Reconfigurable robot based on thick plate paper cutting structure

By designing a unit robot based on a thick-plate paper-cutting structure, using a motor-driven quadruped and crawling gait, combined with convex-concave connecting feet, the problem of the single movement of reconfigurable robot modules is solved, realizing diverse combination forms and flexible movement, adapting to changing working environments.

CN117622351BActive Publication Date: 2026-02-27TIANJIN UNIV
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202311538081.6
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2023-11-17
Publication Date
2026-02-27
Estimated Expiration
2043-11-17

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing reconfigurable robot modules are either unable to move or have limited movement, and their combination forms are limited, making it difficult to adapt to changing working environments and task requirements.

Method used

Design a unit robot based on a thick-plate paper-cutting structure. Employ motor-driven quadruped robot gait and crawling robot gait. Through the cooperation of convex and concave connecting feet, achieve various combination forms and rich motion modes, including chain-like, ring-like and planar array structures.

Benefits of technology

It enables robots to move flexibly and combine in diverse ways in harsh environments, enhances the robot's environmental adaptability and movement flexibility, and expands the combination forms of reconfigurable robots.

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Abstract

The application discloses a reconfigurable robot based on a thick plate paper-cut structure, a unit robot body of which is connected by six rigid thick plates in a hinged mode, the six rigid thick plates are arranged in a full symmetry mode, hinged positions form movement axes of the unit robot, each movement axis distribution meets the foldable requirements of a paper-cut model, active driving is realized by adding a motor on the movement axis, the unit robot has single degree of freedom and a movement bifurcation point. The reconfigurable robot has rich movement forms, can realize a four-legged robot gait and a crawling robot gait, has various combination forms among multiple unit robots, can be expanded horizontally and vertically, and can be combined into a closed chain, a single chain, a plane, a curved surface, a cylindrical surface and the like, and the reconfigurable robot after combination has certain deformation movement ability.
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Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of reconfigurable robot technology, in particular to a reconfigurable robot based on a thick plate paper-cut structure. BACKGROUND

[0002] One of the main purposes of developing robots is to replace or partially replace human to complete the work in dangerous environments. Field exploration is a favorable means for human to understand and transform nature, post-disaster search and rescue is an important part of protecting the lives and safety of people in disaster areas, space exploration is a powerful impetus for scientific and technological progress, and field operations are an important part of military strength. However, in the above cases, it is often difficult to reach the destination to complete the specified exploration task due to the harsh environment and climate, and the work in unstructured environment and movement puts very strict requirements on the performance and movement form of the robot, and the variability of the work site also puts requirements on the transportation cost of the robot.

[0003] Traditional industrial robot systems have complex structure, high process cost, single configuration, poor autonomy, and very limited task content. Reconfigurable robots can change their configuration according to different working environments and tasks, have strong environmental adaptability, and show great application potential. However, the robot unit module is often difficult to move or has single movement.

[0004] Paper folding robots are based on paper folding patterns, can be converted from a planar structure to a three-dimensional spatial structure, have the characteristics of simple manufacturing and deformability, and the compact folded form also facilitates transportation. The paper-cut structure further removes a part of the constraints on the basis of paper folding, which can further improve the movement flexibility of the robot, significantly reduce the complexity of the robot, and enable a movement flexible single robot to become a unit module of a reconfigurable robot. In addition, the networking characteristics of paper folding make the combination form of the reconfigurable robot more diverse.

[0005] Therefore, it is necessary to develop a reconfigurable robot that is more flexible in movement, has strong deformation ability, and can form a variety of combinations, in order to solve the problem of current reconfigurable robot module units that cannot move or have single movement, and to expand the combination form of the reconfigurable robot. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application is directed to the problems in the prior art, and proposes a reconfigurable robot based on a thick plate paper-cut structure, which is a unit of a single robot that is flexible in movement, has certain deformation ability, and has a variety of combination forms, in order to solve the problem of current reconfigurable robot module units that cannot move or have single movement, and to expand the combination form of the reconfigurable robot. The unit robot has good movement symmetry, and the profile of the combined reconfigurable robot can be more flat.

[0007] The technical scheme adopted to achieve the purpose of the present application is:

[0008] The reconfigurable robot based on thick plate paper-cut structure comprises a unit robot, which is designed based on thick plate paper-cut folding mode, has single degree of freedom and one movement bifurcation point, and realizes four-legged robot gait and crawling robot gait by driving a motor, and the shape of the unit robot can be changed under the premise of maintaining movement; a plurality of unit robots can be combined to form a chain structure, a ring structure or a planar array structure.

[0009] The unit robot comprises a unit robot body, convex connecting feet and concave connecting feet arranged on the unit robot body, the unit robot body is connected by six rigid thick plates, the six rigid thick plates are arranged in a full-symmetrical form, the hinge positions form movement axes of the unit robot, and the projection distribution of the six movement axes on a plane meets the foldable requirements of a double-apex six-fold paper-cut structure after a two-single-apex four-fold paper-cut pattern is spliced according to a common fold line and then the common fold line is cut.

[0010] The spatial positions of the six movement axes meet the Waldron linkage mechanism; a motor is added to the movement axes to realize active driving, and different crawling movement modes are realized by configuring the driving angles at the movement bifurcation points.

[0011] The six rigid thick plates comprise two large plates and four small plates, the two large plates are identical in structure, the four small plates are identical in structure, each of the four small plates is hingedly connected to form a small plate unit, and the two small plate units are symmetrically arranged and hingedly connected to the two symmetrically arranged large plates on their sides.

[0012] The large plate is in the shape of an isosceles trapezoid, the small plate is in the shape of a right-angled triangle, two small plates are hingedly connected to form a small plate unit through the right-angled edges, and the large plate is hingedly connected to the hypotenuse of the small plate unit through the waist edge.

[0013] The six movement axes are Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4, Z5 and Z6, the movement axes Z1 and Z2 are arranged between one large plate and two small plate units and the included angle is α 45 , the movement axes Z4 and Z5 are arranged between the other large plate and two small plate units and the included angle is α 12 , the movement axes Z3 and Z6 are respectively arranged between the two small plates of two small plate units, the included angle between the movement axes Z3 and Z2 and Z3 is respectively α 23 , α 34 , and the included angle between the movement axes Z6 and Z1 and Z2 is respectively α 56 , α 61 .

[0014] a 23 =a 34 =a 61 =a 56 ,

[0015] a 12 + a 34 + a 56 = π, a 61 + a 23 + a 45 = π,

[0016] a 61 / a 56 = sin a 61 / sin a 56 , a 23 / a 34 = sin a 23 / sin a 34 .

[0017] Wherein, the movement axes Z2 and Z4 are located in the same plane and intersect at a point, the movement axis Z3 is in a different plane from the movement axes Z2 and Z4, and the orthogonal projection of the movement axis Z3 intersects the intersection point of the movement axes Z2 and Z4; similarly, the movement axes Z1 and Z5 are located in the same plane and intersect at a point, the movement axis Z6 is in a different plane from the movement axes Z1 and Z5, and the orthogonal projection of the movement axis Z6 intersects the intersection point of the movement axes Z2 and Z4.

[0018] Wherein, two or more unit robots are connected through convex connecting feet and concave connecting feet to form a chain, a ring or a planar array structure.

[0019] Wherein, a movement joint is formed between two small plates through a small plate hinge, a main movement joint is formed between the small plate unit and the large plate through a bearing installed between the small plate bearing seat and the large plate bearing seat, and the motor and the motor coupling cooperate to realize the driving of the main movement joint; at the same time, the motor and the motor coupling realize the axial positioning between the small plate and the large plate.

[0020] Wherein, the connecting foot composed of the convex connecting foot / concave connecting foot and the corresponding heel is matched with the foot end connecting shaft in the foot end bearing seat on the large plate through the bearing installed on the heel to form the movement axis of the foot end, which is driven by a rudder and axially positioned.

[0021] Wherein, the concave connecting foot comprises a concave connecting foot body and an electromagnetic pin, the electromagnetic pin is arranged on the concave connecting foot body, the convex connecting foot is composed of a convex connecting foot lower part, a convex connecting foot upper part, an electromagnet, a permanent magnet and a convex connecting foot slider, the electromagnet and the convex connecting foot slider are arranged in the center hole of the convex connecting foot lower part and the convex connecting foot upper part and can slide up and down, the end of the convex connecting foot slider away from the electromagnet is provided with a hole for inserting the pin shaft of the top end of the electromagnetic pin to realize the connection between the concave connecting foot and the convex connecting foot.

[0022] The unit robot of the application is designed based on a thick plate paper-cutting folding mode, has a single degree of freedom and a movement bifurcation point, is driven by a motor, has rich movement forms, can realize a four-legged robot gait and a crawling robot gait, has various combination forms among multiple unit robots, can be combined into a closed chain, a single chain, a plane, a curved surface and the like, and the reconfigurable robot after combination has certain deformation movement ability.

[0023] The unit robot of the application can realize self deformation on the basis of a four-legged robot gait, and simultaneously has a crawling robot movement gait. The crawling gait of the unit robot of the application has two movement modes, i.e. a normal movement mode and a singular movement mode. When the driving shaft angles are equal, the unit robot is in the normal movement mode. When the non-driving shaft angles are equal and fixed, the unit robot is in the singular movement mode. When the unit robot is in the normal movement mode, the body is stretched each time to move a distance in the front-back direction, and the body is stretched each time to move a distance in the left-right direction.

[0024] Among them, two connecting feet of a unit robot are connected with two other different unit robots, longitudinal extension can be realized, the above two lateral connection forms can be realized and the movement forms are maintained, i.e. a plane or a cylindrical surface which can be longitudinally extended is formed, the formed plane has three-direction deformation ability, and the formed cylindrical surface has a bottom edge with variable length.

[0025] Among them, a connecting mechanism is added to the plate of the unit robot main body to make the connecting plates of two unit robots fixedly connected and unable to move relative to each other, the assembly among multiple unit robots can be completed, the number of unit robots can be expanded in the lateral and longitudinal directions in the completely flattened state of the unit robot, a plane array which can be infinitely expanded is formed, the thick plate of the unit robot with a cut and folded crease is connected with the thick plate of the same position of another unit robot to realize one-way expansion, the thick plate of the unit robot with a cut and folded crease is divided into two parts and connected with other two different unit robots to realize expansion in another direction, the unit robots are arranged alternately in positive and negative directions to realize infinite expansion, the unit robots in the array still maintain self deformation and movement ability under certain synchronous movement conditions, and meanwhile the whole reconfigurable robot after combination can realize actions such as front-back stretching, up-down swinging and left-right swinging.

[0026] The unit robot of the present application contains two rotatable connecting feet for shearing the crease of a thick plate, the assembly between multiple unit robots can be completed, the one-way expansion can be realized by connecting two unit robots through matching connecting feet, the expansion in another direction can be realized by connecting two connecting feet on the same thick plate of a unit robot with another two different unit robots, the unit robot in a completely flattened state can expand the number of unit robots in the horizontal and vertical directions, forming a plane array that can be infinitely expanded, the unit robot does not need to be arranged alternately in the front and back directions after adding the connecting feet to realize the infinite expansion, the unit robots in the array still maintain their own deformation and movement ability under certain synchronous movement conditions, and the reconfigurable robot as a whole can realize actions such as forward and backward stretching, up and down swinging, left and right swinging, and the like, and the addition of the connecting feet enables the unit robot to have the gait of a four-legged robot on the basis of the crawling gait, and the movement is more flexible.

[0027] The reconfigurable robot of the present application has rich combination forms, two connecting feet of a unit robot are connected with another same unit robot, and horizontal extension can be realized. Two or more unit robots are connected at the head and tail and a pair of connecting feet are disconnected to form a single chain structure, each unit robot of the reconfigurable robot in the single chain structure can have two movement modes, the reconfigurable robot chain can realize forward and backward movement in the normal movement mode, the reconfigurable robot chain can realize left and right swinging in the singular movement mode, and the foot end movement shaft enables the reconfigurable robot chain to realize up and down swinging independently of other directions, and this kind of connection mode can be used as a snake robot or a mechanical arm; two or more unit robots of the reconfigurable robot are connected at the head and tail to form a closed loop multi-link structure, and one length-variable side is arranged in a group of adjacent sides of the closed loop polygon, and the unit robot in this combination form does not have a singular movement mode. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a unit robot of a reconfigurable robot according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0029] Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a structural schematic diagram of a connecting foot of a reconfigurable robot according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0030] Figure 3 FIG. 3 is a basic configuration diagram of a unit robot of a reconfigurable robot according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] Figure 4 FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of a unit robot of a reconfigurable robot in a normal movement mode according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0032] Figure 5 FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of a unit robot of a reconfigurable robot in a singular movement mode according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0033] Figure 6 is a motion deformation sketch of a reconfigurable robot unit robot in normal motion mode according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] Figure 7 is a motion deformation sketch of a reconfigurable robot unit robot in singular motion mode according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0035] Figure 8 is a chain structure and motion deformation sketch of a reconfigurable robot footless networking form according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0036] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a ring structure of a reconfigurable robot footless networking form according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0037] Figure 10 is another schematic diagram of a ring structure of a reconfigurable robot footless networking form according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0038] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of two unit robots connected in a reconfigurable robot footed networking form according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0039] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of a chain structure of a reconfigurable robot footed networking form according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0040] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of a ring structure of a reconfigurable robot footed networking form according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0041] Figure 14 is another schematic diagram of a ring structure of a reconfigurable robot footed networking form according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0042] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of a planar structure of a reconfigurable robot footed networking form according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0043] Reference signs:

[0044] 1 small plate hinge, 2 control plate cushion block, 3 control plate, 4 motor drive board, 5 large plate, 6 convex connecting foot, 7 rudder machine fixing seat, 8 rudder machine, 9 foot heel, 10 foot end connecting shaft, 11 bearing, 12 foot end bearing seat, 13 large plate bearing seat front, 14 small plate, 15 concave connecting foot, 16 large plate bearing seat rear, 17 small plate bearing seat, 18 motor coupling, 19 motor, 20 motor fixing seat; 21 concave connecting foot body, 22 electromagnetic pin, 23 convex connecting foot lower part, 24 convex connecting foot upper part, 25 electromagnet, 26 permanent magnet, 27 convex connecting foot sliding block. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] The application will be described in further detail below with reference to the drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that the specific examples described herein are intended to be illustrative only and are not intended to limit the present application.

[0046] As shown in the figure, the reconfigurable robot based on thick plate paper-cut structure includes a unit robot, which comprises a small plate hinge 1, a control plate cushion block 2, a control plate 3, a motor driving plate 4, a large plate 5, a convex connecting foot 6, a rudder fixing seat 7, a rudder 8, a foot heel 9, a foot end connecting shaft 10, a bearing 11, a foot end bearing seat 12, a large plate bearing seat front 13, a small plate 14, a concave connecting foot 15, a large plate bearing seat rear 16, a small plate bearing seat 17, a motor coupling 18, a motor 19, and a motor fixing seat 20. Figure 1 The small plate is four, and the large plate is two, which are rigid thick plates, connected by hinges to form a unit robot body. Specifically, the two small plates 14 are connected by the small plate hinge 1 to form a movement joint and constitute a small plate unit. The small plate 14 of the small plate unit and the large plate 5 are cooperated by the small plate bearing seat 17 and the large plate bearing seat front 13 / large plate bearing seat rear 16 to install the bearing 11 to form a movement joint, and the motor 19 and the motor coupling 18 cooperate to realize the driving of the movement joint. At the same time, the motor 19 and the motor coupling 18 also realize the axial positioning between the small plate 14 and the large plate 5. The connecting foot composed of the convex connecting foot 6 / concave connecting foot 15 and the foot heel 9 is cooperated by the bearing 11 installed on the foot heel 9 and the foot end connecting shaft 10 in the foot end bearing seat 12 on the large plate 5 to form the movement shaft of the foot end, which is driven by the rudder 8 and axially positioned.

[0047] Specifically, the small plate 14, the small plate hinge 1, the small plate 14, the small plate bearing seat 17, the small plate 14, and the motor coupling 18 are all connected by bolts. The large plate 5 and the large plate bearing seat front 13 / large plate bearing seat rear 16 are connected by bolts, and the motor 19 is fixed on the large plate 5 by the motor fixing seat 20 through bolt connection. The large plate 5 and the foot end bearing seat 12 are connected by bolts, and each rudder 8 is fixed on the large plate 5 by two rudder fixing seats 7. The rudder 8 and the rudder fixing seat 7, the rudder fixing seat 7 and the large plate 5 are all connected by bolts.

[0048] Specifically, the small plate 14, the small plate hinge 1, the small plate 14, the small plate bearing seat 17, the small plate 14, and the motor coupling 18 are all connected by bolts. The large plate 5 and the large plate bearing seat front 13 / large plate bearing seat rear 16 are connected by bolts, and the motor 19 is fixed on the large plate 5 by the motor fixing seat 20 through bolt connection. The large plate 5 and the foot end bearing seat 12 are connected by bolts, and each rudder 8 is fixed on the large plate 5 by two rudder fixing seats 7. The rudder 8 and the rudder fixing seat 7, the rudder fixing seat 7 and the large plate 5 are all connected by bolts.

[0049] Specifically, the small plate 14, the small plate hinge 1, the small plate 14, the small plate bearing seat 17, the small plate 14, and the motor coupling 18 are all connected by bolts. The large plate 5 and the large plate bearing seat front 13 / large plate bearing seat rear 16 are connected by bolts, and the motor 19 is fixed on the large plate 5 by the motor fixing seat 20 through bolt connection. The large plate 5 and the foot end bearing seat 12 are connected by bolts, and each rudder 8 is fixed on the large plate 5 by two rudder fixing seats 7. The rudder 8 and the rudder fixing seat 7, the rudder fixing seat 7 and the large plate 5 are all connected by bolts.

[0050] Wherein, the thick plate paper-cut structure based reconfigurable robot connecting foot structure of the application mainly comprises a concave connecting foot body 21, an electromagnetic pin 22, a convex connecting foot lower part 23, a convex connecting foot upper part 24, an electromagnet 25, a permanent magnet 26 and a convex connecting foot slider 27, wherein the concave connecting foot body 21 and the electromagnetic pin 22 form a concave connecting foot 15, the convex connecting foot lower part 23, the convex connecting foot upper part 24, the electromagnet 25, the permanent magnet 26 and the convex connecting foot slider 27 form a convex connecting foot 6, Figure 2 The structure of the thick plate paper-cut structure based reconfigurable robot connecting foot is shown.

[0051] Wherein, the electromagnetic pin 22 is bolted with the concave connecting foot body 21; the convex connecting foot lower part 23 is bolted with the convex connecting foot upper part 24; the permanent magnet 26 is glued with the convex connecting foot upper part 24; the screw hole in the center of the electromagnet 25 is connected with the threaded shaft on the convex connecting foot slider 27; the electromagnet 25 and the convex connecting foot slider 27 are both placed in the center hole of the convex connecting foot lower part 23 and the convex connecting foot upper part 24 and can slide up and down; the hole on the end of the convex connecting foot slider 27 away from the electromagnet 25 can allow the pin shaft on the top of the electromagnetic pin 22 to be inserted, so as to realize the connection between the concave connecting foot 15 and the convex connecting foot 6. All the bolt connections are only shown as mounting holes in the drawings.

[0052] Figure 3 The basic configuration diagram of the unit robot of the embodiment of the application is shown, the unit robot body is connected by six rigid thick plates, the six rigid thick plates are arranged in a full symmetry form, three plates in front and three plates in back, the hinge positions form the movement axes of the unit robot, the distribution of the movement axes meets the foldable requirements of the paper-cut model, according to the differences of the peak fold and the valley fold, the movement axes are distributed on the upper and lower surfaces of the rigid thick plates, the movement axes are arranged in a full symmetry form, three on the left side and three on the right side, the three movement axes on one side are located on the same plane and intersect at a point, the middle movement axis is in a different plane relationship with the other two movement axes, that is, the movement axes on the upper and lower sides are located on the two sides of the thick plate, the orthographic projection intersects the intersection point of the other two movement axes, the spatial positions of the six movement axes meet the Waldron linkage,

[0053] Specifically, the six movement axes are Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4, Z5 and Z6, the movement axes Z1 and Z2 are arranged between a large plate and two small plate units and the included angle is alpha 45 , the movement axes Z4 and Z5 are arranged between another large plate and two small plate units and the included angle is alpha 12 , the movement axes Z3 and Z6 are respectively arranged between the two small plates of two small plate units; the included angles between the movement axis Z3 and the movement axes Z2 and Z3 are respectively alpha 23 , alpha 34, the included angle between the motion axis Z6 and Z1, Z2 is α 56 ,α 61 ; wherein the six motion axes satisfy the relationship α 12 +α 34 +α 56 = π, α 61 +α 23 +α 45 = π, a 61 / a 56 = sinα 61 / sinα 56 , a 23 / a 34 = sinα 23 / sinα 34 . By adding motors on the motion axes, the unit robot configuration has a single degree of freedom, but has a motion bifurcation point, and at least two driving motors should be added. More preferably, a 23 = a 34 = a 61 = a 56 , four motors arranged symmetrically are selected for driving to increase the motion stability, a 23 , a 34 , a 56 , a 61 , the distance between the motion axes refers to the vertical distance, such as a 23 is the vertical distance of the motion axes Z2 and Z3, and the others are the vertical distances of the motion axes Z3 and Z4, the motion axes Z5 and Z6, and the motion axes Z6 and Z1.

[0054] The unit robot of the embodiment of the application can realize self deformation, if the steering engine 8 is kept at a fixed angle, the concave connecting foot 15 and the convex connecting foot 6 and the large plate 5 connected thereto can be regarded as fixedly connected, and through self deformation, the motion gait of the crawling robot can be realized and a certain body deformation ability can be maintained. The reconfigurable robot unit robot crawling gait based on the thick plate paper-cut structure of the present example has two motion modes, a normal motion mode and a singular motion mode.

[0055] Figure 4 、 Figure 5 The normal motion mode and the singular motion mode structure diagram of the reconfigurable robot unit robot are shown, when the angles of the motion axis Z1, the motion axis Z2, the motion axis Z4 and the motion axis Z5 are equal, the unit robot is in the normal motion mode, when the angles of the motion axis Z3 and the motion axis Z6 are equal and are fixed angles, the reconfigurable robot unit robot is in the singular motion mode. Wherein, when the unit robot is in the normal motion mode, each time the body is stretched, a distance in the front and back directions can be moved, Figure 6The motion diagram of the unit robot in normal motion mode is shown; the unit robot is in singular motion mode, and each time the body is stretched, a distance in the left and right directions can be moved, Figure 7 The motion diagram of the unit robot in singular motion mode is shown.

[0056] In the present application, if the steering wheel 8 works normally, the concave connecting foot 15 and the convex connecting foot 6 can rotate relative to the large plate 5 connected therebetween, the unit robot can realize a four-legged gait, and in the four-legged gait mode, the deformation ability of the robot is enhanced.

[0057] The reconfigurable robot of the present application has different networking forms, the steering wheel 8 is kept at a fixed angle, and can be regarded as adding a non-rotatable connecting mechanism to the thick plate with cut creases in the unit robot, that is, the plates between the front and rear sides are connected without additional motion axes, and the footless networking form can be realized. Figure 8 The chain-like structure schematic diagram of the footless networking form of the reconfigurable robot is shown, in the footless networking form, the unit robots in the front and rear directions need to be arranged alternately to realize the motion of the unit robots without influence on the infinite expansion to form a chain-like reconfigurable robot array, the chain-like reconfigurable robot array can realize front and rear stretching, up and down swinging, left and right swinging, and axial rotation, etc. One thick plate of the unit robot is not completely aligned with the thick plate of another unit robot, leaving a part to connect a third unit robot, which can realize expansion in another direction, and the implementation manner is similar to the footed networking form. In addition, the footless networking form can also form a ring structure, Figure 9 、 Figure 10 The ring structure schematic diagram of the footless networking form of the reconfigurable robot is shown, Figure 9 The triangular prism-like structure shown is a stable structure and cannot be deformed, Figure 10 The square prism-like structure shown is variable in side length, and the ring structure has no singular motion mode.

[0058] The reconfigurable robot of the present application, when the steering wheel 8 works normally, can be regarded as adding a rotatable connecting mechanism to the thick plate with cut creases in the unit robot, that is, the plates between the front and rear sides are connected with additional motion axes, and the footed networking form can be realized. The unit robots in the footed networking form do not need to be arranged alternately due to the introduction of the rotatable foot end, and the motion form is similar to the footless networking form but has a larger motion range. The connection between the unit robots can be realized by the cooperation of the convex connecting foot 6 and the concave connecting foot 15, Figure 11 The connection schematic diagram of two unit robots in the footed networking form of the reconfigurable robot is shown.

[0059] In the reconfigurable robot legged network configuration of this application embodiment, both connecting legs of one unit robot are connected to another unit robot of the same type, enabling lateral extension. Two or more unit robots can be connected end-to-end while keeping the last pair of connecting legs disconnected to form a single-chain structure, enabling expansion along the robot's direction. In the single-chain structure, each unit robot can have two motion modes: in normal motion mode, the reconfigurable robot chain can move forward and backward; in unusual motion mode, the reconfigurable robot chain can swing left and right. The foot-end motion axis allows the reconfigurable robot chain to swing up and down independently of other directions. This connection mode can be used as a snake-like robot or a robotic arm. Figure 12 The diagram shows a chain-like structure with legs, forming a network, for the reconfigurable robot.

[0060] In this application, two or more unit robots of the reconfigurable robot can be connected end-to-end to form a closed-loop multi-link structure, and one of the adjacent edges of the closed-loop polygon has a variable-length edge. Figure 13 , Figure 14 The diagram shows a reconfigurable robot with a footed network-like ring structure in two directions. In this combination, the unit robots do not have singular motion modes.

[0061] In this application, a single-unit robot has two connecting legs that connect to two other different single-unit robots, enabling extension perpendicular to the robot's direction. Figure 15 The diagram shows a planar structure of a reconfigurable robot with a legged network. After extension, the movement of each column of the reconfigurable robot needs to be consistent, which can form a double-column single-chain structure, or it can be combined with the above two lateral connection forms to form a planar structure while maintaining the movement mode of the lateral connection form. This can form an extendable plane, curved surface or cylindrical surface. The formed surface has the ability to deform in three directions, and the formed cylinder has a bottom side with a variable side length.

[0062] The specific working process of the reconfigurable robot based on a thick-plate paper-cutting structure of the present invention is as follows:

[0063] The reconfigurable robot unit robot of the present application is placed on the ground, the convex connecting foot 6 and the concave connecting foot 15 are kept in contact with the bottom surface, the control board 3 is started, the program in the control board 3 is run, the control board 3 transmits signals to the two motor drive boards 4 and the steering wheel 8, the motor drive boards 4 control the movement of the four motors 19, the motors 19 drive the small plates 14 to move around the large plate 5, the angle between the small plates 14 and the large plate 5 changes, and the angle between the small plates 14 changes, the entire unit robot moves accordingly, the steering wheel 8 directly moves according to the signals of the control board 3, and drives the heel 9 and the convex connecting foot 6 or the concave connecting foot 15 to rotate around the large plate 5, when wireless communication is not enabled, the unit robot moves according to the pre-programmed program; when wireless communication is enabled, external data connects the control board 3 program, through external wireless signal instructions, the movement angle of the motor 19 and the steering wheel 8 is controlled in real time, so as to control the corresponding action of the unit robot.

[0064] When multiple robots need to work together, two unit robots need to be connected, the unit robot aligns the convex connecting foot 6 or the concave connecting foot 15 of itself with the concave connecting foot 15 or the convex connecting foot 6 of another robot through the way of lifting the foot and completely flattening, so that the convex connecting foot slider 27 can be inserted into the groove on the concave connecting foot body 21, the electromagnetic pin 22 in the concave connecting foot 15 is powered off and retracted, the electromagnet 25 on the convex connecting foot slider 27 is powered with reverse current, the magnetic force direction of the electromagnet 25 changes, the convex connecting foot slider 27 is pushed into place under the action of the permanent magnet 26, the electromagnetic pin 22 is powered off and inserted into the round hole on the convex connecting foot slider 27, and the connection of the two unit robots is completed.

[0065] The above only describes the preferred embodiments of the present application, and it should be noted that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present application, a number of improvements and refinements can be made, and these improvements and refinements should also be considered as the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A reconfigurable robot based on thick plate paper cutting structure, characterized in that, The unit robot is designed based on a thick plate paper-cut folding mode, has a single degree of freedom and a motion bifurcation point, is driven by a motor to realize a four-legged robot gait and a crawling robot gait, and is variable in shape under the premise of maintaining motion; a plurality of unit robots can be combined to form a chain, a ring or a planar array structure. The unit robot comprises a unit robot body, convex connecting feet and concave connecting feet arranged on the unit robot body, the unit robot body is connected by six rigid thick plates in a hinged manner, the six rigid thick plates are arranged in a full-symmetrical form, hinged positions form motion axes of the unit robot, and projections of the six motion axes on a plane are distributed according to the folding requirements of a double-vertex six-fold paper-cut structure formed by splicing two single-vertex four-fold paper-cut patterns according to a common fold line and then cutting the common fold line. The spatial positions of the six motion axes meet the Waldron linkage mechanism; a motor is added to the motion axes to realize active driving, and different crawling motion modes are realized by configuring driving angles at the motion bifurcation points.

2. The thick slab paper cutting structure based reconfigurable robot according to claim 1, wherein, The six rigid thick plates are composed of two large plates and four small plates, the two large plates are identical in structure, the four small plates are identical in structure, each of the four small plates is hinged by two small plates to form a small plate unit, and the two small plate units are symmetrically arranged and hinged to the two symmetrically arranged large plates on their two sides.

3. The thick slab paper cutting structure based reconfigurable robot according to claim 2, wherein, The large plate is in the shape of an isosceles trapezoid, the small plate is in the shape of a right-angled triangle, two small plates are hinged by right-angled edges to form a small plate unit, and the large plate is hinged to the hypotenuse of the small plate unit by a waist edge.

4. The thick slab paper cutting structure based reconfigurable robot according to claim 3, wherein, Six movement axes are Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4, Z5, Z6, movement axes Z1, Z2 are arranged between one large plate and two small plate units and the included angle is α 45 , movement axes Z4, Z5 are arranged between another large plate and two small plate units and the included angle is α 12 , movement axes Z3, Z6 are respectively arranged between two small plates of two small plates; the included angles between movement axes Z3 and Z2, Z4 are respectively α 23 , α 34 , the included angles between movement axes Z6 and Z1, Z5 are respectively α 56 , α 61 ; a 23 = a 34 = a 61 = a 56 , α 12 +α 34 +α 56 =π,α 61 +α 23 +α 45 =π。 5. The thick slab paper cutting structure based reconfigurable robot according to claim 4, wherein, Motion axes Z2 and Z4 are located on the same plane and intersect at a point, motion axis Z3 is in a different plane relationship with motion axes Z2 and Z4, and the orthographic projection of motion axis Z3 intersects with motion axes Z2 and Z4 at the intersection point of the upper and lower motion axes Z2 and Z4; similarly, motion axes Z1 and Z5 are located on the same plane and intersect at a point, motion axis Z6 is in a different plane relationship with motion axes Z1 and Z5, and the orthographic projection of motion axis Z6 intersects with motion axes Z1 and Z5 at the intersection point of the upper and lower motion axes Z1 and Z5.

6. The thick slab paper cutting structure based reconfigurable robot according to claim 1, wherein, Two or more unit robots are connected to each other through the cooperation of the convex connecting feet and the concave connecting feet to form a chain, a ring or a planar array structure.

7. The thick slab paper cutting structure based reconfigurable robot as claimed in claim 2, wherein, Two small plates are hinged by a small plate hinge to form a motion joint, a small plate unit and a large plate are cooperated by a bearing installed between a small plate bearing seat and a large plate bearing seat to form a main motion joint, and the main motion joint is driven by the cooperation of a motor and a motor coupling; meanwhile, the motor and the motor coupling realize the axial positioning between the small plate and the large plate.

8. The reconfigurable robot based on thick plate paper-cut structure according to claim 7, characterized in that, The connecting feet composed of the convex connecting feet / concave connecting feet and corresponding foot heels are cooperated by a bearing installed on the foot heel and a foot end connecting shaft in a foot end bearing seat on the large plate to form a foot end motion axis, which is driven and axially positioned by a rudder.

9. The reconfigurable robot based on thick plate paper-cut structure according to claim 7, characterized in that, The concave connecting foot comprises a concave connecting foot body and an electromagnetic pin arranged on the concave connecting foot body, and the convex connecting foot is composed of a convex connecting foot lower part, a convex connecting foot upper part, an electromagnet, a permanent magnet and a convex connecting foot slider, the electromagnet and the convex connecting foot slider are arranged in the circular hole in the center of the convex connecting foot lower part and the convex connecting foot upper part and can slide up and down, and the end of the convex connecting foot slider away from the electromagnet is provided with a hole for inserting the pin shaft of the top end of the electromagnetic pin, so that the connection between the concave connecting foot and the convex connecting foot is realized.

Citation Information

Patent Citations

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