Chassis control system and robot chassis

Abstract

The invention provides a chassis control system and a robot chassis. The chassis control system comprises a plurality of wheel sets, a data acquisition board, an information processing module and a main control chip. Each wheel set comprises a wheel driver connected with a wheel; the steering engine driver is mechanically connected with the steering engine, and the sensor is connected with the steering engine and the wheels and used for sensing the current state of the wheels. And the data acquisition board is connected with the sensor and is used for receiving the current environment information and the current state of the wheel transmitted by the sensor. And the information processing module is used for receiving and processing the current environment information and the current state of the wheel transmitted by the data acquisition board. The information processing module transmits control information, the steering engine driver controls the output torque of the steering engine according to the control information, the wheel driver simultaneously adjusts the output power of the wheels according to the control information, and the main control chip receives a processing signal transmitted by the information processing module and transmits the processing signal to the background control device. And receiving control information sent by the background control device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of robots, and in particular relates to a chassis control system and a robot chassis. Background Art

[0002] With the development of science and technology, more and more robots have entered people's lives. There are both autonomous intelligent robots and manually controlled robots. In the field of robotics, the chassis is the most basic and critical part that determines the performance of mobile robots. Its quality directly affects the stability of the robot during subsequent operation. In some harsh environments and / or terrains, the key to the robot's ability to perform tasks in different scenarios is mobility. Special robot chassis are different from traditional chassis. They are mainly divided into special applications and civilian use. They have a wide range of applications. For example, in some emergency rescue environments, special robot chassis need strong control power to cross complex terrain. In traditional chassis control, facing complex terrain, control is difficult, easy to lose stability, and fail to achieve the expected effect. In some special environments, damage to the power module of the chassis also occurs from time to time. Under the general trend of intelligence, the application of special robot chassis is very important.

[0003] In the prior art, chassis can be divided into tracked type, wheeled type and footed type, as well as wheeled-footed type which is a combination of wheeled type and footed type.

[0004] Tracked chassis have good traffic capacity. However, the main control method is centralized control, and the mechanical transmission structure leads to insufficient driving force, insufficient performance in obstacle crossing or climbing, and hard tracks (such as metal materials) are highly destructive to the ground, while non-hard tracks (rubber or composite materials) are easy to wear, resulting in greater pressure on operation and maintenance. In addition, in terms of intelligent detection, there are currently few accurate intelligent detection wheels, and there is a lack of dynamic monitoring of the ground and environment.

[0005] The foot-type chassis has good passing performance. However, its disadvantages are low payload, high energy consumption during operation, and easy wear of transmission parts (including motors, reducers, etc.), which are not suitable for long-distance operations. In addition, the foot-type chassis has a complex structure and high manufacturing cost, and the control system is difficult to design, and the cost of operation and maintenance is also high.

[0006] Wheeled robots have large payloads, excellent long-distance mobility on flat ground, and low operation and maintenance costs. However, they have poor obstacle passability. When the height of a vertical obstacle exceeds the tire radius, the wheeled chassis has difficulty climbing over it.

[0007] It can be seen that various types of chassis in the existing technology have their own advantages and disadvantages. At present, there is a lack of chassis with comprehensive advantages in various aspects such as good traffic capacity, large effective load, low energy consumption and low operation and maintenance costs. Summary of the invention

[0008] Based on the problems existing in the prior art, the present invention mainly discloses a chassis control system, which is applied to the chassis of the robot, and can enable the robot to operate in remote areas with relatively harsh natural environments. Through the intelligent control of the robot chassis by the chassis control system, the passing performance can be effectively improved and the loss can be reduced. At the same time, the intelligent perception is increased, and the AI ​​algorithm is combined to the operating conditions of the road and the working status of the wheels, including real-time information feedback from the wheels, reading the data of the code disk and encoder sensors, the resistance between the wheels and the contact surface such as the ground, the working ambient temperature, the working current, and the friction, etc., in order to more intuitively increase the data processing. The intelligent control system detects these key information and will conduct targeted diagnosis, accurately diagnose the problems and faults of the actuator and sensor module to ensure the safety of the robot chassis.

[0009] The purpose of the present invention is that the chassis control system can control a robot chassis with multiple wheel groups, control the torque of the servo by a servo driver, and control the output power of the wheel by a wheel driver. The data acquisition board is connected to the information processing module signal, and the control information and sensor signal are transmitted to the main control chip to complete the construction of the main control function of the entire robot chassis. The background control device can communicate with the robot chassis through remote control or close control and remotely control the robot chassis to perform tasks, complete the distributed drive of the wheels, and distributed steering. Thereby achieving the advantages of small turning radius, in-situ steering, multiple operating postures, strong driving force, high ground climbing and obstacle crossing performance, and strong ground passability.

[0010] According to the above-mentioned purposes, the present invention discloses a chassis control system, including: multiple wheel groups, a data acquisition board, an information processing module and a main control chip. Among them, each wheel group includes: a wheel driver, which is mechanically connected to the wheel to control the output power of the wheel; a steering gear driver, which is mechanically connected to the steering gear to control the steering of the steering gear, thereby adjusting the direction of travel of the wheel; and a sensor, which is respectively connected to the steering gear and the wheel to sense the current state of the wheel and read the current environmental information. The data acquisition board is electrically connected to the sensor to receive the current environmental information and the current state of the wheel transmitted by the sensor. The information processing module is used to receive and process the current environmental information and the current state of the wheel transmitted by the data acquisition board. The main control chip is used to receive the processed current environment information and the processed current state of the wheels transmitted by the information processing module, and send an execution action to the information processing module according to the processed current environment information and control information. The information processing module transmits the control information to the servo driver and the wheel driver. The servo driver controls the steering of the servo according to the control information, and the wheel driver adjusts the travel direction and output power of the wheels according to the control information, so that the robot chassis executes the action.

[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the servo drive is a brushless motor with a power range of 200W-400W.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the output power range of the wheel is 600W-1000W.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the current state of the wheel is the friction between the wheel and the contact surface, the resistance between the wheel and the contact surface, the operating temperature and / or the operating current.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the current environmental information is the environmental temperature and / or the ground slope.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the chassis control system further includes a background control device that is communicatively connected to the main control chip via a communication module.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the background control device provides control information.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the background control device remotely controls the robot chassis by remote control or short-range control.

[0018] Another object of the present invention is to disclose a robot chassis, including: the chassis control system, a base and multiple support frames, the base is used to support the robot body, one end of the support frame is connected to the base, and the other end is hinged to the wheel group, so as to support the base from the ground to keep it away from the ground. Under the control of the chassis control system, the wheel group can move on the ground or climb over obstacles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments or descriptions of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are merely embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without paying any creative work.

[0020] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing a chassis control system according to the technology disclosed in the present invention.

[0021] Figure 2 The present invention discloses a flow chart showing the control steps of a chassis control system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The specific implementation of the present invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0023] First, please refer to Figure 1 . Figure 1FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a chassis control system according to the technology disclosed in the present invention. Figure 1 In the embodiment, the chassis control system 1 includes: a main control chip 10, an information processing module 12, a data acquisition board 14 and a wheel set 2. The information processing module 12 is connected to the main control chip 10 and the data acquisition board 14 respectively. The wheel set 2 is connected to the information processing module 12 and the data acquisition board 14 respectively. The following describes the components applied to the robot chassis control system 1.

[0024] The wheel set 2 is at least composed of a steering gear driver 20, a wheel driver 22, a sensor 24, a steering gear 202 and a wheel 222. The steering gear 202 is arranged on and connected to the wheel 222. The steering gear driver 20 is connected to the steering gear 202 to control the torque of the steering gear 202, thereby controlling the direction of the wheel 222; the wheel driver 22 is connected to the wheel 222 to control the output power of the wheel 222, thereby controlling the speed and the forward or reverse rotation of the wheel 222. The sensor 24 is respectively connected to the steering gear 202 and the wheel 222 to sense the current state of the wheel 222 and obtain the current environment information at the same time. It should be noted here that the current state of the wheel 222 can be the friction between the wheel 222 and the ground (not shown in the figure), the resistance between the wheel 222 and the ground (not shown in the figure), the working temperature and / or the working current (voltage). It should be noted that the current state of the wheel 222 includes but not only includes the above content, and the content of the current state can also be increased according to the purpose of the present invention, such as the tire pressure of the wheel 222. The current environmental information of the wheel refers to the environmental conditions where the wheel 222 is currently located, such as ambient temperature, ground slope, ground conditions (for example: hard ground, grass, sand or gravel), ground flatness, etc. In a more preferred embodiment of the present invention, the steering gear driver 20 is a brushless motor with a power range of 200W-400W. The output power range of the wheel 222 is 600W-1000W.

[0025] The data acquisition board 14 is connected to the sensor 24 of the wheel set 2 , and receives the current environment information and the current state of the wheel 222 transmitted by the sensor 24 .

[0026] The information processing module 12 receives and processes the current environment information and the current state of the wheels transmitted by the data acquisition board 14 .

[0027] The main control chip 10 is used to receive the processed current environment information and the processed current state of the wheel transmitted by the information processing module 12, and send an execution action to the information processing module 12 according to the processed current environment information and control information, so that the information processing module 12 transmits the control information to the servo driver 20 and the wheel driver 22 in the wheel set 2, so that the servo driver 20 outputs torque according to the control information to control the steering of the servo 202; and the wheel driver 22 outputs power according to the control information to adjust the rotation direction and / or rotation speed of the wheel 222.

[0028] In the present invention, the chassis control system 1 further includes a communication module 30, and the communication module 30 is used to communicate and connect the background control device 50 with the chassis control system 1. Specifically, the background control device 50 is communicated and connected with the main control chip 10 in the chassis control system 1 through the communication module 30. The user uses the background control device 50 to transmit control information to the main control chip 10 through the communication module 30 in a remote control or close-range control manner, so that the robot chassis can perform work according to the control information, wherein the control information can be the torque of each servo 202, the travel speed of each wheel 222, the power size, the travel direction, the obstacle climbing, or the function of the robot carried by the robot chassis to coordinately execute the work instructions corresponding to the control information.

[0029] In another more preferred embodiment, the background control device 50 can diagnose and detect the performance of each wheel group according to the received processed current environmental information and the processed current state of the wheel according to the artificial intelligence algorithm. For example, when passing through uneven ground or stuck in potholes, the torque of each wheel can be adjusted and increased to achieve the purpose of passing obstacles. The output power of each wheel 222 needs to be adjusted to ensure the output capacity while reducing energy loss to achieve efficient operation and ensure the driving safety of the robot chassis during the work process.

[0030] The robot chassis disclosed in the present invention includes: a control system, a base and a plurality of support frames. The base is used to support the robot body, and there is no restriction on the shape of the base. One end of the support frame is connected to the base, and the other end can be hinged to the wheel set 2, so as to prop the base up from the ground to keep it away from the ground, and the wheel set 2 can be used to move on the ground or climb over obstacles. It should be noted that in a more preferred embodiment of the present invention, the number of support frames can be four or six, which can be matched with the hardware design of the base, and there is no restriction on the number. The number of wheel sets 2 is matched with the number of support frames. In addition, the structure of the above-mentioned robot chassis is not a technical feature to be discussed in the present invention, and the structure of the robot chassis is not described in detail here.

[0031] Please refer to Figure 2 . Figure 2 FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the control steps of a chassis control system according to the technology disclosed in the present invention. Figure 2 In the embodiment, step S10: sense the current state of the wheels of the robot chassis and read the current environmental information, and sense the current working current (voltage) of the servo at the same time. Step S12: transmit the current state of the wheels, the current environmental information and the working current (voltage) of the servo to the information processing module for processing to obtain a processing signal, and transmit the processing signal to the main control chip. Step S14: The main control chip transmits the processing signal to the background control device through the communication module. Step S16: The background control device judges and analyzes the control information for the next step based on the data obtained by the comparison operation of the processing signal. When the wheel encounters resistance, the sensor will read it, and the algorithm will judge what scene the resistance is encountered, whether it is a normal driving situation, an abnormal scene, or a machine failure. Based on these judgments, the result of the next operation is obtained, that is, the artificial intelligence algorithm further processes the signal to obtain control information. Step S18: The control information is transmitted from the background control device to the main control chip through the communication module. Step S20: The main control chip sends the corresponding execution action instruction to the information processing module based on the control information. Step S22: The information processing module transmits the execution action instruction to the steering engine driver and the wheel driver respectively, and the steering engine driver controls the output torque of the steering engine and the wheel driver controls the output power of the wheel according to the execution action instruction. Step S24: The robot chassis executes the work task.

[0032] Therefore, according to the above, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the robot chassis is located on a stone ground with obstacles, the sensor 24 of the wheel set 2 senses the current state of the wheel 222 of the robot chassis through the intelligent system and reads the current environmental information, as well as the current working current (voltage) of the servo 202. The current state of the wheel 222 can be the friction between the wheel 222 and the stone ground, the resistance between the wheel 222 and the stone ground, the height of each wheel set 2 (or the height between each support frame and the stone ground). The current environmental information refers to the ambient temperature, obstacles (stones of different sizes) and outdoor environment at that time.

[0033] The sensor 24 transmits the current state of the wheel 222 and the current environmental information read, and the current working current (voltage) of the steering gear 202 to the data acquisition board 14, and the data acquisition board 14 collects the current state of the wheel 222 transmitted by each wheel group 2 and the current environmental information read, as well as the current working current (voltage) and other data of the steering gear 202. It should be noted that the current state and current environmental information of the wheel 222 of each wheel group 2, and the current working current of the steering gear 202 can be the same or different. In other words, there are n groups of wheel groups 2 of the robot chassis, and the data acquisition board 14 will receive the corresponding n groups of data in real time. Then the data acquisition board 14 transmits the data of these wheel groups 2 to the information processing module 12 for processing to obtain a processing signal, and uploads this processing signal to the main control chip 10.

[0034] Next, the main control chip 10 transmits the processed signal to the background control device 50 through the communication module 30. The background control device 50 includes an intelligent detection module and an artificial intelligence algorithm. The intelligent detection module automatically checks and determines the real-time working voltage and real-time output current of each wheel set 2 and the fluctuation of voltage and current at different time points, as well as the real-time speed and speed at different time points of the wheel set 2 through hardware to determine whether the output of torque and power is normal, thereby diagnosing whether the working state of each wheel set 2 is normal; and the artificial intelligence algorithm is used to adjust the output of the steering gear 202 and the wheel 222 in each wheel set 2 to achieve efficient operation. In this embodiment, the background control device 50 sends the control information corresponding to the adjusted output of the steering gear 202 and the wheel 222 in each wheel set 2 to the main control chip 10 through the communication module 30. Afterwards, the main control chip 10 sends an execution action instruction to the information processing module 12 according to the control information, and the information processing module 12 transmits the execution action instruction to the wheel driver 22 of each wheel group 2 to control the output power of the wheel 222 and the servo driver 20 to control the output torque of the servo 202.

[0035] Taking a robot chassis with four wheel sets 2 (not shown in the figure) as an example, if the robot chassis is located on a stone ground with obstacles, when the wheel sets 2 of the robot chassis pass through obstacles such as stones protruding from the ground, the height of the wheel sets 2 on the left and right sides of the front end of the base of the robot chassis when passing over the obstacle is different from the height of the wheel sets 2 on the left and right sides of the rear end of the base. The torque of the servos 202 on the left and right sides of the front end of the base and the output power of the wheels 222 are greater than the torque of the servos 202 on the left and right sides of the rear end of the base. The torque and the output power of the wheel 222 can make the front wheel set 2 of the base of the robot chassis pass over the obstacle. After the front wheel set 2 of the base of the robot chassis passes over the obstacle, the background control device adjusts the torque of the servos 202 and the output power of the wheels 222 on the left and right sides of the rear wheel set 2 of the base of the robot chassis to be greater than the torque of the servos 202 and the output power of the wheels 222 on the left and right sides of the front wheel set 2 of the base, so that the rear wheel set 2 of the robot chassis has a larger output power and passes over the obstacle. If the robot chassis is located on a soft ground such as sand, when one of the wheel sets 2 falls into a sand pit, the background control device 50 diagnoses that the working state of the wheel set 2 is abnormal, and then adjusts the output of the servos 202 and wheels 222 in the remaining three wheel sets 2, and controls the robot chassis to turn in place until the wheel set 2 with abnormal working state leaves the sand pit and returns to normal working state.

[0036] Based on different application scenarios, the background control device 50 can be set at the terminal of the robot chassis, or at the cloud or at the edge, and the present invention does not limit this.

[0037] It should be noted that the robot described in the present invention includes both intelligent robots that can autonomously plan travel routes and autonomously move, and robots that manually control the travel direction or path, and the present invention does not limit this. In the embodiment of the present invention, the robot body or robot type is not limited, for example, it can be an exploration robot with a detection function, a minesweeping robot with a mechanical arm, a drilling / well digging robot, a robot with a lifting device, or a fire extinguishing / watering robot with a spraying device; it can also be a manned robot with a body that can carry personnel, etc. The ground and environment are monitored in a dynamic manner through the sensors of the wheel group 2, and then the current situation of each wheel group 2 and the current environmental information read are accurately detected according to the artificial intelligence algorithm of the background control device 50, and the steering gear 202 of each wheel group 2 is regulated in a distributed manner, so that the steering of the steering gear 202 of each wheel group 2 does not interfere with each other and has the maximum torque output, and the travel direction of the wheels 222 of each wheel group 2 is also regulated, and does not interfere with each other, and has the most optimized output power, so that the robot chassis can achieve the most optimized operating efficiency.

Claims

1. A chassis control system, characterized in that: It includes multiple wheel sets, data acquisition boards, information processing modules and main control chips; The wheel set includes a wheel driver mechanically connected to the wheel to control the output power of the wheel; A steering gear driver, mechanically connected to the steering gear, for controlling the steering of the steering gear, thereby adjusting the travel direction of the wheel; and sensors, respectively connected to the steering gear and the wheels, to sense the current state of the wheels and read current environmental information; The data acquisition board is electrically connected to the sensor and is used to receive the current environment information and the current state of the wheel transmitted by the sensor; The information processing module is used to receive and process the current environment information and the current state of the wheel transmitted by the data acquisition board to obtain a processing signal; as well as The main control chip is used to receive the processing signal transmitted by the information processing module, transmit the processing signal to the background control device, and receive the control information sent by the background control device after calculating the processing signal. The main control chip transmits the control information to the servo driver and the wheel driver respectively, so that the servo driver controls the steering of each servo according to the control information, and the wheel driver simultaneously adjusts the output power of each wheel according to the control information, so that the robot chassis performs the action.

2. The chassis control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The steering gear driver is a brushless motor with a power range of 200W-400W.

3. The chassis control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The output power of the wheel ranges from 600W to 1000W.

4. The chassis control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The current state of the wheel is the friction between the wheel and the ground, the resistance between the wheel and the ground, the operating temperature and / or the operating current.

5. The chassis control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The current environmental information is the ambient temperature and / or ground conditions.

6. The chassis control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main control chip is connected to the background control device for communication via a communication module.

7. The chassis control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The background control device provides control information.

8. The chassis control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The background control device controls the robot chassis remotely or at close range.

9. A robot chassis, characterized in that: It comprises a base, a plurality of support frames and a chassis control system as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein one end of the support frame is connected to the base, and the other end is hinged to the wheel set, so as to prop the base up from the ground to keep it away from the ground, and the wheel set can move on the ground or climb over obstacles under the control of the chassis control system.

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