Robot system for deep moon drilling and drilling method

Abstract

The invention relates to a robot system for deep lunar drilling and a drilling method, and the robot system comprises a drilling machine driving mechanism which provides power for drilling and coring of a drill rod, provides rotation power for the drill rod during butt joint and recovery of the drill rod, and cooperates with a drill rod holding mechanism to realize butt joint and unlocking of the drill rod; during lunar drilling, the rotating device is connected with a drill rod, provides rotating, feeding and impacting motions needed in the process that the drill rod drills lunar soil, and transmits the rotating, feeding and impacting motions to the drill rod; the drill rod holding mechanism is used for clamping and fixing the drill rods during butt joint and recovery of the drill rods and is matched with the drilling machine driving mechanism to realize butt joint and unlocking of the drill rods; when the core pipes are butted and recycled, the core pipes are clamped and fixed and are matched with the fishing head, so that the butting and recycling of the core pipes are realized; and the core pipe fishing mechanism is inserted into the drill rod along with the core pipe, and the core pipe is lowered and lifted to the surface of lunar soil through the flexible fishing mechanism.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a robot system for deep lunar drilling, belonging to the technical field of deep space sampling and detection. Background Art

[0002] Lunar soil is rich in a variety of minerals, rare metals, valuable energy (such as He-3) and water resources (trace amounts) necessary for human habitation on the lunar surface. Lunar soil records the formation and evolution history of its internal chemical elements. Through the detection and analysis of lunar soil samples, we can greatly improve our understanding of the moon. Landing on the moon to collect lunar soil samples and obtain in-situ scientific information is the most direct and effective way to understand the composition of the moon, and it is also a necessary guarantee for humans to establish permanent settlements or interstellar bases. The collection and in-situ detection of lunar soil samples under manned or unmanned conditions has collected a total of more than 380 kg of lunar samples. These samples provide valuable data for the study of lunar soil sequence structure and greatly enrich human scientific understanding of the moon. In order to carry out deep drilling and detection missions of lunar soil profiles, it is necessary to develop a robot system for deep lunar drilling to achieve unmanned autonomous deep drilling sampling and detection of full profiles at large depths. Summary of the invention

[0003] The technical problem solved by the present invention is: to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, to provide a robot system and a drilling method for deep lunar drilling, and to achieve deep detection of the entire lunar soil profile with the goal of reaching bedrock directly.

[0004] The technical solution of the present invention is: a robot system for deep lunar drilling, the robot system includes a drilling rig driving mechanism, a drill rod clamping mechanism, a core tube salvage mechanism, a drill rod, and a core tube; wherein:

[0005] The drill rig driving mechanism operates the upper part of the drill rod and cooperates with the drill rod clamping mechanism to achieve the docking and locking of the drill rod during docking and recovery of the drill rod. During lunar drilling, it is connected to the drill rod to provide the rotation, feeding and impact motion required for the drill rod to drill into the soil, and transmits the rotation, feeding and impact motion to the drill rod.

[0006] The drill pipe clamping mechanism clamps and fixes the drill pipe when the drill pipe is docked and recovered, and cooperates with the drilling rig driving mechanism to achieve docking and locking of the drill pipe; when the core pipe is docked and recovered, the core pipe is clamped and fixed, and cooperates with the core pipe salvaging mechanism to achieve docking and recovery of the core pipe;

[0007] The core tube salvage mechanism is installed on the upper part of the core tube and inserted into the drill pipe along with the core tube. It is used to lower and lift the core tube to the lunar soil surface.

[0008] Preferably, the drill rod clamping mechanism is also used to remove excess lunar soil adhering to the drill rod.

[0009] Preferably, the above-mentioned robot system for deep lunar drilling also includes a wall protection mechanism, which is a mesh support made of memory alloy.

[0010] Preferably, the above-mentioned robot system for deep lunar drilling also includes a wall protection mechanism and a multifunctional detection tool, wherein the multifunctional detection tool includes a plug module and an ultrasonic vibration module.

[0011] Preferably, the core tubes are stored in a core tube library, and the drill rods are stored in a drill rod library, and the core tube library and the drill rod library can rotate automatically.

[0012] Preferably, the drill driving mechanism has independent rotation function and impact function, and its impact mechanism is used to break the hard rock below the drill bit.

[0013] Another technical solution of the present invention is: a method for deep lunar drilling, the method comprising the following steps:

[0014] S1. Drill rod preparation: The drill rod warehouse rotates the first drill rod with the drill bit to the clamping position, and the drill rod clamping mechanism clamps the first drill rod and cooperates with the drilling rig driving mechanism to connect the drill rod with the drilling rig driving mechanism. At the same time, a fishing head with an empty core tube is pre-placed inside the drill rod and fixed to the drill rod through a flexible unfolding and retracting mechanism. At this time, the first drill rod is ready;

[0015] S2, drilling with drill rod: The drilling action is executed. The driving mechanism of the drill rig feeds the drill rod downward and rotates it, starting with the drill bit, until the drill rod also drills into the lunar soil. During the downward movement of the drill rod, the lunar soil sample moves upward relatively and enters the core tube for storage. When the drilling reaches a suitable depth, the drilling stops;

[0016] S3. Core tube salvage: The core tube is unlocked through the flexible deployment mechanism, and the salvage head and core tube are salvaged through the flexible salvage mechanism. The core tube storing the lunar soil sample is extracted to the lunar soil surface, and then the core tube is recovered to the core tube library. An empty core tube is obtained from the core tube library, and the empty core tube is placed inside the drill pipe in the lunar soil through the salvage mechanism and fixed.

[0017] S4. Drill rod connection: The drill rod warehouse rotates the second drill rod without a drill bit to the clamping position, and then the new drill rod is connected and fixed to the drill rod in the lunar soil. Steps S2 to S4 are executed in a loop to realize multi-stage deep drilling sampling.

[0018] S5. Install hole wall support: After all drilling operations are completed, install support on the hole wall while retrieving the drill rod to ensure the maintenance of the hole;

[0019] S6. Drill rod recovery: Before installing each section of hole wall support, the connected drill rod group needs to be lifted for a certain distance. When each single drill rod is lifted to a certain height above the ground, the drill rod is disassembled through the drill rod clamping mechanism, and each drill rod is recovered to the drill rod warehouse in turn, thus completing the entire drilling sampling task.

[0020] Preferably, the steps of installing support on the drilled hole wall are as follows:

[0021] After the last core tube is salvaged, the connected drill rod group is pulled up for a distance, and then the expandable mesh wall protection mechanism is slowly extended into the drill rod until it exceeds the drill bit and reaches the end of the borehole. The memory alloy mesh is expanded by heating, and the memory alloy mesh support is stretched open. The first section of the hole wall protection is completed, and then the second section of the hole wall protection is started. Similarly, the connected drill rod group is pulled up for a distance again, and the hole wall protection process is repeated again to complete the second section of the wall protection; the above operation is repeated to achieve hole wall protection for the entire borehole.

[0022] Preferably, during step S2, when encountering rock that is too hard to penetrate during drilling, the impact mechanism is activated to break the hard rock below the drill bit.

[0023] The beneficial effects of the present invention compared with the prior art are:

[0024] (1) The present invention adopts the sampling method of connecting rod drilling and core tube salvage, which realizes deep drilling in a small envelope with limited space resources. The sampling method of salvaging and coring avoids repeated pulling out of the drill rod, reduces the sampling force load, and effectively reduces the sample recovery volume. It is suitable for deep space sampling detection under strict constraints of power consumption, volume and other resources;

[0025] (2) The drill rod clamping mechanism of the present invention can be used to remove lunar soil when the drill rod is recovered, thereby realizing the reuse of the drill rod, expanding the product function, and being suitable for deep space sampling and detection;

[0026] (3) The wall protection mechanism of the present invention can realize the support of the lunar soil hole wall after drilling. The expandable memory alloy is light in weight and is suitable for the aerospace field. The lunar soil drilling after the wall protection can be used to provide scientific exploration and engineering construction support in the subsequent lunar scientific research stage;

[0027] (4) The multifunctional exploration tool of the present invention can realize all-round scientific exploration of the moon;

[0028] (5) The drilling rig driving mechanism of the present invention has an independent impact function, which can improve the rock breakthrough capability during deep drilling. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of deep lunar drilling according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 This is a structural diagram of a drilling rig driving mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 This is a structural diagram of a drill rod clamping mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 4 This is a structural diagram of the core tube salvage mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] 21 drilling rig rotary drive mechanism, 22 drilling rig impact drive mechanism, 31 left clamping bearing, 32 right clamping bearing, 41 expansion and retraction mechanism, 42 flexible salvage mechanism, 43 salvage head. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the embodiments.

[0035] For the 20-meter deep drilling on the moon, we will carry out technical research and product design for deep exploration of the entire lunar soil profile with the goal of reaching the bedrock directly, complete the design of the 20-meter deep, full-profile autonomous drilling and detection system, break through key technologies such as low-reaction-force high-efficiency drilling technology, sample efficient acquisition and packaging technology, in-situ physical property while-drilling technology, borehole wall protection and long-term detection technology, and ground equivalent verification technology, and build an integrated lunar surface deep drilling sampling system for deep lunar bedrock with "autonomous penetration, real-time perception, and in-situ sampling". (1) The overall design of the manned 20-meter deep drilling on the moon, specifically including:

[0036] In view of the lunar scientific research and development tasks, focusing on the deep lunar sampling method, lunar surface scientific experiments, lunar surface environment detection, resource collection detection and lunar surface engineering construction support and other application scenarios, combined with the needs of low-reaction deep drilling, lunar profile physical property sensing while drilling and real-time construction of observation channels during the deep lunar drilling sampling process, we will carry out the construction of an integrated system for deep lunar soil / bedrock drilling-exploration-collection-protection. The overall plan is as follows:

[0037] The robot system used for deep lunar drilling consists of seven major parts as shown in the figure, namely: a drill rig drive mechanism, a drill rod clamping mechanism, a core tube salvage mechanism, a support mechanism, a drill rod core tube library, a wall protection mechanism and a multifunctional detection tool, wherein the multifunctional detection tool includes a plug module, an ultrasonic vibration module, etc.

[0038] (1) Drilling rig drive mechanism

[0039] like Figure 2As shown, the drilling rig drive mechanism is mainly used to provide the rotational motion, feed motion and impact motion required in the process of the drill rod drilling into the lunar soil. When encountering hard rock and unable to break the rock, the required impact motion can be turned on. These three movements require the drill rod to have three degrees of freedom of rotation, up and down movement and impact motion at the same time. Secondly, it is necessary to lock and release the drill rod, equip it with a clamping mechanism to clamp or loosen the drill rod, and use the static friction between the mechanism and the drill rod to ensure the integrity of the mechanism and the drill rod, so that the rotation, feed and impact motion are transmitted to the drill rod. Through the functions of the above-mentioned mechanism, the drilling action of the lunar soil can be realized. In addition, during the operation stage of the drill rod, the drilling drive mechanism can operate the upper part of the drill rod when the drill rod is docked and recovered, and cooperate with the drill rod clamping mechanism to realize the docking and locking and unlocking operations of the drill rod; in summary, the drilling drive mechanism not only needs to consider the rationality of transmitting motion to the drill rod during the drilling process, but also needs to consider the accuracy and stability when operating the drill rod.

[0040] (2) Drill rod clamping mechanism

[0041] like Figure 3 As shown, the drill rod clamping mechanism mainly realizes the functions of connecting and unloading the drill rod and clamping the drill rod through the clamping of the left and right clamping bearings, and clamps and fixes the drill rod drilled into the lunar soil. Fixing the drill rod in the lunar soil helps to dock with the new drill rod, which is a key step in realizing the connection and unloading of multiple drill rods. When multiple drill rods are recovered in sequence, the operation of clamping the drill rod is also required to facilitate the separation of the drill rods. When the drill rods are docked and recovered, the drill rods are clamped and fixed, and cooperate with the drilling rig drive mechanism to realize the docking and unlocking of the drill rods; when the core tube is docked and recovered, the core tube is clamped and fixed on the core tube salvage mechanism; a metal brush is crimped on the surface of the clamping bearing. In the process of recovering each drill rod, the drill rod clamping mechanism can also remove the excess lunar soil adhered to the drill rod, reducing the storage of unnecessary lunar soil in the drill rod storage mechanism. According to the requirement of clamping the drill rod, the drill rod clamping mechanism needs to set a degree of freedom.

[0042] (3) Core tube salvage mechanism

[0043] like Figure 4As shown, the core tube salvage mechanism includes an unfolding and retracting mechanism, a flexible salvage mechanism, and a salvage head. The unfolding and retracting mechanism realizes the alignment function between the salvage head and the center hole of the drill pipe, and realizes structural limitation through the circumferential expansion of the unfolding and retracting mechanism to complete the locking of the drill pipe; the flexible salvage mechanism is installed in the supporting mechanism, and the core tube is lowered and pulled to the lunar soil surface through a composite cable with a load-bearing function, and then the operator stores the core tube. The salvage head component at the moving end of the core tube salvage mechanism needs to cooperate with the locking component at the upper end of the core tube in the drilling tool system, which can fix the core tube at the moving end of the operating mechanism, so that the core tube can be salvaged by the core tube operating mechanism. The mechanism also needs to have the function of unlocking the core tube and the salvage component, so that the operator can take out the core tube, and a degree of freedom needs to be set for the salvage action.

[0044] (4) Support mechanism

[0045] Drilling sampling includes two drilling modes: the base and any position on the lunar surface. The support mechanism must be able to provide stable downward pressure and support for the drill when installed on the lander and any position on the lunar surface. Because the geology of extraterrestrial bodies is complex and the ground may be extremely irregular, if the drill is not placed stably, it may cause the drill to tilt or fall during drilling. Therefore, it is necessary to design a support mechanism that is environmentally adaptable, can adjust the support height according to different environments, and can stably support on uneven ground.

[0046] (5) Drill pipe warehouse and core tube warehouse

[0047] The drill rod warehouse and core tube warehouse are mainly used for the placement and storage of drill rods and core tubes. The drilling depth of this plan is 5m, and the drilling rig is carried out by multi-rod unloading. Each drill rod is 1200mm long and the core tube is 600mm long. Therefore, it is necessary to carry 5 drill rods and 5 core tubes. The drill rod warehouse stores 5 drill rods, which can automatically rotate to provide or retract drill rods. The core tube warehouse stores 5 core tubes, which need to be manually taken out and put back by astronauts to facilitate the operation of astronauts during drilling.

[0048] (6) Wall protection mechanism

[0049] Since the diameter of the drill rod of the present invention is only about 30 mm, the hole diameter is very small and the depth is very deep. Therefore, the borehole is prone to deformation, collapse, etc. It is necessary to add a wall protection mechanism to add a layer of hole wall to the inside of the borehole. The hole wall supports the borehole so that the borehole can maintain its shape stably without deformation and collapse. In addition, the addition of the hole wall allows the borehole to be maintained firmly, and also provides conditions for further in-depth multifunctional detection of the borehole. In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the wall protection mechanism is a mesh bracket made of memory alloy.

[0050] (7) Multifunctional detection tool

[0051] In order to solve the unexpected situation and improve the success rate of the drilling process when the impact mechanism cannot break the rock, we also added an auxiliary rock breaking module. The auxiliary rock breaking module is designed with a corresponding interface at the end of the core tube. When the impact mechanism cannot break the rock, an ultrasonic vibration module is installed at the end of the core tube. Through the core tube operating mechanism, the core tube with the ultrasonic vibration module is lowered to the front end of the drill guide rod, and the ultrasonic vibration is combined with the rotary drill to break the rock.

[0052] The robot system for deep lunar drilling provided by the present invention needs to realize key functions such as drilling sampling, salvaging and coring, multi-rod assembly, drill rod disassembly and wall detection. These actions need to be performed in sequence according to the expected action sequence to ensure the effective implementation of each operation, so as to realize the complete operation process of lunar soil drilling sampling. The overall operation process is as follows Figure 1 The specific operation process is as follows:

[0053] (1) Drill rod preparation: The drill rod warehouse rotates the first drill rod to the clamping position. The drill rod clamping mechanism clamps the drill rod and cooperates with the drilling rig drive mechanism to connect the drill rod to the drilling rig drive mechanism. A drill bit is installed at the bottom of the drill rod. At the same time, a hollow core tube is pre-placed inside the drill rod and fixed to the drill rod through a flexible unfolding and retracting mechanism. At this time, the first drill rod is ready.

[0054] (2) Drilling with drill rod: To perform the drilling action, the drill rig drive mechanism feeds the drill rod downward and rotates it, starting with the drill bit, until the drill rod also drills into the lunar soil. During the downward movement of the drill rod, the lunar soil sample will move upward relative to the drill bit and be stored inside the core tube. When encountering rocks that are too hard to penetrate during the drilling process, the impact mechanism can be activated to break the hard rock under the drill bit to ensure smooth drilling. In addition, the excess lunar soil is sent to the ground through the spiral wing on the drill rod to achieve the function of powder removal. When drilling reaches the appropriate depth, drilling stops. At this time, the core tube has obtained the lunar soil, which needs to be salvaged and stored in the drill rod warehouse.

[0055] (3) Core tube salvage: The core tube containing the lunar soil sample is extracted to the lunar soil surface by locking, unlocking and salvaging the core tube through the salvage mechanism, and then the core tube is recovered to the core tube library. An empty core tube is then obtained from the core tube library, and the empty core tube is placed inside the drill rod in the lunar soil and fixed by the salvage mechanism;

[0056] (4) Drill rod connection: The drill rod library rotates the second drill rod to the clamping position. This drill rod does not have a drill bit and is connected to the drill rod in the lunar soil to extend the length of the drill rod, allowing it to drill deeper. The new drill rod is then connected and fixed to the drill rod in the lunar soil, and the drilling mechanism now has enough space for the drill rod to drill before the next round of drilling operations. The multi-stage deep drilling sampling function is achieved by cycling the above operations;

[0057] (5) Installing hole wall support: After all drilling operations are completed, the drill pipe is not recovered immediately. Instead, it is necessary to install support on the borehole wall while recovering the drill pipe to ensure the maintenance of the borehole so that subsequent in-depth exploration of the borehole can be carried out. After the last core tube is salvaged, the connected drill pipe group is pulled up 200mm, and then the expandable mesh wall protection mechanism is slowly extended into the drill pipe until it exceeds the drill bit and reaches the end of the borehole. The memory alloy mesh is expanded by heating, and the memory alloy mesh support is stretched open, and the first section of the hole wall protection is completed. Subsequently, the second section of the hole wall protection is turned on. Similarly, the connected drill pipe group is pulled up 200mm again, and the hole wall protection process is repeated again to complete the second section of the wall protection. The hole wall protection of the entire borehole is achieved by cycling the above operations.

[0058] (6) Drill rod recovery: Before installing each section of the hole wall support, the connected drill rod group needs to be lifted 200 mm. When each single drill rod is lifted to a certain height above the ground, the drill rod is disassembled through the drill rod clamping mechanism, and each drill rod is recovered to the drill rod warehouse in turn, thus completing the entire drilling and sampling task.

[0059] Although the present invention has been disclosed as above in the form of a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art may make possible changes and modifications to the technical solution of the present invention by using the methods and technical contents disclosed above without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, any simple modifications, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the content of the technical solution of the present invention shall fall within the protection scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A robotic system for deep lunar drilling, characterized in that It includes a drilling rig driving mechanism, a drill pipe clamping mechanism, a core pipe salvaging mechanism, a drill pipe, and a core pipe; wherein: The drill rig driving mechanism operates the upper part of the drill rod and cooperates with the drill rod clamping mechanism to achieve the docking and locking of the drill rod during docking and recovery of the drill rod. During lunar drilling, it is connected to the drill rod to provide the rotation, feeding and impact motion required for the drill rod to drill into the soil, and transmits the rotation, feeding and impact motion to the drill rod. The drill pipe clamping mechanism clamps and fixes the drill pipe when the drill pipe is docked and recovered, and cooperates with the drilling rig driving mechanism to achieve docking and locking of the drill pipe; when the core pipe is docked and recovered, the core pipe is clamped and fixed, and cooperates with the core pipe salvaging mechanism to achieve docking and recovery of the core pipe; The core tube salvage mechanism is installed on the upper part of the core tube and inserted into the drill pipe along with the core tube. It is used to lower and lift the core tube to the lunar soil surface.

2. A robotic system for deep lunar drilling according to claim 1, characterized in that The drill rod clamping mechanism is also used to remove excess lunar soil adhered to the drill rod.

3. A robotic system for deep lunar drilling according to claim 1, characterized in that It also includes a wall protection mechanism, which is a mesh bracket made of memory alloy.

4. A robotic system for deep lunar drilling according to claim 1, characterized in that It also includes a multifunctional detection tool, which includes a plug module and an ultrasonic vibration module.

5. A robotic system for deep lunar drilling according to claim 1, characterized in that The core tubes are stored in a core tube library, and the drill rods are stored in a drill rod library. The core tube library and the drill rod library can rotate automatically.

6. A robotic system for deep lunar drilling according to claim 1, characterized in that The drilling rig driving mechanism has independent rotation function and impact function, and is used for breaking the hard rock below the drill bit.

7. A method for deep lunar drilling, characterized in that The steps include: S1. Drill rod preparation: The drill rod warehouse rotates the first drill rod with the drill bit to the clamping position, and the drill rod clamping mechanism clamps the first drill rod and cooperates with the drilling rig driving mechanism to connect the drill rod with the drilling rig driving mechanism. At the same time, a fishing head with an empty core tube is pre-placed inside the drill rod and fixed to the drill rod through a flexible unfolding and retracting mechanism. At this time, the first drill rod is ready; S2, drilling with drill rod: The drilling action is executed. The driving mechanism of the drill rig feeds the drill rod downward and rotates it, starting with the drill bit, until the drill rod also drills into the lunar soil. During the downward movement of the drill rod, the lunar soil sample moves upward relatively and enters the core tube for storage. When the drilling reaches a suitable depth, the drilling stops; S3. Core tube salvage: The core tube is unlocked through the flexible deployment mechanism, and the salvage head and core tube are salvaged through the flexible salvage mechanism. The core tube storing the lunar soil sample is extracted to the lunar soil surface, and then the core tube is recovered to the core tube library. An empty core tube is obtained from the core tube library, and the empty core tube is placed inside the drill pipe in the lunar soil through the salvage mechanism and fixed. S4. Drill rod connection: The drill rod warehouse rotates the second drill rod without a drill bit to the clamping position, and then the new drill rod is connected and fixed to the drill rod in the lunar soil. Steps S2 to S4 are executed in a loop to realize multi-stage deep drilling sampling.

8. A method for deep lunar drilling according to claim 7, characterized in that The following steps are also included: S5. Install hole wall support: After all drilling operations are completed, install support on the hole wall while retrieving the drill rod to ensure the maintenance of the hole; S6. Drill rod recovery: Before installing each section of hole wall support, the connected drill rod group needs to be lifted for a certain distance. When each single drill rod is lifted to a certain height above the ground, the drill rod is disassembled through the drill rod clamping mechanism, and each drill rod is recovered to the drill rod warehouse in turn, thus completing the entire drilling sampling task.

9. A method for deep lunar drilling according to claim 7, characterized in that The steps for installing supports on the drilled hole wall are as follows: After the last core tube is salvaged, the connected drill rod group is pulled up for a distance, and then the expandable mesh wall protection mechanism is slowly extended into the drill rod until it exceeds the drill bit and reaches the end of the borehole. The memory alloy mesh is expanded by heating, and the memory alloy mesh support is stretched open. The first section of the hole wall protection is completed, and then the second section of the hole wall protection is started. Similarly, the connected drill rod group is pulled up for a distance again, and the hole wall protection process is repeated again to complete the second section of the wall protection; the above operation is repeated to achieve hole wall protection for the entire borehole.

10. A method for deep lunar drilling according to claim 7, characterized in that During step S2, when encountering a rock that is too hard to penetrate during drilling, the impact mechanism is activated to break the hard rock below the drill bit.

Images