Flexible grabbing device imitating octopus tentacle structure

Abstract

The invention discloses an octopus tentacle structure-imitated flexible grabbing device which comprises a serial flexible structure and a driving device, the serial flexible structure is formed by connecting a flexible arm and a flexible tentacle in series, the flexible arm comprises a flexible air pipe, the interior of the flexible air pipe is divided into a plurality of cavities, and each cavity is communicated with an air inlet pipe; the flexible tentacles are provided with octopus-tentacle-imitated colloidal silica, and suckers and air bags are distributed on the octopus-tentacle-imitated colloidal silica. The driving device comprises a two-pull-rope mechanism used for driving the flexible arm, a single-pull-rope mechanism used for driving the flexible tentacle and an air pipe used for driving the suction cup and the air bag. The flexible arm is elongated and the bearing capacity of the flexible arm is improved by filling the cavities with gas, objects are grabbed, and the flexible arm can be bent leftwards and rightwards by filling the single cavity with gas. The two pull rope mechanisms cooperate with the air pump to enable the flexible arm to bend and move in all directions. The single-pull-rope mechanism and the air bag cooperate to enable the flexible tentacles to be rapidly curled to complete object grabbing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a flexible grasping device with an octopus-like tentacle structure capable of elastic expansion and contraction, belonging to the technical field of flexible grasping devices. Background Art

[0002] Bio-inspired robotics is a technology that designs and manufactures robots based on the morphology, structure, function and other characteristics of natural organisms. The design of the octopus-like tentacle structure flexible grasping device is inspired by the octopus's tentacles, which have the characteristics of flexibility and retractability, and can realize a variety of grasping and manipulation functions.

[0003] Flexible robot technology was originally developed to solve problems in the manufacturing industry. With the development of the manufacturing industry, robots on the production line need to have higher flexibility and variability to meet the production needs of different product models. Therefore, flexible robot technology came into being, which can quickly adjust the structure and movement of the robot according to different production tasks and product types, thereby improving production efficiency and quality. Studies have found that the octopus's tentacles have a simple structure, but they can grab objects of various shapes, have flexible grabbing, strong load capacity, and will not cause damage to the target object. Therefore, through the study of the octopus tentacle structure, it can be found that the octopus tentacles are divided into two parts, one part can be extended and bent, and the other part can be bent more to grab objects. The octopus tentacle suction cup can also be bionic, so the octopus tentacle structure is applied to flexible grasping technology. Summary of the invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a flexible grasping device with an octopus tentacle-like structure to solve the problem of flexible grasping of unknown fragile objects.

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0006] A flexible grasping device imitating an octopus tentacle structure, comprising:

[0007] The serial flexible structure is formed by a flexible arm and a flexible tentacle connected in series. The flexible arm includes a flexible air tube arranged in an axial telescopic sleeve. The flexible air tube is fixed in the axial telescopic sleeve through a plurality of fixing rings. The interior of the flexible air tube is axially divided into a plurality of chambers. Each chamber is connected to an air inlet pipe with an air valve. When gas is filled into any chamber, the flexible air tube bends. The flexible tentacle is provided with an octopus tentacle-like silicone body. A suction cup is distributed on one side of the octopus tentacle-like silicone body, and an air bag is distributed on the other side.

[0008] A driving device for driving a serial flexible structure includes a two-pull rope mechanism for driving a flexible arm, a single-pull rope mechanism for driving a flexible tentacle, and an air tube for driving a suction cup and an air bag. The two-pull rope mechanism includes two nylon ropes symmetrically arranged on both sides of the flexible arm, and the nylon ropes sequentially pass through multiple fixed rings in the flexible arm; the single-pull rope mechanism includes a nylon rope, and the nylon rope is sequentially passed through multiple fixed rings in the flexible arm and then connected to the end of the flexible tentacle; one end of each of the three nylon ropes is wound around a capstan, and the capstan is driven by a servo motor, and the servo motor is fixed on a base; the air tube includes an air bag air tube connected to the air bag, and a suction cup air tube connected to the suction cup, and the air inlet pipe, the air bag air tube, and the suction cup air tube are connected to an air pump. The air inlet pipe, the air bag air tube, and the suction cup air tube can be connected to an air pump respectively and controlled separately, or they can be connected to an air pump with multiple air tube channels and capable of individually controlling the functions of each air tube. The suction cup is used to pump air in the flexible tentacle to achieve negative pressure grasping of objects. The bending of the flexible tentacle to grasp the object is achieved by the expansion of the airbag and the pulling of the single pull rope mechanism, so as to grasp the target object more quickly. The airbag plays a supporting role in the flexible arm. After filling the airbag with gas, the rigidity of the flexible arm can be increased, the carrying capacity of the grasped object can be improved, and the flexible arm can be extended to expand the working range.

[0009] The axial telescopic sleeve limits the radial expansion of the flexible air tube, causing it to expand and elongate in the axial direction. By injecting gas into a specific chamber, it can be bent to the left and right sides, and the rigidity of the flexible arm can be increased to improve the carrying capacity. The airbag air tube injects gas into the flexible tentacles to expand them and help the flexible arms bend and grasp objects. Under the joint action of the single pull rope mechanism and the airbag, the flexible tentacles can bend quickly to grasp objects. The air pump draws air into the flexible tentacles through the suction cup air tube, so that negative pressure is generated in the suction cups of the flexible tentacles to suck the objects to be grasped. The flexible air tube plays a supporting role in the flexible arm. After injecting gas into the flexible air tube, the rigidity of the flexible arm can be increased, the carrying capacity of grasping objects can be improved, and the flexible arm can be elongated to expand the scope of operation.

[0010] Preferably, the axial telescopic sleeve is a cylinder formed by a honeycomb elastic net, and the shape of the two-dimensional honeycomb crystal unit cell on the honeycomb elastic net is S-shaped.

[0011] More preferably, the octopus tentacle-like silicone body and the honeycomb elastic net are both made of Ecoflex 00-30.

[0012] Preferably, the suction cups distributed on the octopus tentacle-like silicone body are standard suction cups at the base and small suction cups at the end.

[0013] Preferably, the octopus tentacle-like silicone body is fixed to the flexible tentacle through a plurality of fixing rings.

[0014] Preferably, the flexible air tube is in the shape of a bellows.

[0015] Preferably, the flexible air tube is in the shape of a bellows.

[0016] Preferably, the interior of the flexible air tube is axially divided into two chambers. The flexible arm is driven by nylon ropes on both sides to achieve forward and backward bending, and the flexible arm can be bent left and right by injecting gas into a specific chamber of the flexible air tube, so the bending movement of the flexible arm is achieved by combining rope drive and air pressure.

[0017] Preferably, the octopus tentacle-like silicone body is a cone, one side of which is a plane and the other side is a skeleton structure, which can be bent when the airbag is inflated; the nylon rope of the single-pull rope mechanism connects the diagonal of the plane, and the suction cup is arranged on the plane.

[0018] Preferably, the fixing finger ring is in the shape of a circular ring, and its inner circle is in the shape of an arch.

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0020] 1. The octopus tentacle-like flexible arm device of the present invention combines a rope drive mechanism and a pneumatic mechanism. The rope drive structure adopts two servo motors as the drive mechanism. By setting different rotation angles of the servo motors, the flexible arm device can achieve bending movements in any direction and bending radius on the front and back sides. The starting structure can achieve bending on the left and right sides by injecting gas into the flexible airway chamber.

[0021] 2. The flexible tentacles of the octopus-like tentacle structure of the present invention are made of silicone and are soft in texture. They can grab fragile objects without causing damage, and the nylon rope oblique pulling method can make the grabbing more secure.

[0022] 3. The suction cup of the flexible tentacle imitating the octopus tentacle structure of the present invention is made by 3D printing. When grabbing an object, an air suction pipe is connected to the suction cup to draw air, making it easier to grasp the object.

[0023] 4. The surface of the flexible arm of the octopus tentacle-like structure of the present invention is provided with a flexible honeycomb elastic net, which can not only improve the elastic modulus and bending radius, but also form a flexible contact with the target object without causing damage to the fragile object.

[0024] 5. The flexible arm of the octopus tentacle structure of the present invention is a hollow cylindrical structure, which is doubly supported by a flexible air tube and a honeycomb elastic net. It has a large elastic modulus, is easy to bend and rebound, is highly flexible and light in weight. By filling the flexible air tube with gas, the rigidity of the flexible arm can be improved and the carrying capacity can be improved. The flexible air tube can make the flexible arm axially extended under the action of the lateral restriction of the axial telescopic sleeve, thereby increasing the operating range of the flexible robotic arm.

[0025] 6. The octopus-like tentacle structure of the present invention uses a flexible air tube and a honeycomb elastic net as a supporting structure. After being filled with gas, the rigidity of the flexible arm can be improved to enhance the carrying capacity, and the flexible arm can be extended to increase the operating range.

[0026] 7. The octopus-like tentacle structure of the present invention can extend one side of the flexible tentacle and bend the flexible tentacle as a whole by injecting gas into the air bag. With the cooperation of the single pull rope mechanism, the flexible tentacle can quickly grasp the target object. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 A three-dimensional diagram of the flexible grasping device with an octopus-like tentacle structure provided by the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 A front view of the flexible grasping device with an octopus-like tentacle structure provided by the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the internal structure of the flexible grasping device with an octopus tentacle-like structure provided by the present invention;

[0030] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a driving device;

[0031] Figure 5 A cross-sectional view of the flexible grasping device with an octopus-like tentacle structure provided by the present invention;

[0032] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of a bellows-shaped flexible air tube. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] In order to make the present invention more clearly understood, preferred embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] Example

[0035] like Figure 1-6 As shown, the flexible grasping device with an octopus tentacle-like structure provided in this embodiment includes a series-type flexible grasping device and a driving device 3.

[0036] A serial flexible structure, the serial flexible structure is composed of a flexible arm 1 and a flexible tentacle 2 connected in series, the flexible arm 1 is a cylindrical hollow structure, the flexible arm 1 includes a flexible air tube 11, an axial telescopic sleeve 12, a fixing ring 13, an air valve 14 and a honeycomb elastic net 15, the flexible tentacle 2 includes a suction cup 21, a fixing ring 22, an octopus tentacle-like silicone body 23 and an air bag 24; the flexible air tube 11 is in the shape of a corrugated tube, and there is a blocking layer in the middle of the interior, which divides it into two left and right parts. By flushing gas into a specific chamber, it can be bent in a specific direction, the fixing ring 13 is an annular thin-walled structure, the axial telescopic sleeve 12 wraps the flexible air tube 11 and fixes it through the fixing ring 13, the air valve 14 is located at the lower end opening of the flexible air tube 11, the suction cup 21 is funnel-shaped, and the suction cup 21 includes a small suction cup 211 and a standard suction cup 212. The fixed finger ring 22 is a ring-shaped thin-walled structure of five different sizes, one side of the inner circle is a plane, and a hole is opened between the plane and the outer circle. The imitation octopus tentacle silicone body 23 is a hollow cone-like body, one side of which is a plane and has multiple small holes, the upper part is small holes, and the lower part is standard holes. The small holes are connected to the cylindrical end of the small suction cup 211, and the standard holes are connected to the cylindrical end of the standard suction cup 212. The rear half of the imitation octopus tentacle silicone body 23 is a skeleton structure, and multiple air bags 24 are nested in the gap. The five fixed finger rings 22 are sequentially sleeved on the outside of the imitation octopus tentacle silicone body 23, and the plane of the fixed finger ring 22 is connected to the plane of the imitation octopus tentacle silicone body 23.

[0037] The driving device 3 includes a base 31, a two-rope pull mechanism 32, an air extraction pipe 33, an air inlet pipe 34, an air pump 35 and a single-rope pull mechanism 36; the base 31 is installed at one end of the flexible arm 1, and the two-rope pull mechanism 32 is installed inside the base 31. The two-rope pull mechanism 32 controls the curling of the flexible tentacle 2 and controls the bending direction of the flexible arm 1. The two-rope pull mechanism 32 and the single-rope pull mechanism 36 both include a servo motor 321, a nylon rope 322 and a winch 323. The rotating shaft of the servo motor 321 drives the winch 323, and one end of the nylon rope 322 is wound around the winch 323. The two nylon ropes 322 of the two-rope pulling mechanism 32 respectively pass through the two sides of the multiple fixed rings 13 of the flexible arm 1 in sequence, and are used to pull the flexible arm 1 to bend in a specific direction. The flexible air tube 11 plays a supporting role in the flexible arm 1. The air pump 35 fills gas into the flexible air tube 11 through the air inlet pipe 34 to expand the flexible air tube 11. The axial telescopic sleeve 12 limits the radial expansion of the flexible air tube 11 to expand and elongate along the axial direction. By injecting gas into a specific chamber, the flexible air tube 11 can be bent to the left and right sides, and the rigidity of the flexible arm 1 can also be increased. The nylon ropes 321 on both sides are used to pull the flexible arm 1 to bend in a specific direction. By setting the rotation direction and rotation angle of the two servo motors 321, the nylon ropes 322 can be pulled, and the flexible grasping device can be controlled to bend in the front and back directions on both sides. The nylon rope 322 of the single-pull rope mechanism 36 passes through multiple fixed finger rings 22 in the flexible tentacle 2. By setting the rotation direction and rotation angle of the servo motor 321, the nylon rope 322 can be pulled to control the bending of the flexible tentacle 2. The air tube 33 includes an air bag air tube 331 and a suction cup air tube 332, wherein the air bag air tube 331 is used to inject gas into the flexible tentacle 2 to expand it and help the flexible arm 2 bend to grasp objects. Under the joint action of the single-pull rope mechanism 36 and the air bag 24, the flexible tentacle 2 can bend quickly to grasp objects. The air pump 35 draws air into the flexible tentacle 2 through the suction cup air tube 332, so that negative pressure is generated in the suction cup 21 of the flexible tentacle 2 to suck the object to be grasped.

[0038] Compared with the prior art, the flexible grasping device with an octopus tentacle structure provided by the present invention, when grasping a target object, the two nylon ropes 322 of the two-rope pulling mechanism 32 pass through the outer through holes on the fixing ring 13 of the flexible arm 1, and one end of each nylon rope 322 is wound around a capstan 323, which is driven by a servo motor 321. By controlling the rotation angle of the servo motor 321, the two nylon ropes 322 can be stretched to different distances, and the combined force direction of the tension on the two nylon ropes 322 is the bending direction of the flexible arm 1. The resultant force of the pulling force also determines the bending angle of the flexible arm 1. The flexible joint 1 is bent in a specific direction by controlling the servo motor 321. The air pump 35 fills gas into the specific chamber of the flexible air tube 11 through the air inlet pipe 34. The axial telescopic sleeve 12 limits its lateral expansion. After filling with gas, it can bend in a specific direction, and the flexible arm 1 can also be axially extended. The gas is rushed into the air bag 24, which can make the flexible tentacle 2 bend to one side until the flexible tentacle 2 grasping device is tightly wrapped with the grasped object to achieve flexible grasping. It can be seen that the above-mentioned octopus tentacle structure flexible grasping device has the bending ability in all directions on both sides, realizes the grasping of objects of a specific size, and is simple to assemble.

[0039] like Figure 1 As shown, the honeycomb elastic net 15 adopts a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice structure, and the left and right sides of the lattice are changed to an S shape. The shape of the improved honeycomb lattice structure is a cylinder, and the axial telescopic sleeve 12 is embedded in the honeycomb elastic net 15. The honeycomb elastic net 15 is in flexible contact with the object without causing damage to the object, and can complete the flexible grasping of fragile objects.

[0040] like Figure 2 As shown, the flexible air tube 11 plays a supporting role in the flexible arm 1. After the flexible air tube 11 is filled with gas, the rigidity of the flexible arm 1 is increased, and it can carry heavier objects when grasping objects. The flexible arm 1 can also be extended to expand the working range. The servo motor 321 pulls the nylon rope 322 to achieve the bending of the flexible arm 1 toward the object to be grasped. After the flexible tentacle 2 grasps the object, the gas can be extracted to restore the original state.

[0041] Furthermore, the shapes of the plurality of fixing rings 13 are all circular rings.

[0042] To further optimize the above embodiment, the capstan 323 rests on the inner wall of the cylinder of the base 31 , the cylinder of the servo motor 321 is fixed on the circular bottom plate of the base 31 , and the axial direction of the servo motor 321 faces the center of the base 31 .

[0043] In addition, the two nylon ropes 322 of the two-pull rope mechanism 32 are connected to the fixing ring 13 at the end of the flexible arm 1 farthest from the base 31. The nylon rope 322 of the single-pull rope mechanism 36 is connected to the top of the flexible tentacle 2.

[0044] Furthermore, the fixing ring 13, the suction cup 21 and the fixing finger ring 22 are all made of TPU and are integrally printed using 3D printing technology. TPU has good wear resistance and corrosion resistance. The flexible air tube 11 is made of soft silicone. The soft rubber has good flexibility and air tightness. The axial telescopic sleeve 12 is nested on the outside of the flexible air tube 11. The honeycomb elastic net 15 is made of Ecoflex00-30 silicone, which has good flexibility and resilience, as well as excellent wear resistance and corrosion resistance. The flexible arm 1 has a large elastic modulus, and the bending radius can reach more than 90°. The octopus tentacle-like silicone body 23 in the flexible tentacle 2 is also made of Ecoflex 00-30. Its good structure and the excellent elasticity of the material can make the flexible tentacles curl more than 180° to ensure that they can grasp objects firmly.

Claims

1. A flexible grasping device imitating an octopus tentacle structure, characterized in that: include: A series flexible structure is formed by a flexible arm (1) and a flexible tentacle (2) connected in series. The flexible arm (1) comprises a flexible air tube (11) arranged in an axial telescopic sleeve (12). The flexible air tube (11) is fixed in the axial telescopic sleeve (12) by a plurality of fixing rings (13). The interior of the flexible air tube (11) is axially divided into a plurality of chambers. Each chamber is connected to an air inlet pipe (34) with an air valve (14). When gas is filled into any chamber, the flexible air tube (11) bends. The flexible tentacle (2) is provided with an octopus tentacle-like silicone body (23). A suction cup (21) is distributed on one side of the octopus tentacle-like silicone body (23), and an air bag (24) is distributed on the other side. A driving device (3) for driving a serial flexible structure comprises a two-wire pull mechanism (32) for driving a flexible arm (1), a single-wire pull mechanism (36) for driving a flexible tentacle (2), and an air tube (33) for driving a suction cup (21) and an air bag (24), wherein the two-wire pull mechanism (32) comprises two nylon ropes (322) symmetrically arranged on both sides of the flexible arm (1), and the nylon ropes (322) sequentially pass through a plurality of fixing rings (13) in the flexible arm (1); the single-wire pull mechanism (36) comprises a nylon rope (322), and the nylon rope (322) is connected to the flexible arm (1). 2) pass through a plurality of fixing rings (13) in the flexible arm (1) in sequence and are connected to the end of the flexible tentacle (2); one end of each of the three nylon ropes (322) is wound around a capstan (323), the capstan (323) is driven by a servo motor (321), and the servo motor (321) is fixed to the base (31); the air pipe (33) includes an air bag air pipe (331) connected to the air bag (24), a suction cup air pipe (332) connected to the suction cup (21), and the air inlet pipe (34), the air bag air pipe (331), and the suction cup air pipe (332) are connected to the air pump (35).

2. The flexible grasping device with octopus-like tentacle structure as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The axial telescopic sleeve (12) is a cylinder formed by a honeycomb elastic net (15), and the shape of the two-dimensional honeycomb crystal unit cells on the honeycomb elastic net (15) is S-shaped.

3. The flexible grasping device with octopus-like tentacle structure as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The materials of the octopus tentacle-like silicone body (23) and the honeycomb elastic net (15) are both Ecoflex 00-30.

4. The flexible grasping device with octopus-like tentacle structure as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The suction cups (21) distributed on the octopus tentacle-like silicone body (23) have a standard suction cup (212) near the root and a small suction cup (211) near the end.

5. The flexible grasping device with octopus-like tentacle structure as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The octopus tentacle-like silicone body (23) is fixed on the flexible tentacle (2) via a plurality of fixing rings (22).

6. The flexible grasping device with octopus-like tentacle structure as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The flexible air pipe (11) is in the shape of a corrugated tube.

7. The flexible grasping device imitating an octopus tentacle structure as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The interior of the flexible air tube (11) is axially divided into two chambers.

8. The flexible grasping device with octopus-like tentacle structure as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The octopus tentacle-like silica gel body (23) is a cone, one side of which is a plane. The nylon rope (322) of the single-rope pulling mechanism (36) is connected to the diagonal of the plane, and the suction cup (21) is arranged on the plane.

9. The flexible grasping device with octopus-like tentacle structure as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The fixing finger ring (22) is in the shape of a circular ring, and its inner circle is in the shape of an arch.

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