater for a long time, which has a great impact on the service life of the parts; and it is not conducive to the installation of various detection equipment, such as small sampling instruments, temperature detectors and additional multi-angle camera devices, etc. These small detection devices are extremely inconvenient and unstable when fixed with the robot. SUMMARY

[0003] The technical problem to be solved by the present application is to overcome the shortcomings of the above background technology, and to provide a bionic odd shrimp device based on IPMC, which should have the characteristics of simple structure, small size and convenient underwater detection.

[0004] The technical scheme provided by the present application is:

[0005] A bionic odd shrimp device driven based on IPMC, the device comprises a head, a body and a tail piece connected in sequence, and a plurality of wings connected on both sides of the body; characterized in that: the head is provided with tentacles; the body comprises a plurality of segment housings connected in sequence and respectively provided with the wings, a closed inner cavity is formed between each segment housing and the head in communication, three IPMC drive controllers and a battery for controlling the wings, tentacles and tentacles are arranged in the inner cavity; the head is provided with a small hole instead of the eyes of the odd shrimp, and a camera and a light are arranged in the small hole; the wings, tail piece are all made of IPMC driving material and are electrically connected with the IPMC drive controller.

[0006] One end of the wing is fixed by a buckle after extending into the inner cavity through the gap on both sides of the housing, and is electrically connected with the IPMC drive controller through the electrode sheet to obtain the required driving force.

[0007] A plurality of fibers are arranged in the wings, tentacles and tail piece, the arrangement direction of the fibers is perpendicular to the length direction of the wings, tentacles and tail piece, so as to ensure the stability during power-on operation.

[0008] The tentacle is made of strip-shaped IPMC material, and two sawteeth are arranged symmetrically on two sides of one side surface of the tentacle to enable clamping and grabbing when being bent.

[0009] The tentacle extends into the inner cavity through a gap at the lower side of the head front end and is fixed by a buckle, and is electrically connected to the IPMC driving controller through an electrode sheet.

[0010] Further, the battery is connected to the IPMC driving controller and the camera through lead wires penetrating the shell wall to realize continuous power supply.

[0011] Further, the tail sheet extends into the inner cavity through a gap at the rear of the body and is fixed by a buckle, and is electrically connected to the IPMC driving controller through an electrode sheet, so as to realize motion posture control of the tail sheet.

[0012] Further, the IPMC driving controller comprises a single-chip microcomputer, a voltage stabilizing module, a signal generating module, a signal amplifying module and a control switch.

[0013] The gaps are sealed by waterproof glue.

[0014] A wireless receiver for turning on the IPMC driving controller, the micro camera and the illuminating lamp is arranged in the inner cavity.

[0015] The working principle of the present application is as follows: the power supply is started, the single-chip microcomputer generates a square wave direct current signal with adjustable duty ratio, and a driving signal with greater power is generated through the signal amplifying module; after the IPMC material embedded with fibers is connected to the driving signal, different degrees of deformation are generated in sequence, and the actions of the odd shrimp swimming and grabbing are simulated. At the same time, the user can see the real-time picture through the camera device, and the corresponding remote control device is used to give relevant instructions to the robot.

[0016] The present application has the advantages that: the present application uses IPMC material as the driving material, which can provide the power required by the robot during movement. At the same time, the tail sheet structure can also control the swimming direction of the robot and maintain the balance of the robot. The controller mainly uses a single-chip microcomputer, which can realize effective control of the robot movement through simple adjustment of the frequency and voltage. The present application has the advantages of simple structure, small size and unique advantages in underwater detection; and the present application also makes a more in-depth research and promotion of IPMC material as the driving material of the bionic robot. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 It is a perspective structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present application.

[0018] Figure 2 It is a connection relationship schematic diagram between the head and the tentacle of an embodiment of the present application.

[0019] Figure 3 Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the connection relationship between the wing and the body of an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] Figure 4 Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the connection relationship between the bodies of an embodiment of the present application.

[0021] Figure 5 Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the connection relationship between the tail and the body of an embodiment of the present application.

[0022] Figure 6 Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the synthesis process of the IPMC material of an embodiment of the present application.

[0023] Figure 7 Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the vibration effect of the wing and the tail of an embodiment of the present application.

[0024] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the connection relationship between the wing and the body of an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] IPMC material (IPMC driver) is a typical electro-active polymer material in emerging electro-active polymer materials. IPMC material can produce a large deformation under the application of low voltage (<5 V), and can restore to the original shape after the voltage is removed. IPMC can realize the deflection in the opposite direction by changing the positive and negative voltage. Compared with the traditional driving material, IPMC has the advantages of long service life, fast response speed, small volume, light weight, generation of large movement without bearing and sliding parts, low driving voltage, similar to the constant characteristics of biological muscle (i.e. scale invariance, the same size produces the same output, and different sizes produce output proportional to their size), suitable for micro devices, no noise, environmental protection, and can be miniaturized and developed. IPMC material has become a research hotspot in the field of bionic driving materials. Therefore, IPMC material as a bionic robot driving material can overcome the shortcomings of traditional underwater robots.

[0026] An IPMC driver is a flexible driver based on ion-type electroactive polymer material, which has a "sandwich" structure, i.e. containing an electrolyte layer (i.e. ion exchange polymer layer, such as Nafion) and two outer conductive electrode films (such as Pt / Ag / Au electrode layer). Deformation is generated by applying an electric field. Compared with traditional mechanical drivers, it has higher energy efficiency and lower response time. In addition, it also has higher sensitivity and stronger adaptability, and can be used in various mechanical, robotic and electromechanical devices, especially those that require fine motion and deformation control. IPMC driver is widely used to produce various shapes, structures and sizes of modular driver devices, and helps to realize various technical innovations such as intelligent machinery, automation control and new motion systems.

[0027] The application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following examples are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the application, and cannot be used to limit the protection scope of the application.

[0028] A bionic octopus device based on IPMC driving, characterized in that: the device comprises a head 1-1, a body 1-3, a wing 1-2, and a tail 1-4; the head and the body are bonded by waterproof glue, and the lower part of the head is provided with tentacles 1-5; the body comprises four shell bodies bonded in sequence by waterproof glue 4-1 (preferably silicone glue), and an inner cavity is formed between each shell body and the head; three IPMC driving controllers (one for controlling the wing, one for controlling the tentacle, and one for controlling the tail) and a battery are arranged in the inner cavity; a small hole 1-6 instead of the eyes of the octopus is arranged in the head, and a camera and an LED lamp are arranged in the small hole to realize illumination and real-time observation during underwater work; the wing and the tail are all made of IPMC material (i.e. IPMC driver) and are electrically connected to the IPMC driving controller through wires.

[0029] Referring to Figure 3 A gap is formed on the left and right sides of each shell body, one end of the wing is inserted into the gap and fixed in the inner cavity by a wing buckle 3-1 (the gap is sealed by waterproof glue), and the electrode sheet 6-4 (preferably copper electrode sheet; the same below) connected with the wire is fixed to realize electrical communication with the IPMC driving controller. When the power is on, the voltage polarity of the electrode sheet can be changed to realize the deflection of the wing in the opposite direction, so as to replace the fan-shaped pieces on both sides of the octopus body and provide forward power for the robot to realize the movement of the bionic octopus.

[0030] Referring to Figure 2The tentacle 1-5 is made of strip-shaped IPMC material, and two symmetrical sawteeth are arranged on the two side edges of one side of the tentacle 1-5, the two sawteeth are arranged on the two side edges of the one side in parallel and protrude outward, and each sawteeth comprises a plurality of sawteeth arranged in sequence, so that the sawteeth can clamp and grab when being bent. One end of the tentacle extends into the inner cavity through a gap on the front side of the head, the gap is sealed by waterproof glue, and is fixed in the inner cavity by a tentacle buckle 2-1, and is fixed with an electrode sheet connected with a connecting wire to electrically connect an IPMC driving controller.

[0031] Referring to Figure 5 The tail piece 1-4 extends into the inner cavity through a gap on the rear of the body, is fixed by a tail piece buckle 5-1, and is connected with the IPMC driving controller through the electrode sheet, and can provide power for the robot when being powered on, can control the moving direction, keep the balance of the robot, and realize the motion posture control of the tail piece. The gap is also sealed by waterproof glue.

[0032] Further, the wing piece is provided with a fiber layer formed by a plurality of fibers 6-3 in the IPMC material; Figure 6 It can be known that: the electrolyte layer 6-2 and the fiber layer are compounded between the two conductive electrode films 6-1 (the original IPMC material is only compounded with the electrolyte layer 6-2 between the two conductive electrode films 6-1), the plurality of fibers in the fiber layer are arranged in parallel and the length direction is perpendicular to the length direction of the wing piece (the tentacle and the tail piece are the same as above); the improved IPMC material formed in this way can avoid twisting in the fiber length direction when being powered on, and realize stable bending or vibration in the specified direction (perpendicular to the fiber length direction).

[0033] Further, a small hole of the head is provided with a micro camera, the seabed situation can be observed in real time and information can be collected through a corresponding APP, and another small hole of the head is provided with an LED lamp for lighting when observing. The battery supplies power for the micro camera and the LED lamp respectively.

[0034] Further, a wireless receiver connected with the IPMC driving controller is arranged in the inner cavity of the body, the moving direction of the device can be controlled through a corresponding remote controller, and the working states of the micro camera and the LED lamp can be controlled.

[0035] The IPMC driving controller (prior art) comprises a voltage stabilizing module, a signal amplifying module, a single-chip microcomputer and a control switch (the single-chip microcomputer and the control switch are omitted in the figure). The stm32 single-chip microcomputer outputs a 5V, 1Hz square wave signal (the output voltage and frequency can be adjusted), the frequency and amplitude of the signal can be changed through the single-chip microcomputer, the voltage stabilizing module and the signal amplifying module preferably use LTC3780 and L298N respectively.

[0036] The device can be started by a remote controller, so that the single-chip microcomputer generates a 5V voltage, 1Hz square wave signal (the output voltage and frequency can be adjusted), and the signal is amplified through a signal amplification module and then acts on the IPMC material, so that the material is deformed, and then the wing piece and the tail piece vibrate (as shown in Figure 7 The deformation frequency and amplitude depend on the frequency and amplitude of the output signal, so as to realize the simulation of the whole body in water to move and grab like a strange shrimp.

[0037] In the working process of the present application, the IPMC driver for controlling the wing piece is in the working state, and the IPMC driver for controlling the tentacle is in the non-working state; when the user observes the target through the miniature camera of the eye by using the corresponding APP, the IPMC driver for controlling the tentacle can be turned on by the remote controller to perform the operation of grabbing the object.

[0038] According to the above rules, the robot can perform the task only by remote control through the remote controller.

[0039] The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present application, and it should be pointed out that for ordinary skilled persons in the technical field, some improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the technical principles of the present application, and these improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A biomimetic Anomalocaris device based on IPMC drive, the device comprising a head (1-1), a body (1-3), and a tail plate (1-4) connected in sequence, and a plurality of wing plates (1-2) connected to both sides of the body; characterized in that: The head is equipped with tentacles (1-5); the body comprises several shell segments connected in sequence and each having a wing piece, with each shell segment connected to and connected to the head to form a closed inner cavity, the inner cavity containing three IPMC drive controllers for controlling the wing pieces, tentacles and tail pieces and a battery; the head has small holes (1-6) that replace the eyes of the Anomalocaris, and a camera and a light are installed in the small holes; the wing pieces and tail pieces are all made of IPMC material and are electrically connected to the IPMC drive controllers; One end of the wing extends into the inner cavity through the gaps on both sides of the housing and is fixed by a buckle. It is also electrically connected to the IPMC drive controller through an electrode plate to obtain the required driving force. The IPMC material of the wing includes conductive electrode films (6-1) on both sides and an electrolyte layer (6-2) and a fiber layer (6-3) composited between the conductive electrode films on both sides. Several fibers in the fiber layer are arranged in parallel to each other, and the arrangement direction of the fibers is perpendicular to the length direction of the wing to ensure stability when energized. The tentacles are made of strip-shaped IPMC material, with two symmetrically arranged serrations on both sides of one side to enable gripping and grasping when bent. The tentacles extend into the inner cavity through the gap on the lower side of the front end of the head and are then fixed by a buckle, and are electrically connected to the IPMC drive controller through the electrode plate (6-4); The tail piece extends into the inner cavity through a gap at the rear of the body and is fixed with a buckle. It is also electrically connected to the IPMC drive controller via an electrode plate, thereby realizing the movement and posture control of the tail.

2. The biomimetic Anomalocaris device based on IPMC driving according to claim 1, characterized in that: The battery is connected to the IPMC drive controller and the camera via wires passing through the casing wall to provide continuous power.

3. The biomimetic Anomalocaris device based on IPMC driving according to claim 2, characterized in that: The IPMC drive controller includes a microcontroller, a voltage regulator module, a signal generator module, a signal amplifier module, and a control switch.

4. The biomimetic Anomalocaris device based on IPMC driving according to claim 3, characterized in that: The inner cavity is also equipped with a wireless receiver that connects to the IPMC drive controller, the miniature camera, and the lighting lamp.

5. The biomimetic Anomalocaris device based on IPMC driving according to claim 4, characterized in that: All gaps were sealed with waterproof adhesive.

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