Continuum robot, morphology perception method, device and storage medium of continuum robot

Abstract

The present invention provides a continuum robot, a morphology perception method, device, and storage medium for the continuum robot, belonging to the technical field of continuum robots. The method comprises: an elastic rod, a spring, and multiple joint assemblies; the elastic rod passes through a central hole extending axially up and down through all joint assemblies; and is fixedly connected to each joint assembly; the joint assembly comprises a circuit board with multiple cantilever beams evenly arranged along a circumference; symmetrical cantilever beam holes are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the cantilever beams; a sensitive grid is provided on the line connecting each cantilever beam hole and the center of the circuit board; both ends of the spring are fixed to the cantilever beam hole; and the circuit board comprises: multiple bridge circuits, each of which includes two sensitive grids on the same cantilever beam. The present invention utilizes the sensitive grids to construct the bridge circuit. When the continuum robot is driven to bend, the resistance of the sensitive grids in the bridge circuit changes, and the force exerted on each preset cantilever beam of the continuum robot at that time is calculated.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a continuum robot, a morphology perception method and device for the continuum robot, and a storage medium, and belongs to the technical field of continuum robots. Background Art

[0002] After natural disasters such as earthquakes, mudslides, and landslides, disaster areas are often littered with ruins, rubble, and obstacles, making it difficult for traditional robots to flexibly operate in such complex environments. The most notable feature of continuum robots is their flexible and adaptable mechanical structure, which enables them to easily adapt to various complex environments. Unlike traditional rigid robots, continuum robots do not require complex joints and transmissions, and their arms can bend and extend freely like soft-bodied creatures. This feature enables continuum robots to be more flexible and maneuver into narrow spaces and around obstacles, allowing them to conduct search and rescue operations in areas inaccessible to traditional robots.

[0003] Due to the complex structure and high flexibility of continuum robots, sensor placement and calibration are particularly difficult. How to rationally arrange sensors to cover all critical areas without compromising robot performance, while ensuring accurate relative positioning between sensors, is a technical challenge that needs to be solved. Furthermore, the flexible structure of a continuum robot is subject to uncertainty in deformation when subjected to external forces. This uncertainty can arise from a variety of factors, including material nonlinearity, structural complexity, and changes in the external environment. Therefore, these uncertainties need to be fully accounted for during morphological measurement. Currently, most continuum robots lack shape perception capabilities.

[0004] Although various sensor technologies have been applied to the morphology measurement of continuum robots, such as electromagnetic (EM) sensors and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) technology, these technologies all have certain limitations. For example, EM sensors are sensitive to metal objects and electrical noise, and FBG technology has large errors in continuum robots with low stiffness and large deformation, which limits their application range. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the deficiencies in the prior art and provide a morphology perception method for a continuum robot, thereby solving the problem that the existing continuum robot has insufficient ability to perceive its own morphology.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention is implemented by adopting the following technical solutions:

[0007] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a continuum robot comprising an elastic rod, a spring, and a plurality of joint assemblies.

[0008] A central hole is provided in the center of each joint component along the axial direction; the elastic rod passes through the central holes of all joint components and is fixedly connected to each joint component respectively; the joint component includes: a circuit board; the circuit board is evenly provided with multiple cantilever beams along the circumference of its largest inscribed circle, and symmetrically distributed cantilever beam holes are opened on the upper surface and lower surface of the cantilever beam away from the center of the circuit board.

[0009] A sensitive grid is also provided on the cantilever beam; the sensitive grid is arranged on the line connecting each cantilever beam hole and the center of the circuit board; the cantilever beams of adjacent joint components are aligned axially; the spring is arranged between adjacent cantilever beams in the same axial direction, and both ends of the spring are fixed on the cantilever beam holes.

[0010] The circuit board includes: multiple bridge circuits, each of which includes two sensitive grids on the same cantilever beam, which are used to convert the change in the resistance of the sensitive grids on the same cantilever beam into an electrical signal when the continuum robot bends and causes the resistance of the two sensitive grids on the same cantilever beam to change.

[0011] Furthermore, the spacing between adjacent joint components is equal to the initial length of the spring.

[0012] Furthermore, the circuit board also includes: an instrumentation amplifier and a microcontroller; the output end of each bridge circuit is connected to the microcontroller through the instrumentation amplifier; the instrumentation amplifier is used to amplify the voltage signal output by the bridge circuit; and the microcontroller is used to obtain the force of the cantilever beam corresponding to the bridge circuit based on the amplified voltage signal.

[0013] Furthermore, the bridge circuit includes: a first sensitive gate, a second sensitive gate, a first resistor, and a second resistor; the original resistance of the first sensitive gate and the second sensitive gate is the same as the first resistor and the second resistor; one end of the first sensitive gate and the second sensitive gate are commonly connected to a power supply VCC, and the other end of the first sensitive gate is connected to one end of the first resistor and serves as a first output end; the other end of the second sensitive gate is connected to one end of the second resistor and serves as a second output end; and the other ends of the first resistor and the second resistor are commonly grounded.

[0014] Furthermore, the circuit board is a circular circuit board, and three cantilever beams are evenly arranged along the circumference of the circular circuit board.

[0015] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a morphology perception method for a continuum robot, comprising:

[0016] Obtain the force on each cantilever beam on each joint component;

[0017] Calculating the tension of each spring according to the force applied to each cantilever beam on each joint assembly;

[0018] The morphological parameters of the continuum robot between the two adjacent joint components are calculated according to the tension of each spring between the two adjacent joint components.

[0019] In conjunction with the second aspect, optionally, calculating the tension of each spring based on the force applied to each cantilever beam on each joint assembly includes:

[0020] The springs between the i-th joint component and the i+1-th joint component from bottom to top are marked as the i-th group of springs;

[0021] The tension of the first set of springs is equal to the force on the corresponding cantilever beam on the first joint assembly, and the formula is:

[0022] ;

[0023] Where, , is the number of cantilever beams on each joint assembly, is the force on the j-th cantilever beam on the first joint component, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the j-th cantilever beam in the first group of springs;

[0024] The tension of the i-th group of springs is calculated by the force formula of the corresponding cantilever beam on the i-th joint assembly. The force formula of the corresponding cantilever beam on the i-th joint assembly is:

[0025] ;

[0026] Where, , is the number of joint components, is the force on the j-th cantilever beam on the i-th joint component, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the jth cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs, The tension of the spring corresponding to the j-th cantilever beam in the i-1-th group of springs.

[0027] In conjunction with the second aspect, optionally, for a continuum robot in which each joint assembly includes three cantilever beams, calculating the morphological parameters of the continuum robot between two adjacent joint assemblies based on the tension of each spring between the two adjacent joint assemblies includes: calculating the morphological parameters of the continuum robot between the i-th joint assembly and the i-1-th joint assembly based on the tension of the i-th group of springs between the i-th joint assembly and the i-1-th joint assembly;

[0028] The morphological parameters of the continuum robot include: bending plane angle , bending angle and bending radius , the formula is:

[0029] ;

[0030] ;

[0031] ;

[0032] Where, is the initial length of the spring, is the spring stiffness coefficient, is the distance between the cantilever beam hole and the center of the circuit board, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the first cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the second cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the third cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs.

[0033] In a third aspect, the present invention provides an electronic device comprising: a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores computer-readable instructions, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed by the processor, the morphological perception method of the continuum robot as described in the second aspect is implemented.

[0034] In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the morphology perception method of the continuum robot as described in the second aspect is implemented.

[0035] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0036] (1) The continuum robot provided by the present invention adopts a joint assembly containing a circuit board, a cantilever beam hole is preset on the circuit board, and a bridge circuit is built in the circuit board using a sensitive grid. When the continuum robot is driven to bend, the springs between the joint assemblies undergo expansion and contraction deformation, and the springs fixed on the upper and lower surfaces of the circuit board exert a pulling force on the circuit board, causing the sensitive grid in the bridge circuit to be strained, and the resistance value of the sensitive grid changes accordingly. The change in resistance is converted into a voltage signal through the bridge circuit, and then the force exerted on each preset cantilever beam of the continuum robot at this time is calculated.

[0037] (2) The morphological perception method of the continuum robot provided by the present invention calculates the deformation of the continuum robot by using the spring tension. This method is simple, efficient and direct, which is conducive to improving the efficiency of measuring the morphological changes of the continuum robot. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the continuum robot provided in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the surface of the circuit board provided in Example 2 of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the bridge circuit provided in Example 2 of the present invention;

[0041] In the figure, 1 is the joint assembly, 2 is the spring, 3 is the elastic rod, 4 is the circuit board, 5 is the cantilever beam hole, 6 is the sensitive grid, 7 is the ordinary resistor, 8 is the instrument amplifier, and 9 is the MCU module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. (if any) in the specification and claims of this application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in a sequence other than that illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units that are clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or that are inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices. The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments.

[0043] Example 1

[0044] This embodiment provides a continuum robot, comprising: an elastic rod 3 , a spring 2 and a plurality of joint assemblies 1 .

[0045] Specifically, such as Figure 1 As shown, a central hole is provided in the center of each joint assembly 1 along the axial direction; the elastic rod 3 passes through the central holes of all joint assemblies 1 and is fixedly connected to each joint assembly 1 respectively.

[0046] The joint components are connected by elastic rods, so that under the action of driving force, the continuum robot can bend at different angles and directions, and then complete the corresponding actions according to the operating instructions.

[0047] The joint assembly 1 includes a circuit board 4; the circuit board 4 is evenly provided with multiple cantilever beams along the circumference of its largest inscribed circle, and symmetrically distributed cantilever beam holes are opened on the upper surface and lower surface of the cantilever beam away from the center of the circuit board; a sensitive grid is also provided on the cantilever beam; the sensitive grid is arranged on the line connecting each cantilever beam hole and the center of the circuit board.

[0048] A sensitive grid is a sensitive element that converts strain to resistance. It is usually made of wire wound into a grid or etched into a grid using metal foil. The cantilever arm with the sensitive grid forms a resistance strain gauge, which is used to express the force at that location through the resistance change of the strain gauge.

[0049] The cantilever beams of adjacent joint components are aligned along the axial direction; the spring is arranged between adjacent cantilever beams in the same axial direction, and both ends of the spring are fixed on the cantilever beam holes.

[0050] Setting multiple springs between adjacent joint components is beneficial to increasing the toughness of the continuum robot and the recovery of the robot's bending deformation. The two ends of the same spring are subjected to forces of the same magnitude and opposite directions, and the springs on the upper and lower surfaces of a joint component will produce different pulling forces due to different deformation lengths. The difference in pulling force between the two forms the force condition at that position on the joint component, which corresponds to the force condition manifested by the resistance change of the two resistance strain gauges symmetrically arranged on the upper and lower surfaces of the circuit board at that position on the joint component.

[0051] The circuit board 4 includes: multiple bridge circuits, instrument amplifiers and microcontrollers; the bridge circuit includes two sensitive grids on the same cantilever beam, which are used to convert the change in the resistance of the sensitive grids on the same cantilever beam into an electrical signal when the continuum robot bends, causing the resistance of the two sensitive grids on the same cantilever beam to change.

[0052] The two sensitive gates contained in the same bridge circuit are respectively arranged in different branches. When the continuum robot does not bend, the bridge circuit is a balanced circuit. However, when the continuum robot bends, part of the spring is deformed, the resistance of the resistance strain gauge on the circuit board in the joint assembly changes, and the bridge circuit becomes an unbalanced circuit, which can realize the conversion of the force condition of the circuit board into an electrical signal.

[0053] The output end of each bridge circuit is connected to the microcontroller through the instrument amplifier; the instrument amplifier is used to amplify the voltage signal output by the bridge circuit; and the microcontroller is used to obtain the force of the cantilever beam corresponding to the bridge circuit based on the amplified voltage signal.

[0054] Under such a structure, each bending movement of the continuum robot can generate a corresponding electrical signal response. Conversely, even if the current posture of the continuum robot can be calculated based on the signal feedback from the circuit boards in all joint components, posture simulation and posture control can be further realized.

[0055] Optionally, the spacing between adjacent joint components is equal to the initial length of the spring.

[0056] Example 2

[0057] Based on Example 1, this embodiment provides a continuum robot with a circular circuit board and three cantilever beams evenly arranged along the circumference.

[0058] Specifically, such as Figure 2 As shown, three cantilever beams are evenly distributed on the circumference of the circular circuit board 4. Each cantilever beam has symmetrically distributed cantilever beam holes 5 on the upper and lower surfaces of the end away from the center of the circuit board. A sensitive grid 6 is provided on the line connecting the cantilever beam hole 5 and the center of the circuit board. The distance between the cantilever beam hole 5 and the center of the circuit board is .

[0059] The two sensitive grids 6 on the upper and lower surfaces of each cantilever beam and the two ordinary resistors 7 form an electric bridge; the original resistance of the sensitive grid 6 is the same as that of the two ordinary resistors 7.

[0060] like Figure 3 As shown, in this embodiment, the circuit board 4 includes: 3 bridge circuits, 3 instrumentation amplifiers 8 and 1 MCU module 9.

[0061] Each bridge circuit includes: a first sensitive gate, a second sensitive gate, a first resistor, and a second resistor; the original resistance of the first and second sensitive gates is the same as that of the first and second resistors; one end of the first sensitive gate and the second sensitive gate are connected to the power supply VCC, and the other end of the first sensitive gate is connected to one end of the first resistor and serves as the first output end; the other end of the second sensitive gate is connected to one end of the second resistor and serves as the second output end; the other ends of the first and second resistors are connected to ground. The output end of each bridge circuit is connected to the MCU module 9 via the instrumentation amplifier 8.

[0062] In this embodiment, when the continuum robot is not bent, the data collected by the signal collection points of the bridge circuit are the same. At this time, the bridge circuit is a balanced circuit. However, when the continuum robot is bent, the data collected by the signal collection points changes with the resistance change of the resistance strain gauge, and the bridge circuit becomes an unbalanced circuit.

[0063] The data collected by the three bridge circuits on the same circuit board will be different depending on the bending direction of the continuum robot, while the data collected by the same bridge circuit represents the resistance change of each set of sensitive grids, which represents the degree of bending of the continuum robot.

[0064] Example 3

[0065] Based on Example 1, this embodiment provides a morphology perception method for a continuum robot, including:

[0066] Step 1: Obtain the forces acting on each cantilever beam on each joint assembly.

[0067] Specifically, the force data of each cantilever beam on each joint assembly of the continuum robot is obtained from the MCU of the joint assembly.

[0068] Step 2: Calculate the tension of each spring based on the force applied to each cantilever beam on each joint assembly.

[0069] Specifically, the springs between the i-th joint component and the i+1-th joint component from bottom to top are marked as the i-th group of springs. The tension of the first group of springs is equal to the force on the corresponding cantilever beam on the first joint component, and the formula is:

[0070] ;

[0071] Where, , is the number of cantilever beams on each joint assembly, is the force on the j-th cantilever beam on the first joint component, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the jth cantilever beam in the first group of springs.

[0072] The tension of the i-th group of springs is calculated by the force formula of the corresponding cantilever beam on the i-th joint assembly. The force formula of the corresponding cantilever beam on the i-th joint assembly is:

[0073] ;

[0074] Where, , is the number of joint components, is the force on the j-th cantilever beam on the i-th joint component, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the jth cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs, The tension of the spring corresponding to the j-th cantilever beam in the i-1-th group of springs.

[0075] Step 3: Calculate the morphological parameters of the continuum robot between the two adjacent joint components according to the tension of each spring between the two adjacent joint components.

[0076] Example 4

[0077] Based on Example 3, this example provides a morphology perception method for a continuum robot in which each joint component includes three cantilever beams.

[0078] In this embodiment, the continuum robot includes There are three joint components, and there are three springs between every two adjacent joint components. The morphological parameters of the continuum robot between the two adjacent joint components are calculated according to the tension of the three springs between the two adjacent joint components.

[0079] Specifically, the morphological parameters of the continuum robot between the i-th joint component and the i-1-th joint component include: bending plane angle , bending angle and bending radius , the formula is:

[0080] ;

[0081] ;

[0082] ;

[0083] Where, is the initial length of the spring, is the spring stiffness coefficient, is the distance between the cantilever beam hole and the center of the circuit board, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the first cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the second cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the third cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs.

[0084] Example 5

[0085] This embodiment provides an electronic device, including: a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores computer-readable instructions, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed by the processor, the morphology perception method of the continuum robot as described in Example 3 or Example 4 is implemented.

[0086] Example 6

[0087] This embodiment provides a computer storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the morphology perception method of the continuum robot as described in Example 3 or Example 4 is implemented.

[0088] The storage medium may include, for example, a storage component of a tablet computer, a hard disk of a computer, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a USB memory, or any combination thereof. The computer storage medium may be any combination of one or more computer storage media.

[0089] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A morphology perception method for a continuum robot, characterized in that: The continuum robot comprises: an elastic rod, a spring and a plurality of joint components; A central hole is provided in the center of each joint assembly along the axial direction; The elastic rod passes through the central holes of all joint components and is fixedly connected to each joint component respectively; The joint assembly includes a circuit board; the circuit board is evenly provided with three cantilever beams along the circumference of its largest inscribed circle, and symmetrically distributed cantilever beam holes are provided on the upper surface and lower surface of one end of the cantilever beam away from the center of the circuit board; A sensitive grid is provided on the line connecting each cantilever beam hole and the center of the circuit board; The cantilever beams of adjacent joint components are aligned along the axial direction; The spring is arranged between adjacent cantilever beams in the same axial direction, and both ends of the spring are fixed on the cantilever beam holes; The circuit board includes a plurality of bridge circuits, each of which includes two sensitive grids on the same cantilever beam, and is used to convert the change in the resistance of the two sensitive grids on the same cantilever beam into an electrical signal when the continuum robot bends, causing the change in the resistance of the two sensitive grids on the same cantilever beam to change; The morphology perception method of the continuum robot includes: S1: Obtain the force on each cantilever beam on each joint component; S2: Calculating the tension of each spring based on the force applied to each cantilever beam on each joint assembly, including: The springs between the i-th joint component and the i+1-th joint component from bottom to top are marked as the i-th group of springs; The tension of the first set of springs is equal to the force on the corresponding cantilever beam on the first joint assembly: ； Where, , is the force on the j-th cantilever beam on the first joint component, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the j-th cantilever beam in the first group of springs; The force formula of the cantilever beam corresponding to the i-th joint component is: ； Where, , is the number of joint components, is the force on the j-th cantilever beam on the i-th joint component, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the jth cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the j-th cantilever beam in the i-1-th group of springs; S3: Calculating the morphological parameters of the continuum robot between the two adjacent joint components based on the tension of each spring between the two adjacent joint components, including: Calculate the morphological parameters of the continuum robot between the i-th joint component and the i-1-th joint component according to the tension of the i-th group of springs between the i-th joint component and the i-1-th joint component; The morphological parameters include: bending plane angle , bending angle and bending radius , the formula is: ； ； ； Where, is the initial length of the spring, is the spring stiffness coefficient, is the distance between the cantilever beam hole and the center of the circuit board, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the first cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the second cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs, is the tension of the spring corresponding to the third cantilever beam in the i-th group of springs.

2. The morphology perception method of a continuum robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The spacing between adjacent joint components is equal to the initial length of the spring.

3. The morphology perception method of a continuum robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The circuit board further comprises: an instrumentation amplifier and a microcontroller; the output end of each bridge circuit is connected to the microcontroller via the instrumentation amplifier; The instrument amplifier is used to amplify the voltage signal output by the bridge circuit; The microcontroller is used to obtain the force of the cantilever beam corresponding to the bridge circuit according to the amplified voltage signal.

4. The morphology perception method of a continuum robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: The two sensitive gates are respectively a first sensitive gate and a second sensitive gate; the bridge circuit further includes: a first resistor and a second resistor; the original resistance of the first sensitive gate and the original resistance of the second sensitive gate are the same as the first resistor and the second resistor; one end of the first sensitive gate and the second sensitive gate are commonly connected to a power supply VCC, and the other end of the first sensitive gate is connected to one end of the first resistor and serves as a first output end; the other end of the second sensitive gate is connected to one end of the second resistor and serves as a second output end; the other ends of the first resistor and the second resistor are commonly grounded.

5. The morphology perception method of a continuum robot according to claim 4, characterized in that: The circuit board is a circular circuit board.

6. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: A processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores computer-readable instructions, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed by the processor, the morphology perception method of the continuum robot according to claim 1 is implemented.

7. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the morphology perception method of the continuum robot according to claim 1 is implemented.

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