Hyperelastic memory alloy rod trigger type spherical robot imitating coronavirus appearance

Abstract

The invention discloses a coronavirus appearance imitating hyperelastic memory alloy rod triggering type spherical robot. The robot is mainly composed of a rod end contact, a hyperelastic memory alloy rod, a tough wire, a rod sleeve, a spherical shell, a micro camera, a hexagonal connecting prism, a straight-through connector, a take-up and pay-off device, a dodecahedron inner core, a control panel and a nine-axis attitude sensor. The take-up and pay-off device drives a winding reel to rotate through a motor so as to take up the tough wire, an elastic rod on the outer surface of the spherical robot deforms, then the tough wire is rapidly released, the bent elastic rod rebounds to provide power for movement of the robot, meanwhile, the take-up and pay-off device and the elastic rod reset, and continuous movement of the robot is guaranteed. The bending degree of the elastic rod can be controlled by changing the position of the knot on the toughness line, and the ejection period is controlled by the control system. The robot is unique in structure, novel in principle, composite in function, high in man-machine interaction and sensing capacity and high in movement flexibility and stability, and has important theoretical significance and practical value for research of spherical robots.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of multi-modal spherical robots, in particular to a robot which is powered by the bending and rebounding of elastic rods on the outer surface of the robot. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, with the rapid development of robotics technology, higher requirements have been placed on the diversity of robot movement and working environment. Traditional wheeled, tracked and legged robots each have their own advantages and disadvantages, and have limitations in certain complex environments. For example, wheeled robots have difficulty coping with rugged terrain, tracked robots are less efficient and noisier, and legged robots have complex structures, high control difficulty and relatively high costs. In this context, spherical robots, with their unique spherical structure and rolling movement, have shown many advantages and have become one of the research hotspots in the field of robotics.

[0003] Spherical robots rely on the rolling of the spherical shell to achieve movement. They have a compact structure, flexible movement, good obstacle-crossing ability and environmental adaptability, and can move flexibly on complex and irregular terrains, such as rugged mountains, sand, grass, etc. Compared with other types of robots, spherical robots have strong obstacle-crossing ability, good environmental adaptability and omnidirectional mobility.

[0004] In summary, the unique advantages of spherical robots make up for the shortcomings of other types of robots, and are expected to occupy a place in the future development of robotics technology, and provide more efficient and reliable solutions for various application scenarios. The present invention designs a new type of multimodal spherical robot, which has a coronavirus-like appearance, and changes the bending degree of the elastic rod installed on its outer surface by retracting and releasing the rope through a retracting and releasing device installed inside the robot, converting the electric energy of the motor into elastic potential energy stored in the elastic rod, and using the elastic rod released instantly to convert the elastic potential energy into the kinetic energy of the robot, so that the robot has the ability to roll, turn, and jump. At the same time, the present invention uses a superelastic shape memory alloy rod as an energy storage element, which can store more energy in the case of small mass and volume. The various types of movements of the robot are stable and reliable, and can flexibly adapt to different terrains by changing the movement mode, which has important theoretical significance and practical value for the research on spherical robots. Summary of the invention

[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide a novel multi-modal spherical robot, which can control the robot to perform various movements by bending and rebounding a superelastic memory alloy rod installed on the outer surface of the robot.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0007] A novel multimodal spherical robot is mainly composed of a superelastic memory alloy rod assembly, a spherical shell, a hexagonal connecting prism, a straight-through joint, a regular dodecahedron core, a wire-retracting and releasing device, a micro camera, a nine-axis attitude sensor, and a robot control system.

[0008] The superelastic memory alloy rod assembly is composed of a superelastic memory alloy rod, a rod end contact, a rod sleeve, and a retractable wire. The rod end contact is spherical and glued to the rod end. During the movement of the spherical robot described in the present invention, it can prevent the occurrence of slippage to a certain extent, ensuring the stability and accuracy of the movement. The rod sleeve is sleeved on the rod, and the elastic rod is bent and deformed under the pull of the toughness wire, and the elastic potential energy is stored through the bent elastic rod. Every five superelastic memory alloy rod assemblies form a group, sharing a retractable wire, a total of twelve groups, evenly distributed on the spherical surface.

[0009] The spherical shell is composed of twelve lightweight pentagonal shells and twenty hexagonal shells arranged and spliced ​​in the manner of soccer blocks. A large hole is opened on the pentagonal lightweight shell, through which the toughness line enters the interior of the sphere and connects with the retractable wire device; the hexagonal lightweight shell is connected to three pentagons by discontinuous three sides, and three superelastic memory alloy rod fixing holes are evenly distributed in annular shape on the surface, which are used to connect the three superelastic memory alloy rods. A connection hole for installing a micro camera is set in the center of the outer surface of the hexagonal shell, and the micro camera can be installed and connected to the inside of the shell. The inner surface of the shell is a hexagonal groove that is fixed by a straight-through joint and a connecting stud in a threaded manner.

[0010] The hexagonal connecting prism is a hollow hexagonal prism with an internal thread, one end of which is connected to the hexagonal spherical shell with a thread, and the other end is embedded in a hexagonal groove located on the vertex of the regular dodecahedron on the inner core of the dodecahedron. There are a total of twenty hexagonal connecting prisms, which respectively connect the twenty vertices of the dodecahedron and the centers of the twenty lightweight hexagonal spherical shells of the spherical shell, thereby fixing the spherical shell on the inner core of the regular dodecahedron.

[0011] The dodecahedron core is composed of two identical "half dodecahedron cores". The dodecahedron core has a regular dodecahedron shape with edges and surfaces. The interior is hollow for accommodating the robot control panel. There are regular hexagonal grooves at the twenty vertices to embed the hexagonal connecting prisms. Three connecting holes are left on each face of the dodecahedron to install the wire-retracting and releasing device. The two parts of the half dodecahedron core are connected by bolts and nuts.

[0012] The retractable wire device is composed of a bracket, a DC motor, a bobbin 1, a bobbin 2, a fixed shaft, a shift fork, an electromagnet, and a code disk. Both the bobbin 1 and the bobbin 2 are provided with some spur gears and both are fixed to the bracket through a fixed shaft. The side of the bobbin 1 is connected to a DC motor, which controls the horizontal position of the shift fork by changing the electromagnet, and the shift fork controls whether the gears on the bobbin 1 and the bobbin 2 are engaged, thereby controlling the transmission between the two. A wire-tying protrusion is provided on the surface of the drum, and the tough wire enters the spherical shell and passes around the bobbin 1 to be tied to the upper wire-tying protrusion of the bobbin 2. Three hexagonal holes are provided at the bottom of the bracket for connecting to the pentagonal surface of the inner core of the dodecahedron.

[0013] The present invention proposes for the first time a spherical robot that imitates the appearance of a coronavirus, which has many innovations and advantages.

[0014] (1) Novel configuration: The robot imitates the coronavirus as a whole, and a superelastic shape memory alloy rod with tentacles is installed on the outer shell of a football. Therefore, while retaining the structural symmetry and omnidirectional movement of the spherical robot, the stability and reliability of the robot's movement are increased by the elastic rods on the robot's outer shell. The "tentacles" at the end of the elastic rod can effectively increase the friction between the robot and the ground, assisting the robot's movement and stabilizing the body. At the same time, the superelastic shape memory alloy rod has a high energy storage density and can provide more mechanical energy for the robot's movement.

[0015] (2) Unique principle: The present invention proposes a new method for robot movement, which promotes robot movement by changing the degree of bending deformation of the superelastic memory alloy rod.

[0016] (3) Functional complexity: The robot of the present invention has multiple motion modes, including rolling, turning, and jumping. It also has strong human-computer interaction and perception capabilities and can monitor the surrounding environment.

[0017] (4) Flexible and reliable: The robot is equipped with 12 retractable and pay-out devices evenly distributed in space, which can accurately control every step of the robot's movement. When the robot moves continuously, the working retractable and pay-out devices are different, which greatly reduces the probability of the robot malfunctioning due to repeated operation of the same retractable and pay-out device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a single working unit of the present invention

[0019] Figure 2 The overall external structure diagram of the present invention is

[0020] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the spherical shell of the present invention

[0021] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the connection between the dodecahedron core and the wire-reeling device of the present invention

[0022] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the connection between the semi-dodecahedron core of the present invention and the robot control system

[0023] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the wire-retracting and -releasing device of the present invention

[0024] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of a polyhedron composed of the rod end contacts of the present invention

[0025] Figure 8 The motion flow chart of the present invention

[0026] Among them: 1. Rod end contact 2. Super elastic memory alloy rod, 3. Tough wire, 4. Rod sleeve, 5. Lightweight pentagonal spherical shell, 6. Lightweight hexagonal spherical shell, 7. Micro camera, 8. Hexagonal connecting prism, 9. Straight-through connector, 10. Wire retracting and releasing device, 11. Dodecahedron core, 12. Robot control board, 13. Nine-axis attitude sensor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

[0028] Reference Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 3 The device is a superelastic memory alloy rod-triggered spherical robot with a coronavirus-like appearance, which mainly consists of a rod end contact (1), a superelastic memory alloy rod (2), a toughness wire (3), a rod sleeve (4), a lightweight pentagonal spherical shell (5), a lightweight hexagonal spherical shell (6), a micro camera (7), a hexagonal connecting prism (8), a straight-through connector (9), a wire-retracting device (10), a dodecahedral core (11), a robot control board (12), and a nine-axis attitude sensor (13).

[0029] Reference Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 3The rod end contact (1) is bonded to the end of the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) and bonded to the lightweight hexagonal spherical shell (6) along the normal direction of the spherical surface. The rod end contact (1) prevents the spherical robot described in the present invention from slipping during movement to a certain extent, ensuring the stability and accuracy of the movement. The rod sleeve (4) is sleeved on the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) and can slide along the rod under the traction of the toughness line (3) so that the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) undergoes elastic deformation in a bent form, thereby using the bent superelastic memory alloy rod to store elastic potential energy. The five superelastic memory alloy rods (2) near each lightweight pentagonal spherical shell (5) form a group. The entire device uses a total of twelve groups of superelastic memory alloy rods (2). The five toughness lines (3) of each group of superelastic memory alloy rods are combined into one at a suitable height from the spherical shell to ensure that the toughness line (3) will not generate additional force due to contact with the spherical shell. Twenty lightweight hexagonal spherical shells (6) and twelve lightweight pentagonal spherical shells (5) are arranged and spliced ​​in the manner of soccer blocks. The toughness wire (3) enters the interior of the spherical shell through the central hole on the lightweight pentagonal spherical shell (5) and is connected to the retractable wire device (10). By controlling each retractable wire device (10), the synchronous bending degree of each corresponding group of superelastic memory alloy rods (2) can be controlled.

[0030] Reference Figure 1 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 The dodecahedron core (11) is formed by splicing two identical parts and is fixed to the inside of the spherical shell through a hexagonal connecting prism (8) and a straight joint (9) located at the top corners of the regular dodecahedron. The hexagonal connecting prism (8) is bonded to the groove on the dodecahedron core (11). The hexagonal connecting prism (8) and the straight joint (9), and the straight joint (9) and the lightweight pentagonal spherical shell (5) are all connected by threads. The micro camera (7) can be installed at any straight joint (9). Each surface of the dodecahedron core (11) is connected to a wire-retracting device (10) by screws, and there are a total of twelve wire-retracting devices (10). The robot control board (12) and the nine-axis posture sensor (13) are connected to the inside of the dodecahedron core (11) by screws.

[0031] Reference Figure 6The wire-reeling and reeling device of the present invention is composed of a bracket, a DC motor, a winding reel a, a winding reel b, a fixed shaft, a shift fork, an electromagnet, and a code disk. Both the winding reel a and the winding reel b are provided with some spur gears and both are fixed to the bracket through a fixed shaft. The side of the winding reel a is connected to a DC motor, which controls the horizontal position of the shift fork by changing the electromagnet, and the shift fork controls whether the gears on the winding reel a and the winding reel b are engaged, thereby controlling the transmission between the two. A code disk is installed on one side of the winding reel b, and a wire tying card is provided on the surface of the reel. After the tough wire enters the spherical shell, it bypasses the winding reel a and is tied to the upper wire tying card of the winding reel b. Three hexagonal holes are opened at the bottom of the bracket for connecting to the pentagonal surface of the inner core of the dodecahedron.

[0032] Reference Figure 2 , Figure 7 and Figure 8 , with the rod end contact (1) as the endpoint of the spherical robot contact surface polyhedron, the contact polyhedron formed is composed of triangles, rectangles and pentagons, and is a small rhombus truncated icosahedron among Archimedean polyhedrons. The present invention has three types of plane figures composed of the endpoints in contact with the plane: triangle, rectangle and pentagon. The specific implementation method of the robot's rolling motion is: relying on a micro camera (7) and a nine-axis attitude sensor (13) to determine the type of the current contact surface with the ground, triangle or rectangle, correspondingly, only three or four superelastic memory alloy rods (2) in contact with the ground participate in this motion, and each superelastic memory alloy rod (2) comes from a different group, that is, it is controlled by a different retractable wire device (10). Correspondingly, the robot control panel (12) controls the retractable wire device (12), and the retractable wire device corresponding to the superelastic memory alloy rod on the side of the desired moving direction is selected from the three or four superelastic memory alloy rods in contact with the ground to start working, and the corresponding superelastic memory alloy rod (2) is bent to deform it, thereby deforming the support surface and moving the center of mass of the robot out of the support surface boundary. Under the action of gravity and the reverse force of the ground on the superelastic memory alloy rod, the robot rolls in the corresponding direction. After the action is completed, the superelastic memory alloy rod returns to its original state, and the contact surface between the robot and the ground is transformed from the original triangle or rectangle to the adjacent triangle or rectangle on the contact polyhedron. Subsequently, the robot remains stationary again under the support of the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) where the rod end contact (1) forming the triangle or rectangle is located. Repeat the above actions to complete the continuous rolling motion. Since the continuous triangles or rectangles on the contact polyhedron are not connected to form a straight line, the robot can achieve non-linear rolling during the movement. The rolling motion is controlled by a robot control panel (12) to control the wire-reeling device (12) and then select the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) in the bending motion direction to control the direction of each rolling motion.

[0033] Reference Figure 2 , Figure 7 and Figure 8The specific implementation method of the robot's jumping motion is as follows: the robot first rolls to a state where the contact surface between the contact polyhedron and the ground is a triangle or a pentagon. Correspondingly, only three or five superelastic memory alloy rods (2) in contact with the ground participate in this motion, and each superelastic memory alloy rod (2) comes from a different group, that is, it is controlled by a different retractable wire device (12). Correspondingly, the retractable wire device (12) is controlled by the robot control panel (12), and the retractable wire device corresponding to the superelastic memory alloy rod on the side of the desired moving direction is selected from the three or five superelastic memory alloy rods (2) in contact with the ground to start working, and the corresponding superelastic memory alloy rod (2) is bent to deform it, thereby deforming the support surface and moving the center of mass of the robot out of the support surface boundary. Under the action of gravity and the reverse force of the ground on the superelastic memory alloy rod, the robot jumps in the corresponding direction. After the action is completed, the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) returns to its original shape in the air, and the contact surface between the robot and the ground is transformed from the original triangle or pentagon to an adjacent triangle or pentagon on the contact polyhedron. Subsequently, the robot remains stationary again under the support of the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) where the rod end contact (1) forming the triangle or pentagon is located. Repeat the above actions to complete the continuous jumping movement. Since the continuous triangles or pentagons on the contact polyhedron are not connected in a straight line, the robot can also complete a turning action during each jumping process. The jumping movement is controlled by the robot control panel (12) to control the retracting and releasing device (12) and then select the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) in the bending movement direction to control the direction of each jump.

Claims

1. A superelastic memory alloy rod triggered spherical robot imitating the shape of coronavirus, characterized by: The invention mainly comprises a rod end contact (1), a superelastic memory alloy rod (2), a tough wire (3), a rod sleeve (4), a lightweight pentagonal spherical shell (5), a lightweight hexagonal spherical shell (6), a micro camera (7), a hexagonal connecting prism (8), a straight-through joint (9), a wire-retracting and releasing device (10), a dodecahedral core (11), a robot control panel (12), and a nine-axis attitude sensor (13).

2. According to claim 1, a super elastic memory alloy rod triggered spherical robot with a coronavirus shape, characterized in that: The rod end contact (1) is bonded to the end of the superelastic memory alloy rod (2); the rod sleeve (4) is sleeved on the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) and can slide along the rod under the traction of the toughness line (3), so that the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) undergoes elastic deformation; the five superelastic memory alloy rods (2) near each lightweight pentagonal spherical shell (5) form a group and share a toughness line (3); the entire device uses a total of twelve groups; twenty lightweight hexagonal spherical shells (6) and twelve lightweight pentagonal spherical shells (5) are arranged and spliced ​​in the manner of football blocks; the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) is bonded to the lightweight hexagonal spherical shell (6) in the radial direction of the spherical shell; the toughness line (3) enters the interior of the spherical shell through the center hole on the lightweight pentagonal spherical shell (5) and is connected to the retractable wire device (10) The dodecahedron core (11) is formed by splicing two identical parts and is fixed to the inside of the spherical shell through a hexagonal connecting prism (8) and a straight joint (9) located at the top corners of the regular dodecahedron. The hexagonal connecting prism (8) is bonded to the groove on the dodecahedron core (11). The hexagonal connecting prism (8) and the straight joint (9), and the straight joint (9) and the lightweight pentagonal spherical shell (5) are all connected by threads. The micro camera (7) can be installed at any straight joint (9). Each surface of the dodecahedron core (11) is connected to a wire-retracting device (10) by screws, and there are twelve wire-retracting devices (10) in total. The robot control board (12) and the nine-axis posture sensor (13) are connected to the inside of the dodecahedron core (11) by screws.

3. The superelastic memory alloy rod-triggered spherical robot with a coronavirus-like appearance according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the tough wire (3) is retracted at a uniform speed under the action of the retractable wire device (10), the rod sleeve (4) moves along the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) in a direction away from the rod end contact (1). At the same time, the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) undergoes elastic deformation and is bent to store elastic potential energy. When the tough wire (3) is suddenly released, the superelastic memory alloy rod (2) rebounds quickly, thereby providing power for the movement of the robot. The continuous movement of the robot can be achieved by reasonably setting the retractable and retractable sequence and timing of the retractable and retractable wire device (10).

4. According to claim 1, a superelastic memory alloy rod-triggered spherical robot with a coronavirus-like appearance, the specific implementation method of its movement is: the rod end contact (1) is used as the endpoint of the spherical robot contact surface polyhedron, and the contact polyhedron formed is composed of triangles, rectangles and pentagons, which is a small rhombus truncated icosahedron among the Archimedean polyhedrons; therefore, the plane figure types composed of the endpoints in contact with the plane of the present invention are three types: triangles, rectangles and pentagons; the specific implementation method of the robot's rolling movement is: relying on a micro camera (7) and a nine-axis attitude sensor (13) to determine the type of the current contact surface with the ground is a triangle or a rectangle, and correspondingly, only three or four superelastic memory alloy rods (2) in contact with the ground participate in this movement. The robot is configured to move the elastic rods (2) from different groups, i.e., they are controlled by different retractable and retractable devices (10); correspondingly, the retractable and retractable devices (12) are controlled by the robot control panel (12), and the retractable and retractable devices corresponding to the superelastic memory alloy rods on the side of the desired moving direction are selected from the three or four superelastic memory alloy rods in contact with the ground to start working, and the corresponding superelastic memory alloy rods (2) are bent to deform, thereby deforming the support surface and moving the center of mass of the robot out of the support surface boundary; under the action of gravity and the reverse force of the ground on the superelastic memory alloy rods, the robot rolls in the corresponding direction; after the action is completed, the superelastic memory alloy rods return to their original state, and the contact surface between the robot and the ground is transformed from the original triangle or rectangle into a contact multi-point shape. The robot is then allowed to remain stationary under the support of the superelastic memory alloy rods (2) where the rod end contacts (1) are located, which form the triangle or rectangle. The above actions are repeated to complete the continuous rolling motion. The specific implementation method of the robot's jumping motion is as follows: the robot is first placed in a state where the contact surface between the contact polyhedron and the ground is a triangle or a pentagon through a rolling action. Correspondingly, only three or five superelastic memory alloy rods (2) in contact with the ground participate in this motion, and each superelastic memory alloy rod (2) is from a different group, that is, is controlled by a different retractable wire device (12). Correspondingly, the retractable wire device (12) is controlled by the robot control panel (12) so that the three or five superelastic memory alloy rods (2) in contact with the ground are in contact with the ground. The retractable wire device corresponding to the super-elastic memory alloy rod on the side of the desired moving direction is selected from the super-elastic memory alloy rod (2) and starts to work, bending the corresponding super-elastic memory alloy rod (2) to deform it, thereby deforming the support surface and moving the center of mass of the robot out of the support surface boundary; under the action of gravity and the reverse force of the ground on the super-elastic memory alloy rod, the robot jumps in the corresponding direction; after the action is completed, the super-elastic memory alloy rod (2) returns to its original shape in the air, and the contact surface between the robot and the ground is transformed from the original triangle or pentagon to an adjacent triangle or pentagon on the contact polyhedron; then, the robot remains stationary again under the support of the super-elastic memory alloy rod (2) where the rod end contact (1) forming the triangle or pentagon is located;Repeat the above steps to complete the continuous jumping movement. ;

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