Deformable underwater channel maintenance robot

Abstract

The deformable underwater channel maintenance robot comprises a main body frame 1, a propeller system 2, a walking system 3, a steering system 4 and a skeleton system 5, the main body frame 1 comprises a front body 1-1 and a rear body 1-2, and the propeller system 2 comprises a vertical propeller 2-1 and a horizontal propeller 2-2. The walking system 3 comprises a bottom auxiliary wheel 3-1 and a lateral conical wheel 3-2, the steering system 4 comprises a steering wheel 4-1, a spring 4-2 and a hinged base 4-3, and the framework system 5 comprises a main shaft 5-1, a flexible belt 5-2, a connecting rod 5-3, a driving shaft rod 5-4 and a hanging ring 5-5. The device has various deformability, can walk in channels with various widths in a self-adaptive manner, has a sectional structure, can complete the steering capability from a vertical wall surface to a horizontal wall surface, and solves the problems of single walking mode and low stability of the conventional underwater robot.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of underwater vertical and horizontal channel maintenance, and in particular relates to a deformable underwater channel maintenance robot. Background Art

[0002] Underwater channels are prone to debris accumulation, corrosion, damage, poor sealing and other problems. Maintenance of channels is conducive to ensuring the safety of channels and maintaining normal operation. Currently, most maintenance work is completed by staff carrying professional equipment underwater. The underwater environment is complex and visibility is low, making manual cleaning time-consuming and labor-intensive, and there are personal safety hazards.

[0003] At present, underwater robots have been used to partially replace divers for cleaning, but the operating robots generally used are of a thruster-type structure, which has high sensitivity but low stability in walking.

[0004] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention designs a deformable self-propelled underwater channel maintenance robot platform. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present invention provides a deformable underwater channel maintenance robot, the purpose of which is to achieve free transition walking from a vertical wall surface to a horizontal wall surface, or free transition walking from a horizontal wall surface to a vertical wall surface through a two-stage structure, and at the same time adapt to channels of various widths through deformable telescopic wheels, and can carry underwater equipment to stably and efficiently complete underwater maintenance tasks.

[0006] The present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0007] A deformable underwater channel maintenance robot comprises a main frame 1, a thruster system 2, a walking system 3, a steering system 4 and a skeleton system 5, wherein the main frame 1 comprises a front body 1-1 and a rear body 1-2, the thruster system 2 comprises a vertical thruster 2-1 and a horizontal thruster 2-2, the thruster system 2 is composed of four vertical thrusters 2-1 and two horizontal thrusters 2-2, the walking system 3 comprises a bottom auxiliary wheel 3-1 and a lateral conical wheel 3-2, the walking of the robot platform is achieved by means of four bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 and four lateral conical wheels 3-2, the steering system 4 comprises a steering wheel 4-1, a spring 4-2 and an articulated base 4-3, the skeleton system 5 comprises a main shaft 5-1, a flexible belt 5-2, a connecting rod 5-3, a driving shaft 5-4 and a lifting ring 5-5, and the lifting ring 5-5 of the skeleton system is connected to a cable.

[0008] Furthermore, the main body frame 1 includes a front body 1-1 and a rear body 1-2. The main body frame 1 is responsible for carrying various maintenance equipment and for fixing the positions of various subsystems. The front body 1-1 controls the direction and drives, and carries a steering system and a drive system to control the walking direction of the entire robot platform. The rear body 1-2 cooperates with the front body 1-1 to form a two-stage structure to achieve steering from a vertical channel to a horizontal channel. The tail of the front body 1-1 is set to a concave shape, and the head of the rear body 1-2 is set to a convex shape, so that the front body 1-1 and the rear body 1-2 will not interfere with each other in the steering process, are easier to cooperate, and have a smoother deformation transition.

[0009] Furthermore, the vertical thruster 2-1 provides thrust for the back of the robot platform, so that the robot platform can stick to the wall when walking on the vertical wall to prevent falling off, thereby ensuring walking stability; the function of the horizontal thruster 2-2 is to provide horizontal driving force for the robot platform when the robot platform walks in the horizontal channel.

[0010] Furthermore, the walking system 3 includes bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 and lateral conical wheels 3-2. The walking of the robot platform is achieved by four bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 and four lateral conical wheels 3-2. The bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 are designed to enable the robot platform to walk along the wall, replacing sliding with rolling to reduce friction, and are also used to position the robot platform. The lateral wheels 3-2 are in the form of cones, so that the forces on both sides of the conical wheels are concentrated inward when they are close to the wall.

[0011] Furthermore, the rotation speed relationship of the lateral wheels on the left and right sides is n 左 =n 右 Since the upper radius of the lateral wheel is larger than the lower radius, the linear velocity relationship between the upper and lower sides of the left and right lateral wheels at the same speed is v 左上 >v 左下 、v 右上 >v 右下 Through the 3-2-1 full rolling of the lateral wheel with a large radius and the 3-2-2 sliding rolling of the lateral wheel with a small radius, the robot platform tends to move along the inner wall of the groove. Coupled with the function of the auxiliary wheels at the bottom, the robot platform can only move in a straight line along the wall.

[0012] Furthermore, the steering system 4 includes a steering wheel 4-1, a spring 4-2 and an articulated base 4-3. The steering system is used to change the walking direction of the robot platform when it turns from a vertical channel to a horizontal channel. When the robot platform moves to the bottom of the vertical channel, the steering wheel 4-1 of the steering system first contacts the bottom of the channel, and the steering wheel 4-1 is squeezed by the horizontal plane. Since one side of the steering wheel 4-1 is hingedly connected to the articulated base 4-3, and the other side of the steering wheel 4-1 is fixed by the spring 4-2, the steering wheel 4-1 will compress the spring 4-2 and tend to rotate around the articulated base 4-3, thereby making the steering wheel 4-1 tend to move in the horizontal direction to achieve steering.

[0013] Furthermore, the skeleton system 5 includes a main shaft 5-1, a flexible belt 5-2, a connecting rod 5-3, a driving shaft 5-4 and a lifting ring 5-5. The lifting ring 5-5 of the skeleton system is connected to the cable. The stretching of the main shaft 5-1 drives the extension and retraction of the entire skeleton system. The extension and retraction function is realized by a rocker slider mechanism. When the main shaft 5-1 is stretched and compressed, the connecting rod 5-3 and the main shaft 5-1 are hingedly connected, which will drive the connecting rod 5-3 to rotate. The connecting rod 5-3 and the driving shaft 5-4 are also hingedly connected, and the driving shaft 5-4 can only slide back and forth horizontally. Therefore, when the connecting rod 5-3 rotates, it will drive the driving shaft 5-4 to slide horizontally, thereby realizing the extension and retraction of the lateral conical wheel 3-2.

[0014] Furthermore, the flexible belt 5 - 2 is made of flexible elastic material and can be bent when the robot platform turns, and will automatically return to its original shape after the turn is completed.

[0015] Furthermore, the working postures of the robot platform include a contraction posture 101 , an extension posture 102 and a turning posture 103 .

[0016] The technical implementation principle of the present invention is as follows: the robot platform is equipped with underwater cameras, sonar and other tools to complete underwater maintenance work in vertical and horizontal channels, and can realize free turning from the vertical channel to the horizontal channel. First, the robot platform is in a retracted posture 101 as a whole, and the cable is connected to the robot platform through the lifting ring 5-5, and it is hoisted into the underwater vertical channel. When the fuselage completely enters the vertical channel and the four bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 completely contact the inner side of the channel wall, the lateral conical wheels 3-2 are unfolded and tightly attached to the two side walls of the channel by stretching the skeleton system 5 to ensure that the robot platform can always walk along the channel. At the same time, because the lateral wheels are conical wheels, the system has a tendency to move along the inner wall of the channel without leaving the channel. When the system turns from the vertical channel to the horizontal channel, the movement direction of the robot platform is adjusted by the steering system. Since the central axis of the skeleton system is made of flexible material, a bending state can be formed, so that the robot platform is deformed into two sections, and then enters the turning posture 103, and then the robot platform is driven by the horizontal propeller 2-2 to start moving along the horizontal channel.

[0017] Beneficial effects: The present invention is a deformable self-propelled underwater channel maintenance robot platform, which can carry equipment and automatically walk to complete underwater channel maintenance work, replacing traditional manual maintenance and improving maintenance efficiency. Specifically, the advantages include the following:

[0018] 1. The invention has a simple structure but complete functionality. It can carry sonar, underwater cameras and other detection equipment to perform accurate, stable and reliable maintenance work in underwater channels;

[0019] 2. The invention has the ability to be deformed and can adapt to underwater channels of various widths. At the same time, due to the two-stage structure, it can freely change direction on the vertical wall and the horizontal wall, and can adapt to various terrains;

[0020] 3. The skeleton adopts the principle of rocker slider mechanism, which can easily control the deformation ability of the entire robot through the main axis stretching to ensure that the robot can adapt to various channel environments;

[0021] 4. The middle section of the main shaft adopts a flexible belt design, which has the ability of elastic bending and deformation. As the middle bridge of the front and rear bodies, the front and rear bodies can complete the ability to turn from the vertical channel to the horizontal channel;

[0022] 5. The design of the steering wheel is simple and practical. By setting it in a form where one side is hinged and the other side is retractable, the wheel tends to move toward the retractable end, which indirectly changes the movement direction of the overall structure of the system, and realizes the movement process of the system from orientation to steering in a simple and efficient way;

[0023] 6. The lateral wheel adopts the shape of a conical wheel so that it can rotate close to the wall. When rotating, because the upper part is larger and the lower part is smaller, the movement path of the larger radius is larger, so that the entire mechanism tends to move toward the inner wall of the groove. Since there are auxiliary wheels at the bottom of the robot platform, the whole body moves in a straight line close to the inner wall of the groove, but always maintains the tendency to move inside the groove and will not leave the groove during walking;

[0024] 7. This device has multiple deformation capabilities and can adaptively walk in channels of various widths. It also has a segmented structure and can complete the turning ability from a vertical wall to a horizontal wall, solving the problem of single walking mode and low stability of previous underwater robots;

[0025] 8. The orientation method of this device is simple and reliable. Through the free deformation of the orientation wheel system, the orientation and steering work can be completed simply and reliably. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 The figure is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a deformable underwater channel maintenance robot according to the present invention.

[0027] Figure 2 The figure is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of a deformable underwater channel maintenance robot according to the present invention.

[0028] Figure 3 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a retracted posture 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 4 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a stretching posture 102 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 5 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a steering posture 103 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the main frame structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of a propeller system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 8 The figure is a schematic diagram of the propeller structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Fig. 9 The figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of a walking system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] Fig.10 The figure is a schematic diagram of the force of a lateral conical wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Fig.11 The figure is a schematic diagram of the travel path of the lateral conical wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Fig.12 The figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of a steering system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] Fig.13 The figure is a schematic diagram of the steering principle and process structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Fig.14 This is a schematic diagram of the skeleton system structure of an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The following is a detailed description of an embodiment of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings: This embodiment is implemented on the premise of the technical solution of the present invention, and a detailed implementation method and a specific operation process are given, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0041] like Figure 1 , 2 As shown, a deformable underwater channel maintenance robot includes a main frame 1, a propeller system 2, a walking system 3, a steering system 4, and a skeleton system 5.

[0042] like Figure 3 , 4 As shown in , 5 , the working postures of the robot platform include a contraction posture 101 , an extension posture 102 , and a turning posture 103 .

[0043] like Figure 6 As shown, the main frame 1 includes a front body 1-1 and a rear body 1-2. The main frame 1 is responsible for carrying various maintenance equipment and is used to fix the position of each subsystem. The front body 1-1 mainly controls the direction and drive, and is equipped with a steering system and a drive system to control the walking direction of the entire robot platform. The function of the rear body 1-2 is to cooperate with the front body 1-1 to form a two-stage structure to achieve the turning from the vertical channel to the horizontal channel. The tail of the front body 1-1 is set to a concave shape, and the head of the rear body 1-2 is set to a convex shape so that the front body 1-1 and the rear body 1-2 will not interfere with each other in the turning process, which makes it easier to cooperate and the deformation transition is smoother.

[0044] like Figure 7 As shown, the propeller system 2 includes a vertical propeller 2-1 and a horizontal propeller 2-2. The propeller system 2 is composed of four vertical propellers 2-1 and two horizontal propellers 2-2. The function of the vertical propeller 2-1 is to provide thrust for the back of the robot platform, so that the robot platform can stick to the wall when walking on the vertical wall to prevent it from falling off, so as to ensure walking stability; the function of the horizontal propeller 2-2 is to provide the robot platform with a horizontal driving force when walking in the horizontal channel.

[0045] like Fig. 9As shown, the walking system 3 includes bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 and lateral conical wheels 3-2. The walking of the robot platform is mainly achieved by the four bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 and the four lateral conical wheels 3-2. The purpose of the bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 is to enable the robot platform to walk along the wall, replacing sliding with rolling to reduce friction, and is also used to position the robot platform; the lateral wheels 3-2 are in the form of cones, so that the forces on both sides of the conical wheels are concentrated inward when they are close to the wall, as shown in FIG. Fig.10 shown.

[0046] The relationship between the left and right directional wheel speeds is n 左 =n 右 Since the upper radius of the lateral wheel is larger than the lower radius, the linear velocity relationship between the upper and lower sides of the left and right lateral wheels at the same speed is v 左上 >v 左下 、v 右上 >v 右下 Therefore, the robot mainly walks by full rolling of the large radius side of the lateral wheel 3-2-1 and sliding and rolling of the small radius side of the lateral wheel 3-2-2, so that the robot tends to move along the inner wall of the groove. However, due to the function of the auxiliary wheels at the bottom, the robot platform can only walk in a straight line along the wall. The theoretical and actual motion paths are as follows: Fig.11 shown.

[0047] like Fig.12 As shown, the steering system 4 includes a steering wheel 4-1, a spring 4-2, and an articulated base 4-3. The steering system 4 is mainly used to change the walking direction of the robot platform when it turns from a vertical channel to a horizontal channel. When the robot platform moves to the bottom of the vertical channel, the steering wheel 4-1 of the steering system first contacts the bottom of the channel, and the steering wheel 4-1 is squeezed by the horizontal plane. Since one side of the steering wheel 4-1 is hingedly connected to the articulated base 4-3 and the other side is fixed by the spring 4-2, the steering wheel 4-1 will compress the spring 4-2 and tend to rotate around the articulated base, thereby making the steering wheel tend to move in the horizontal direction to achieve steering, as shown in FIG. Fig.13 shown.

[0048] like Fig.14As shown, the skeleton system 4 includes a main shaft 5-1, a flexible belt 5-2, a connecting rod 5-3, a driving shaft 5-4, and a lifting ring 5-5. The lifting ring 5-5 of the skeleton system 4 is connected to the cable, and the entire skeleton system is mainly driven to extend and retract by the stretching of the main shaft 5-1, and the extension and retraction capability is realized by the rocker slider mechanism. When the main shaft 5-1 is stretched and compressed, the connecting rod 5-3 and the main shaft 5-1 are connected by a hinge, which will drive the rotation of the connecting rod 5-3. The connecting rod 5-3 and the driving shaft are also connected by a hinge, and the driving shaft 5-4 can only slide back and forth horizontally. Therefore, when the connecting rod 5-3 rotates, it will drive the driving shaft 5-4 to slide horizontally, thereby realizing the extension and retraction of the lateral conical wheel 3-2. The flexible belt 5-2 is made of a flexible elastic material. When the robot platform turns, it can be bent, and it will automatically return to its original state after the turn is completed.

[0049] The robot platform is equipped with underwater cameras, sonar and other tools to complete underwater maintenance work in vertical and horizontal channels, and can realize free turning from the vertical channel to the horizontal channel. First, the robot platform is in a retracted posture 101 as a whole, and the cable is connected to the robot platform through the lifting ring 5-5, and it is hoisted into the underwater vertical channel. When the fuselage completely enters the vertical channel and the four bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 completely contact the inner side of the channel wall, the lateral conical wheels 3-2 are unfolded and tightly attached to the two side walls of the channel by stretching the skeleton system 5 to ensure that the robot platform can always walk along the channel. At the same time, because the lateral wheels are conical wheels, the system has a tendency to move along the inner wall of the channel without leaving the channel. When the system turns from the vertical channel to the horizontal channel, the movement direction of the robot platform is adjusted by the steering system. Since the central axis of the skeleton system is made of flexible material, a bending state can be formed, so that the robot platform is deformed into two sections, and then enters the turning posture 103, and then the robot platform is driven by the horizontal propeller 2-2 to start moving along the horizontal channel.

[0050] The above shows and describes the basic principles and main features of the present invention and the advantages of the present invention. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The above embodiments and descriptions are only for explaining the principles of the present invention. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the present invention may have various changes and improvements, which fall within the scope of the present invention to be protected. The scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the attached claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A deformable underwater channel maintenance robot, characterized in that: It includes a main frame 1, a propeller system 2, a walking system 3, a steering system 4, and a skeleton system 5. The main frame 1 includes a front body 1-1 and a rear body 1-2. The propeller system 2 includes a vertical propeller 2-1 and a horizontal propeller 2-2. The propeller system 2 is composed of four vertical propellers 2-1 and two horizontal propellers 2-2. The walking system 3 includes a bottom auxiliary wheel 3-1 and a lateral conical wheel 3-2. The walking of the robot platform is achieved by four bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 and four lateral conical wheels 3-2. The steering system 4 includes a steering wheel 4-1, a spring 4-2 and an articulated base 4-3. The skeleton system 5 includes a main shaft 5-1, a flexible belt 5-2, a connecting rod 5-3, a driving shaft 5-4 and a lifting ring 5-5. The lifting ring 5-5 of the skeleton system is connected to the cable.

2. A deformable underwater channel maintenance robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main frame 1 includes a front body 1-1 and a rear body 1-2. The main frame 1 is responsible for carrying various maintenance equipment and is used to fix the positions of various subsystems. The front body 1-1 controls the direction and drive, and is equipped with a steering system and a drive system to control the walking direction of the entire robot platform. The rear body 1-2 cooperates with the front body 1-1 to form a two-section structure to achieve steering from a vertical channel to a horizontal channel, or from a horizontal channel to a vertical channel.

3. A deformable underwater channel maintenance robot according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The tail of the front body 1-1 is set to be concave, and the head of the rear body 1-2 is set to be convex, so that the front body 1-1 and the rear body 1-2 will not interfere with each other in the steering process, are easier to cooperate, and have smoother deformation transition.

4. The deformable underwater channel maintenance robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The vertical thruster 2-1 provides thrust for the back of the robot platform, so that the robot platform can stick to the wall when walking on the vertical wall to prevent falling off, thereby ensuring walking stability; the role of the horizontal thruster is to provide horizontal driving force for the robot platform when the robot platform walks in the horizontal channel.

5. The deformable underwater channel maintenance robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The walking system 3 includes bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 and lateral conical wheels 3-2. The walking of the robot platform is achieved by four bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 and four lateral conical wheels 3-2. The bottom auxiliary wheels 3-1 are used to enable the robot platform to walk along the wall, replacing sliding with rolling to reduce friction, and are also used to position the robot platform. The lateral wheels 3-2 are in the form of cones, so that the forces on both sides of the conical wheels are concentrated inward when they are close to the wall.

6. The deformable underwater channel maintenance robot according to claim 5, characterized in that: The speed relationship between the left and right lateral wheels is n 左 =n 右 Since the upper radius of the lateral wheel is larger than the lower radius, the linear velocity relationship between the upper and lower sides of the left and right lateral wheels at the same speed is v 左上 >v 左下 、v 右上 >v 右下 Through the 3-2-1 full rolling of the lateral wheel with a large radius and the 3-2-2 sliding rolling of the lateral wheel with a small radius, the robot platform tends to move along the inner wall of the groove. Coupled with the function of the auxiliary wheels at the bottom, the robot platform can only move in a straight line along the wall.

7. The deformable underwater channel maintenance robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The steering system 4 includes a steering wheel 4-1, a spring 4-2 and an articulated base 4-3. The steering system is used to change the walking direction of the robot platform when it turns from a vertical channel to a horizontal channel. When the robot platform moves to the bottom of the vertical channel, the steering wheel 4-1 of the steering system first contacts the bottom of the channel, and the steering wheel 4-1 is squeezed by the horizontal plane. Since one side of the steering wheel 4-1 is hingedly connected to the articulated base 4-3, and the other side of the steering wheel 4-1 is fixed by the spring 4-2, the steering wheel 4-1 will compress the spring 4-2 and tend to rotate around the articulated base 4-3, thereby making the steering wheel 4-1 tend to move in the horizontal direction to achieve steering.

8. The deformable underwater channel maintenance robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The skeleton system 5 includes a main shaft 5-1, a flexible belt 5-2, a connecting rod 5-3, a driving shaft 5-4 and a lifting ring 5-5. The lifting ring 5-5 of the skeleton system is connected to the cable. The stretching of the main shaft 5-1 drives the extension and retraction of the entire skeleton system. The extension and retraction function is realized by a rocker slider mechanism. When the main shaft 5-1 is stretched and compressed, the connecting rod 5-3 and the main shaft 5-1 are hingedly connected, which will drive the connecting rod 5-3 to rotate. The connecting rod 5-3 and the driving shaft 5-4 are also hingedly connected, and the driving shaft 5-4 can only slide back and forth horizontally. Therefore, when the connecting rod 5-3 rotates, it will drive the driving shaft 5-4 to slide horizontally, thereby realizing the extension and retraction of the lateral conical wheel 3-2.

9. A deformable underwater channel maintenance robot according to claim 1 or 8, characterized in that: The flexible belt 5 - 2 is made of flexible elastic material and can be bent when the robot platform turns, and will automatically return to its original shape after the turn is completed.

10. The deformable underwater channel maintenance robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The working postures of the robot platform include a contraction posture 101 , an extension posture 102 and a turning posture 103 .

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