A four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the field of underwater unmanned submersible equipment design, and in particular, relates to a four-axis tilting propulsion underwater robot. It includes a shell 1, a frame 2, a tilting propulsion assembly 3, and an operating assembly 4; the shell 1 is composed of an upper shell 10 and a lower shell 11 that are spliced ​​together; the inner side of the upper shell 10 and the lower shell 11 is provided with a guide channel surrounded by the shell surface, and the frame 2 includes a support plate arranged in the shell 1 for connecting and supporting the shell 1, the propulsion assembly 3 and the operating assembly 4; the tilting propulsion assembly 3 includes a first propeller 30, a second propeller 31, a first steering gear 32, and a second steering gear 33. The operating assembly 4 includes: a third steering gear 40 arranged at the bottom of the front side of the shell 1, and a clamp arm 41 installed on the steering gear 40. A four-axis tilting propulsion underwater robot of the present invention is mainly used for operating tasks in complex ocean current environments, for improving the control accuracy of water washing submersibles, and for completing some operating tasks with higher requirements for accuracy and anti-interference.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of underwater diving equipment design, and in particular relates to a four-axis tilt-thruster underwater robot. Background Art

[0002] Underwater submersible equipment can reach underwater environments that are difficult for human labor to reach, reducing the difficulty of underwater operations. It is an important equipment in the fields of ocean resource exploration, geological disaster monitoring, prevention and control. With the complexity and efficiency of ocean operation tasks, various tasks have put forward new requirements for the size, flexibility, endurance and intelligence of underwater unmanned submersible equipment.

[0003] The currently used underwater submersible equipment is mainly based on existing submarines and various types of drive and control structures derived from them. With the help of advanced polymer materials and reasonable layout design, the underwater submersible equipment has good performance in the vertical and horizontal directions and can effectively achieve rapid maneuvers. At the same time, the high-speed movement of the submersible equipment and its inertia, superimposed on the real-time changes in the ocean currents, make it difficult to ensure the effectiveness of the precise movement of the underwater submersible equipment in complex ocean currents. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot with high control efficiency, good structural stability and good self-protection performance based on the demand for precise control of underwater submersible equipment in complex ocean current environments for certain underwater operation tasks.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical solution.

[0006] A four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot of the present invention comprises a shell 1, a frame 2, a tilt-thrust propulsion component 3, and an operation component 4;

[0007] The shell 1 is composed of an upper shell 10 and a lower shell 11 which are joined together; the inner sides of the upper shell 10 and the lower shell 11 are provided with guide channels surrounded by shell surfaces, including: two first guide channels 1a arranged on the left and right sides of the shell 1 and extending in the front-to-back direction, a second guide channel 1b arranged on the front side of the shell 1 and extending horizontally in the left-to-right direction, and four third guide channels 1c arranged at the four corners of the shell 1 and extending in the vertical direction; wherein the four third guide channels 1c are respectively connected with the two first guide channels 1a, and the two third guide channels 1c located on the front side are simultaneously connected with the first guide channel 1a and the second guide channel 1b;

[0008] The skeleton 2 includes a support plate disposed in the shell 1 for connecting and supporting the shell 1, the propulsion assembly 3 and the working assembly 4;

[0009] The tilt propulsion assembly 3 comprises: a first propeller 30 located at the front side of the first guide channel 1a at the intersection of the second guide channel 1b and the third guide channel 1c; a second propeller 31 located at the rear side of the first guide channel 1a at the intersection of the third guide channel 1c; a first steering gear 32 for connecting the first propeller 30 with the skeleton 2; a second steering gear 33 for connecting the second propeller 31 with the skeleton 2; the first steering gear 32 is used to drive the first propeller 30 to rotate so that its rotation axis coincides with the third guide channel (1c) or the second guide channel 1b; the second steering gear 33 is used to drive the second propeller 31 so that its rotation axis coincides with the first guide channel 1a or the third guide channel 1c;

[0010] The operating assembly 4 includes: a third steering gear 40 disposed at the front bottom of the housing 1 , and a clamp arm 41 mounted on the third steering gear 40 .

[0011] A further improvement or preferred design scheme of the four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot of the present application also includes a sealed cabin 5 arranged in the middle of the shell 1 and a waterproof box 6 arranged at the tail of the shell 1; the sealed cabin 5 is provided with a power module for supplying energy to the underwater robot and a control module for controlling the underwater robot; the waterproof box 6 is provided with an aviation plug socket.

[0012] A further improvement or preferred design scheme of the four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot of the present application is also provided with a sensing component, including: a camera module 70 arranged on the front side of the shell 1, a searchlight 71 arranged on the left and right sides of the shell 1 and the lower front side, and an underwater ranging sensor 73 arranged on the lower shell 11.

[0013] A further improvement or preferred design of the four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot of the present application, the skeleton 2 includes: a supporting shell plate 20 arranged in four directions of the upper, lower, left and right of the sealed cabin 5, a camera module support frame 21 arranged at the front side of the sealed cabin 5, and a steering engine mounting seat 22 fixed on the supporting shell plate 20 or the shell 1 for mounting the first steering engine 32 and the second steering engine 33;

[0014] The camera module support frame 21 has a U-shaped structure, and the two arms of the two camera module support frames 21 extend backward and are fixedly connected to the support shell plate 20. The front end of the camera module support frame 21 is provided with a positioning groove 21a, and the front ends of the two camera module support frames 21 are close to the middle, and the two positioning grooves 21a are spliced ​​to form a chamber for supporting and fixing the camera module 70;

[0015] A further improvement or preferred design of the four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot of the present application, the upper shell 10 and the lower shell 11 are symmetrically arranged up and down, and are respectively composed of a front shell 1d, a middle shell 1e, and a tail shell 1f;

[0016] The front and rear ends of the first guide channel 1a penetrate the front section housing 1d and the rear section housing 1f respectively; the upper and lower ends of the third guide channel 1c penetrate the front section housing 1d and the rear section housing 1f respectively;

[0017] The tail section housing 1f is provided with a hole or slot structure for mounting the tail wing;

[0018] A clamp arm escape opening 1g is dug out at the bottom of the front section housing 1d located in the lower housing 11.

[0019] As a further improvement or preferred design of the four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot of the present application, a plurality of drainage holes 1h are provided on the shell wall on the left and right sides of the shell 1 near the intersection of the first guide channel 1a and the third guide channel 1c.

[0020] Its beneficial effects are:

[0021] The four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot of the present invention is mainly used for operation tasks in complex ocean current environments, for improving the control accuracy of water-washing submersibles, and for completing some operation tasks with higher requirements for accuracy and anti-interference. The four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot of the present application has the following advantages and design effects:

[0022] 1. It adopts box-type closed structure design, with compact overall structure, stable support, less exposed structure, simple appearance and flow field, stable external flow field, easier to control, low water resistance and more energy-saving, small reflection area and good concealment;

[0023] 2. The design of the built-in drive structure effectively prevents the drive system from being affected by external factors, has good protection and low energy consumption, and the built-in pump flow channel design improves the dynamic stability and impact resistance. At the same time, it makes full use of the flow channel to achieve internal heat dissipation and vibration buffering, reducing heat radiation and noise;

[0024] 3. The three-channel four-wheel drive structure design allows the power to be coupled and supplemented with each other, which can efficiently and simply complete three-axis motion, conveniently realize vector control, with good control effect and high positioning accuracy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 It is a side view of a four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot;

[0026] Figure 2 This is the BB cross-sectional view of the four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot;

[0027] Figure 3 It is the AA cross-sectional view of the four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot;

[0028] Figure 4 This is the assembly diagram of the four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with specific embodiments.

[0030] The present invention provides a four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot mainly used for underwater operation tasks, and its main structure is as follows: Figures 1 to 3 As shown, it includes a shell 1, a frame 2, a tilting propulsion assembly 3, and an operating assembly 4;

[0031] The shell is used to form a basic outer protective layer. At the same time, according to actual needs, targeted design is carried out when designing its appearance or material to obtain functions such as fluid dynamics and noise reduction, including but not limited to the use of fluid dynamic contours and the use of vibration and noise reduction materials.

[0032] For the present application, the main consideration is to strive to adopt simpler and more compact structural design features and installation combinations on the basis of meeting the design requirements of the present invention, so as to achieve the purpose of improving structural strength and reducing the cost of use and maintenance. Considering that the present invention adopts a propeller-driven method, in order to avoid the adverse effects of various directional water currents and debris in the water body on the propeller body and its driving flow field in a complex ocean current environment, the present application considers adopting a built-in drive system to ensure that the driving flow field can be stably excited and at the same time improve the protection capability of the driving system. For this reason, the present application adopts an internal and external double support structure, and controls the fluid shape and channel structure of the underwater robot through the outer shell 1, and uses the inner skeleton 2 to construct an internal support and connection fixing structure to ensure the stability of internal and external devices during operation and improve their ability to cope with impact.

[0033] Specifically, if Figure 2 , Figure 3As shown, the shell 1 of the four-axis tilting thruster underwater robot of the present invention can be roughly divided into an upper shell 10 and a lower shell 11 which are spliced ​​together from top to bottom; in order to ensure the all-round driving control capability, the four-axis tilting thruster underwater robot of the present application provides three-axis omnidirectional power control, and drives by propeller-driven fluid injection in fluid channels arranged in three directions in the shell, wherein each channel is surrounded by the inner shell surface of the upper shell 10 and the lower shell 11, including: two first guide channels 1a arranged on the left and right sides of the shell 1 and extending in the front-to-back direction, a second guide channel 1b arranged on the front side of the shell 1 and extending horizontally in the left-right direction, and four third guide channels 1b arranged at the four corners of the shell 1 and extending in the vertical direction. flow channel 1c; wherein, the four third flow guide channels 1c are respectively connected to the two first flow guide channels 1a, and the two third flow guide channels 1c located on the front side are simultaneously connected to the first flow guide channel 1a and the second flow guide channel 1b; it should be noted that the fluid channel is surrounded by the shell surface, which means that in terms of its structural function, each fluid channel is a tubular passage, which can be regarded as a structure surrounded by the inner wall shell of the pipeline, and the inner wall shell consists of the shell surface, ribs, channels and other structures between or inside the upper shell 10 and the lower shell 11. In actual implementation, it may have different forms of expression depending on the materials, processing technology and design features used in the shell, but functionally, it mainly forms a three-way fluid channel surrounded by the shell surface or pipeline in the shell.

[0034] The skeleton 2 is mainly used to support and fix various structures to maintain the overall shape. Its structure mainly includes a support plate arranged in the shell 1 for connecting and supporting the shell 1, the propulsion assembly 3 and the operation assembly 4;

[0035] In this embodiment, the skeleton 2 includes: a supporting shell plate 20 provided in four directions of the sealed cabin 5, a camera module support frame 21 provided at the front side of the sealed cabin 5, and a steering gear mounting seat 22 fixed on the supporting shell plate 20 or the housing 1 for mounting the first steering gear 32 and the second steering gear 33;

[0036] In order to realize omnidirectional drive control and make full use of the driving capacity of all drivers, the present application proposes to use a steering servo to control the propeller tilting and cooperate with three fluid channels to realize omnidirectional vector drive control. Compared with the traditional start-stop drive control, it can effectively utilize the driving force and save power energy, and can flexibly control the size of the driving force in different directions, thereby realizing highly flexible drive control. To achieve the above purpose, the tilting propulsion assembly 3 of the underwater robot of the present invention includes: a first guide channel 1a located in front of the second guide channel 1b and the third guide channel 1c; a first propeller 30 at the intersection of the first and second flow guiding channels 1a and 1c; a second propeller 31 located at the rear side of the first flow guiding channel 1a and at the intersection of the third flow guiding channel 1c; a first steering gear 32 for connecting the first propeller 30 and the skeleton 2; a second steering gear 33 for connecting the second propeller 31 and the skeleton 2; the first steering gear 32 is used to drive the first propeller 30 to rotate so that its rotation axis coincides with the third flow guiding channel (1c) or the second flow guiding channel 1b; the second steering gear 33 is used to drive the second propeller 31 so that its rotation axis coincides with the first flow guiding channel 1a or the third flow guiding channel 1c;

[0037] Among them, the two first guide channels 1a located on the left and right sides of the robot and extending along the front-to-back direction serve as power channels for the robot to move forward and backward; the second guide channel 1b located on the front side of the robot and extending along the left-right direction serves as the power channel for the robot to turn left and right; the third guide channel 1c located at the four corners of the robot and extending along the vertical direction serves as the power channel for the robot to move vertically; the four propeller thrusters located at the intersection of the three channels can arbitrarily distribute the total amount of driving fluid flowing into each channel through the angle between the controller main shaft and the channel axis, and then directly control the flow rate of the fluid ejected outward from different channels; the four injection ports formed by the three channels can achieve all-round posture control capabilities with fewer thrusters. Compared with the traditional drive structure, it can effectively reduce the structural complexity, improve the posture control and maintenance capabilities of the underwater robot, and reduce the consumption of driving energy.

[0038] As a further improvement or preferred design scheme of the four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot of the present application, the upper shell 10 and the lower shell 11 in the present application are symmetrically arranged up and down, and are respectively composed of a front shell 1d, a middle shell 1e, and a tail shell 1f;

[0039] The front and rear ends of the first guide channel 1a penetrate the front section housing 1d and the rear section housing 1f respectively; the upper and lower ends of the third guide channel 1c penetrate the front section housing 1d and the rear section housing 1f respectively;

[0040] The tail section housing 1f is provided with a hole or slot structure for mounting the tail wing;

[0041] A clamp arm escape opening 1g is dug out at the bottom of the front section housing 1d located in the lower housing 11.

[0042] As a further improvement or preferred design of the four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot of the present application, a plurality of drainage holes 1h are provided on the shell wall on the left and right sides of the shell 1 near the intersection of the first guide channel 1a and the third guide channel 1c.

[0043] In order to meet the necessary operation requirements, the operation component 4 of the underwater robot of the present application includes: a third steering gear 40 arranged at the bottom of the front side of the shell 1, and a clamp arm 41 installed on the third steering gear 40.

[0044] The third servo 40 is used to control the opening or folding of the clamp arm. When opened, it can be flipped forward to perform necessary operations. After folding, it can be flipped backward and stored in the belly of the robot, which is beneficial to improve the fluid dynamics of the robot, while compressing the overall size of the robot and preventing the clamp arm from contacting with external structures.

[0045] A further improvement or preferred design scheme of the four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot of the present application also includes a sealed cabin 5 arranged in the middle of the shell 1 and a waterproof box 6 arranged at the tail of the shell 1; the sealed cabin 5 is provided with a power module for supplying energy to the underwater robot and a control module for controlling the underwater robot; the waterproof box 6 is provided with an aviation plug socket.

[0046] In order to meet the needs of remote control and information acquisition, the underwater robot of the present application is also provided with a sensing component, including: a camera module 70 arranged on the front side of the shell 1, a searchlight 71 arranged on the left and right sides of the shell 1 and below the front side, and an underwater ranging sensor 73 arranged on the lower shell 11.

[0047] The camera module support frame 21 has a U-shaped structure, and the two arms of the two camera module support frames 21 extend backward and are fixedly connected to the support shell plate 20. The front end of the camera module support frame 21 is provided with a positioning groove 21a, and the front ends of the two camera module support frames 21 are close to the middle, and the two positioning grooves 21a are spliced ​​to form a chamber for supporting and fixing the camera module 70;

[0048] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, rather than to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solution of the present invention can be modified or replaced by equivalents without departing from the essence and scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot, characterized in that: It comprises a shell (1), a frame (2), a tilting propulsion assembly (3), and an operating assembly (4); The shell (1) is composed of an upper shell (10) and a lower shell (11) which are joined together; the inner sides of the upper shell (10) and the lower shell (11) are provided with flow guide channels surrounded by shell surfaces, comprising: two first flow guide channels (1a) arranged on the left and right sides of the shell (1) and extending in the front-to-back direction, a second flow guide channel (1b) arranged on the front side of the shell (1) and extending horizontally in the left-to-right direction, and four third flow guide channels (1c) arranged at the four corners of the shell (1) and extending in the vertical direction; wherein the four third flow guide channels (1c) are respectively connected to the two first flow guide channels (1a), and the two third flow guide channels (1c) located on the front side are simultaneously connected to the first flow guide channel (1a) and the second flow guide channel (1b); The frame (2) comprises a support plate arranged in the shell (1) and used for connecting and supporting the shell (1), the propulsion assembly (3) and the operation assembly (4); The tilt propulsion assembly (3) comprises: a first propeller (30) located at the front side of the first flow guiding channel (1a) at the intersection of the second flow guiding channel (1b) and the third flow guiding channel (1c); a second propeller (31) located at the rear side of the first flow guiding channel (1a) at the intersection of the third flow guiding channel (1c); a first steering gear (32) for connecting the first propeller (30) and the frame (2); and a second steering gear (33) for connecting the second propeller (31) and the frame (2); the first steering gear (32) is used to drive the first propeller (30) to rotate so that its rotation axis coincides with the third flow guiding channel (1c) or the second flow guiding channel (1b); and the second steering gear (33) is used to drive the second propeller (31) so that its rotation axis coincides with the first flow guiding channel (1a) or the third flow guiding channel (1c); The operating assembly (4) comprises: a third steering gear (40) arranged at the bottom of the front side of the housing (1), and a clamp arm (41) mounted on the third steering gear (40).

2. The four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also comprises a sealed cabin (5) arranged in the middle of the shell (1) and a waterproof box (6) arranged at the rear of the shell (1); a power module for supplying energy to the underwater robot and a control module for controlling the underwater robot are arranged in the sealed cabin (5); and an aviation socket is arranged in the waterproof box (6).

3. The four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: A sensing component is also provided, comprising: a camera module (70) arranged on the front side of the housing (1), searchlights (71) arranged on the left and right sides of the housing (1) and below the front side, and an underwater distance measuring sensor (73) arranged on the lower housing (11).

4. The four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: The frame (2) comprises: a supporting shell plate (20) arranged in four directions of the sealed cabin (5) in the vertical, horizontal and left directions; a camera module supporting frame (21) arranged at the front side of the sealed cabin (5); and a steering gear mounting seat (22) fixed on the supporting shell plate (20) or the housing (1) for mounting a first steering gear (32) and a second steering gear (33); The camera module support frame (21) is in a U-shaped structure, with two arms of the two camera module support frames (21) extending backwards and fixedly connected to the support shell plate (20), a positioning groove (21a) being provided at the front end of the camera module support frame (21), the front ends of the two camera module support frames (21) being brought closer to the middle, and the two positioning grooves (21a) being spliced ​​to form a chamber for supporting and fixing the camera module (70).

5. The four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper shell (10) and the lower shell (11) are symmetrically arranged up and down, and respectively consist of a front shell (1d), a middle shell (1e), and a rear shell (1f); The front and rear ends of the first flow guiding channel (1a) respectively penetrate the front section shell (1d) and the rear section shell (1f); the upper and lower ends of the third flow guiding channel (1c) respectively penetrate the front section shell (1d) and the rear section shell (1f); The tail section casing (1f) is provided with a hole or a slot structure for mounting the tail wing; A clamp arm avoidance opening (1g) is dug out at the bottom of the front section housing (1d) located in the lower housing (11).

6. The four-axis tilt-thrust underwater robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: A plurality of drainage holes (1h) are provided on the shell wall at the left and right sides of the shell (1) near the intersection of the first drainage channel (1a) and the third drainage channel (1c).

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