Parallel transmission arm device and milking robot

Abstract

The present invention relates to a parallel transmission arm device and a milking robot, belonging to the technical field of dairy animal milking equipment. The parallel transmission arm device comprises a mechanical arm with the function of moving along the Y-axis and the Z-axis, the Y-axis is along the body length direction of a four-legged lactating animal, and the Z-axis is along the vertical direction. A milking actuator is arranged on the mechanical arm, and a rotary drive component drives the mechanical arm to perform a rotational motion in a vertical plane where the body width direction of the four-legged lactating animal is located. Combined with the interpolation motion compensation of the mechanical arm in the vertical direction, the milking actuator makes a linear motion along the body width direction of the four-legged lactating animal, and the linear motion is regarded as the movement of the mechanical arm along the X-axis. In the present invention, the mechanical arm can move in a linear manner along the Y-axis, the Z-axis and the X-axis, so as to ensure that the nipple of the four-legged lactating animal is always in the field of view of a visual camera, so as to achieve precise control. More importantly, the transmission advantage of the parallel mechanical arm can be achieved within a narrow shell width range.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of dairy animal milking equipment, and in particular relates to a parallel transmission arm device and a milking robot. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid economic development, people's demand for dairy products has greatly increased, which has promoted the development of animal husbandry. The introduction of efficient and intelligent milking robots is the development trend of animal husbandry. Milking robots can greatly save the daily labor costs of ranches, reduce labor intensity, and improve milking efficiency. When working, the robotic arm drives the milking actuator to move under the four-legged lactating animal, such as the space divider and milking station system of the CN104284581B milking station system. The arm device (robotic arm) includes an upper arm and a lower arm, wherein the upper arm can be deflected around the vertical axis, the lower arm is connected to the upper arm in a deflectable manner, and the lower arm is connected to the milking machine (milking actuator). The arm device and the milking machine can be folded up in a scissor shape in the parking position. In this system, the upper arm and the lower arm are connected in series, that is, a series robotic arm is used. The control algorithm of the series robotic arm is more complicated than that of the parallel robotic arm, and even a motion control board needs to be added to realize the motion control of the series robotic arm, which increases the manufacturing cost; at the same time, milking A visual camera is installed above the milking machine. With the help of the precise positioning of the visual camera, the teat cup assembly on the milking machine is adsorbed on the teat of the milking animal. However, since the serial robot arm realizes positioning through the rotation of each joint axis, the visual camera rotates synchronously with the milking machine during the rotation of the serial robot arm. It is easy for the teat of the milking animal to deviate from the visual camera's field of view. In other words, it cannot be guaranteed that the teat of the milking animal is always within the field of view of the visual camera, and the situation beyond the field of view is uncontrollable. For example, when the cup falls off, it is impossible to take countermeasures in time. Correspondingly, at this time, the teat position data of the milking animal obtained by the visual camera is also discontinuous, which in turn has a certain impact on the positioning accuracy of the teat cup. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of the various deficiencies in the prior art, a parallel transmission arm device and a milking robot are proposed to solve the technical problems that the prior art uses a serial mechanical arm with complex control algorithms, high manufacturing costs, and the inability to ensure that the nipples of the milking animals are always within the field of view of the visual camera, and the nipple position data of the milking animals obtained by the visual camera is discontinuous, which has a certain impact on the positioning accuracy of the milk cup.

[0004] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions: In a first aspect, the present invention provides a parallel-driven arm device for milking quadrupedal lactating animals, which can carry the movement of a milking actuator and is arranged on the side of the body length direction of the quadrupedal lactating animal. The device comprises a mechanical arm having the function of moving along the Y-axis and the Z-axis, wherein the Y-axis is along the body length direction of the quadrupedal lactating animal and the Z-axis is along the vertical direction. The milking actuator is arranged on the mechanical arm and also comprises a rotary drive component, wherein the rotary drive component drives the mechanical arm to perform rotational motion in a vertical plane where the body width direction of the quadrupedal lactating animal is located. Combined with the interpolation motion compensation of the mechanical arm in the vertical direction of the Z-axis, the milking actuator arranged on the mechanical arm can perform linear motion along the body width direction of the quadrupedal lactating animal, and the linear motion is regarded as the movement of the mechanical arm along the X-axis.

[0005] The technical solution is further configured as follows: the mechanical arm is a parallelogram four-bar mechanism, the upper connecting rod and the lower connecting rod are arranged along the X-axis direction, and the length of the upper connecting rod and the lower connecting rod is shorter than the length of the other two connecting rods, the upper connecting rod is integrated with the rotation drive component, a hinge shaft of the upper connecting rod serves as the driving shaft of the rotation drive component, the connecting rod connected to the hinge shaft serves as the active arm, the opposite connecting rod of the active arm serves as the driven arm, the milking actuator is fixed on the lower connecting rod, and when the active arm rotates, the mechanical arm is caused to rotate and swing in the XZ plane, and the milking actuator is kept in a horizontal posture during movement.

[0006] The technical solution is further configured such that a make way groove for avoiding the bottom hinge shaft of the driven arm is provided at a position adjacent to the bottom hinge shaft of the active arm, and a make way groove for avoiding the strength-reinforced position of the active arm is provided on the driven arm, so that when the mechanical arm rotates and swings to an extreme angle in the XZ plane, the active arm and the driven arm are in contact with each other and maintain sufficient mechanical strength.

[0007] The technical solution is further configured such that the rotary drive assembly is a worm gear transmission driven by a rotary drive motor, the worm wheel is integrated with the active arm, the worm is arranged on a rotary drive bracket through a bearing support, the rotary drive bracket is integrated with the upper connecting rod, the rotary drive motor is connected to the worm transmission, the worm wheel is meshed with the worm, the rotary drive motor drives the worm to rotate, and drives the active arm integrated with the worm wheel to rotate, thereby realizing the rotation and swinging of the robotic arm in the XZ plane.

[0008] The technical solution is further configured as follows: the rotation drive assembly is a combination mechanism of a cylinder, a gear, and a rack, the gear is integrated with the active arm, the rack is arranged on the rotation drive bracket, the rotation drive bracket is integrated with the upper connecting rod, the rack is meshed with the gear, and one end of the rack is connected to the cylinder rod, the cylinder drives the rack to move linearly, driving the active arm integrated with the gear to rotate, thereby realizing the rotation and swinging of the robotic arm in the XZ plane.

[0009] The technical solution is further configured to include a Y-axis guide beam, on which a linear guide is provided, and on a rotating drive bracket a linear guide slider coupled to the linear guide is provided, so that a robotic arm fixed on the rotating drive bracket can achieve linear motion along the Y-axis.

[0010] The technical solution is further configured such that a driving synchronous pulley and a driven synchronous pulley are respectively provided at two ends of the Y-axis guide beam, a synchronous belt connects the driving synchronous pulley and the driven synchronous pulley, and the synchronous belt is fixedly connected to the rotating drive bracket through a pressure plate tensioning assembly.

[0011] The technical solution is further configured such that a ball spline pair is provided on the axis of the active synchronous pulley, the ball spline nut is fixed to the active synchronous pulley as a whole, the ball spline shaft passes through the active synchronous pulley and the Y-axis guide beam, and extends to be connected to the Y-axis drive assembly, the Y-axis drive assembly drives the active synchronous pulley to rotate through the ball spline shaft, and drives the robot arm to perform linear motion along the Y-axis through the synchronous belt.

[0012] The present technical solution is further configured to also include a Z-axis drive assembly fixed on the Y-axis guide beam, which is a combined transmission of a Z-axis drive motor, a reducer and a Z-axis gear. The Z-axis gear is meshed with a Z-axis rack arranged along a vertical direction. The Z-axis drive motor drives the Z-axis gear to rotate through the reducer, driving the Y-axis guide beam and the robotic arm arranged on the Y-axis guide beam to move linearly along the Z-axis.

[0013] In a second aspect, the present invention further provides a milking robot, comprising a housing, a milking actuator and the parallel transmission arm device, wherein the housing is arranged along a direction parallel to the body length of a four-legged lactating animal; The robotic arm carries the milking actuator, and a visual camera is arranged on the milking actuator to locate the nipple of the four-legged lactating animal and provide positioning data for the movement of the robotic arm. When the robotic arm rotates and swings along the XZ plane to the storage position, the parallel transmission arm device and the milking actuator can be contained inside the shell, and the transmission advantage of the parallel robotic arm can be realized within the narrow shell width range. An opening is arranged on the side of the shell close to the four-legged lactating animal. When the milking actuator is driven by the driving component and combines with the nipple of the four-legged lactating animal and starts milking, only the milking actuator and part of the robotic arm extend out of the opening on one side of the shell.

[0014] The beneficial effects of the present invention are: The robot arm can move in a straight line along the Y-axis, Z-axis and X-axis. Correspondingly, the visual camera arranged on the milking actuator also moves in translation relative to the nipple of the four-legged lactating animal, ensuring that the nipple of the four-legged lactating animal is always in the field of view of the visual camera. The position data provided by the visual camera is continuous, which is helpful to achieve precise control. At the same time, timely countermeasures can be taken for unexpected situations such as the milk cup falling off during the positioning process; the robot arm includes an active arm and a driven arm of parallel transmission, and the active arm and the driven arm are linked, which is conducive to reducing the complexity of control. It does not need to increase the motion control board, and can be directly implemented by PLC programming, which helps to reduce the manufacturing cost; the parallel transmission arm device and the milking actuator can be contained in the shell, and the transmission advantage of the parallel robot arm is achieved within the narrow shell width range. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 It is an assembly diagram of the arm device and the milking actuator of the parallel transmission in the embodiment of the present invention, when the mechanical arm is in a non-storage state; Figure 2 It is an assembly diagram of the arm device and the milking actuator of the parallel transmission in the embodiment of the present invention, when the mechanical arm is in the storage state; Figure 3 is an assembly diagram of a mechanical arm and a rotary drive assembly in a storage state in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 It is an assembly diagram of a mechanical arm and a rotary drive assembly at a swing limit in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 An assembly diagram of a mechanical arm and a rotary drive assembly between a storage state and a swing limit in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 for Figure 5 Side view of Figure 7 for Figure 3 Side view of Figure 8 for Figure 7 Middle AA section view; Fig. 9 It is a rear view of the arm device of the parallel transmission in the embodiment of the present invention; Fig.10 for Fig. 9 Middle BB section view; Fig.11 is a side view of the robot in an embodiment of the present invention; Fig.12 In the embodiment of the present invention Fig.11 Middle CC section view; Fig.13 is a schematic diagram of a mechanical arm in a non-storage state according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig.14 is a schematic diagram of a mechanical arm in a storage state according to an embodiment of the present invention; In the accompanying drawings: 100, milking actuator; 200, robotic arm; 201, active arm; 202, driven arm; 203, upper connecting rod; 204, lower connecting rod; 205, driving shaft of rotary drive assembly; 206, first make way slot; 207, second make way slot; 300, rotary drive assembly; 301, rotary drive motor; 302, rotary drive bracket; 303, worm gear; 304, worm; 305, guide rail slider; 400, Y-axis drive assembly; 401, Y-axis guide beam; 402, Y-axis drive motor; 403, ball spline shaft; 404, synchronous belt; 500, Z-axis drive assembly; 501, Z-axis drive motor; 502, Z-axis rack; 600, visual camera; 700, housing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of the present invention, the technical solution of the present invention is clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the present invention. Based on the embodiments in this application, other similar embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work should all fall within the scope of protection of this application. In addition, the directional words mentioned in the following embodiments, such as "up", "down", "left", "right", etc., are only reference to the directions of the accompanying drawings. Therefore, the directional words used are used to illustrate rather than limit the invention.

[0017] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a parallel transmission arm device is provided. Figure 1 to Figure 2 , used for milking a four-legged lactating animal, which can carry a milking actuator 100 for movement and is arranged on the side of the four-legged lactating animal in the length direction, and includes a mechanical arm 200 with the function of moving along the Y-axis and the Z-axis, the Y-axis is along the length direction of the four-legged lactating animal, and the Z-axis is along the vertical direction, the milking actuator 100 is arranged on the mechanical arm 200, and also includes a rotary drive component 300, the rotary drive component 300 drives the mechanical arm 200 to perform rotational movement in the vertical plane where the width direction of the four-legged lactating animal is located, combined with the interpolation motion compensation of the mechanical arm 200 in the vertical direction of the Z-axis, so that the milking actuator 100 arranged on the mechanical arm 200 can perform linear motion along the width direction of the four-legged lactating animal, and the linear motion is regarded as the mechanical arm moving along the X-axis, and the mechanical arm 200 includes a parallel transmission active arm and a driven arm to realize the linkage between the active arm and the driven arm.

[0018] It should be noted that the robot 200 has the function of moving along the Y-axis and the Z-axis. At the same time, the rotary drive component 300 drives the robot 200 to rotate in the vertical plane where the width direction of the four-legged lactating animal is located. Combined with the interpolation motion compensation of the robot 200 in the vertical direction of the Z-axis, the milking actuator 100 arranged on the robot 200 can move linearly along the width direction of the four-legged lactating animal. The linear motion is regarded as the movement of the robot 200 along the X-axis. The milking actuator 100 only needs to move in a linear manner along the Y-axis, the Z-axis and the X-axis, that is, it translates along the Y-axis, the Z-axis and the X-axis. Correspondingly, the visual camera 600 arranged on the milking actuator 100 is relative to the four-legged lactating animal. The nipples of dairy animals also move in translation, ensuring that the nipples of four-legged lactating animals are always within the field of view of the visual camera 600. The position data provided by the visual camera 600 is continuous, which helps to achieve precise control. At the same time, timely countermeasures can be taken for unexpected situations such as the milk cup falling off during the positioning process; the robot arm 200 includes an active arm and a driven arm of parallel transmission, which realizes the linkage between the active arm and the driven arm, which is conducive to reducing the complexity of control. It is not necessary to add a motion control board and can be directly implemented by PLC programming; the rotation drive component 300 and the Z-axis drive component 500 that drives the robot arm 200 to move in the vertical direction of the Z-axis together serve as the X-axis drive component, and the two work together to prompt the robot arm 200 to move along the X-axis.

[0019] Specifically, when the robot arm 200 moves along the Y axis, the position of the milking actuator 100 can be changed along the length direction of the four-legged lactating animal; see Figure 1 When the rotary drive assembly 300 drives the robot arm 200 to rotate upward in the vertical plane where the width direction of the four-legged lactating animal is located, the robot arm 200 simultaneously moves downward along the vertical direction of the Z axis. At this time, the robot arm 200 moves outward along the X axis, and its angle with the X axis gradually decreases to get closer to the four-legged lactating animal, so as to prepare for the milking cup assembly in the milking actuator 100 to be adsorbed to the nipple of the four-legged lactating animal. At this time, the robot arm 200 is in a working state (i.e., a non-storage state); please refer to Figure 2 When the rotary drive assembly 300 drives the robotic arm 200 to rotate downward in the vertical plane where the width direction of the four-legged lactating animal is located, the robotic arm 200 synchronously moves up in the vertical direction along the Z-axis. At this time, the robotic arm 200 moves inward along the X-axis, and its angle with the X-axis gradually increases to move away from the four-legged lactating animal. When the robotic arm 200 moves to a nearly vertical state, it can be stored.

[0020] In the parallel transmission arm device of this embodiment, please refer to Figures 1 to 5 , Fig.13 as well as Fig.14The mechanical arm 200 is a parallelogram four-bar linkage, an upper link 203 and a lower link 204 are arranged along the X-axis direction, and the lengths of the upper link 203 and the lower link 204 are shorter than those of the other two links. The upper link 203 is integrated with the rotation drive assembly 300, a hinge shaft of the upper link 203 serves as a drive shaft 205 of the rotation drive assembly, a link connected to the hinge shaft serves as an active arm 201, and an opposite side link of the active arm 201 serves as a driven arm 202. The milking actuator 100 is fixed on the lower link 204. When the active arm 201 rotates, the mechanical arm 200 is caused to rotate and swing in the XZ plane, and the milking actuator 100 is kept in a horizontal posture during movement.

[0021] It should be noted that the active arm 201, the driven arm 202, the upper connecting rod 203 and the lower connecting rod 204 form a parallelogram four-bar linkage, and the four connecting rods always remain parallel during the movement. Therefore, when the active arm 201 rotates, it will drive the driven arm 202, the upper connecting rod 203 and the lower connecting rod 204 to move in a linkage manner. Specifically, the driving shaft 205 of the rotary drive assembly is integrated with the active arm 201. When the driving shaft 205 of the rotary drive assembly of the rotary drive assembly 300 rotates, it drives the active arm 201 to rotate synchronously, and then drives the driven arm 202, the upper connecting rod 203 and the lower connecting rod 204 to move in a linkage manner. In addition, the parallelogram four-bar linkage has high stability and is not prone to shaking and jittering, thereby improving the accuracy and stability of the mechanical arm 200; the range of motion is large; the load capacity is strong, so that the mechanical arm 200 can withstand a larger load (milking actuator 100) and meet higher work requirements.

[0022] Specifically, both the active arm 201 and the driven arm 202 adopt a double-arm structure to improve the strength and stability of the robot arm 200. At the same time, the bottoms of the two active arms and the bottoms of the two driven arms are respectively connected to different sides of the first connecting end of the lower connecting rod 204; the lower connecting rod 204 extends in a direction away from the robot arm 200 to form a second connecting end connected to the milking actuator 100; in addition, a gap for accommodating the active arm 201 is left between the first connecting end of the lower connecting rod 204 and the milking actuator 100.

[0023] In the parallel transmission arm device of this embodiment, please refer to Figures 1 to 6 A give-way groove for avoiding the bottom hinge axis of the driven arm 202 is provided at the adjacent part of the bottom hinge axis of the active arm 201, and the give-way groove serves as the first give-way groove 206. A give-way groove for avoiding the strength-reinforced part of the active arm 201 is provided on the driven arm 202, and the give-way groove serves as the second give-way groove 207, so that when the robot arm 200 rotates and swings to the extreme angle in the XZ plane, the active arm 201 and the driven arm 202 are in contact with each other and maintain sufficient mechanical strength.

[0024] See also Figure 3 When the robot arm 200 is in the storage state, the gap between the active arm 201 and the driven arm 202 is the largest; as the active arm 201 rotates, the gap between the active arm 201 and the driven arm 202 gradually becomes smaller. Figure 5 and Figure 6 At this time, the robot arm 200 is between the storage state and the swing limit; after the active arm 201 and the driven arm 202 are fitted together, the swing limit is at the swing limit, please refer to Figure 4 At this time, the bottom hinge shaft of the driven arm 202 is embedded in the first clearance groove 206, and the strength-reinforced part of the active arm 201 is embedded in the second clearance groove 207 to avoid interference.

[0025] In the parallel transmission arm device of this embodiment, please refer to Figures 1 to 8 , Fig.13 as well as Fig.14 The rotation drive assembly 300 is a worm gear transmission driven by a rotation drive motor 301. The worm wheel 303 is integrated with the active arm 201. The worm 304 is arranged on the rotation drive bracket 302 through a bearing support. The rotation drive bracket 302 is integrated with the upper connecting rod 203. The rotation drive motor 301 is connected to the worm 304. The worm wheel 303 is meshed with the worm 304. The rotation drive motor 301 drives the worm 304 to rotate, driving the active arm 201 integrated with the worm wheel 303 to rotate, thereby realizing the rotation and swinging of the robotic arm 200 in the XZ plane.

[0026] It should be noted that the worm 304 is arranged along the vertical direction, and at the same time, the worm 304 is arranged on the rotating drive bracket 302 through a bearing support, that is, the worm 304 can rotate relative to the rotating drive bracket 302; two axial holes are arranged on the rotating drive bracket 302, and hinge shafts connected to the active arm 201 and the driven arm 202 are respectively arranged in the two axial holes, and the part located between the two axial holes serves as the upper connecting rod 203; the worm wheel 303 is fixed to the periphery of the hinge shaft, and at the same time, the worm wheel 303 is combined with the active arm 201 as a whole through pins, and the rotating drive motor 301 is connected to the worm 304 through a two-stage reduction gear. The rotating drive motor 301 drives the worm 304 to rotate, and drives the active arm 201 combined with the worm wheel 303 to rotate, so as to realize the rotation and swing of the robot arm 200 in the XZ plane.

[0027] In some other embodiments, the rotation drive assembly 300 can also be a combination mechanism of a cylinder, a gear, and a rack. The gear is combined with the active arm 201 as a whole through a pin, and the rack is slidably set on the rotation drive bracket 302. The rotation drive bracket 302 is combined with the upper connecting rod 203 as a whole. The rack is meshed with the gear, and one end of the rack is connected to the cylinder rod. The cylinder drives the rack to move linearly, driving the active arm 201 combined with the gear to rotate, thereby realizing the rotation and swinging of the robotic arm 200 in the XZ plane.

[0028] In the parallel transmission arm device of this embodiment, please refer to Figures 1 to 10 , and also includes a Y-axis guide beam 401, on which a linear guide is provided, and a linear guide slider 305 coupled with the linear guide is provided on the rotation driving bracket 302, so that the robot arm 200 fixed on the rotation driving bracket 302 can realize linear motion along the Y-axis.

[0029] It should be noted that the Y-axis guide beam 401 and the linear guide are both arranged along the Y-axis direction. At the same time, the Y-axis guide beam 401 can slide in the vertical direction along the column; through the joint action of the linear guide and the linear guide slider 305, the robot arm 200 fixed on the rotating drive bracket 302 is prompted to move linearly along the Y-axis.

[0030] In the parallel transmission arm device of this embodiment, please refer to Figures 1 to 12 The two ends of the Y-axis guide beam 401 are respectively provided with a driving synchronous pulley and a driven synchronous pulley, and a synchronous belt 404 connects the driving synchronous pulley and the driven synchronous pulley. The synchronous belt 404 is fixedly connected to the rotating drive bracket 302 through a pressure plate tensioning assembly.

[0031] It should be noted that the synchronous belt 404 is an open synchronous belt, and both ends of the open synchronous belt are tensioned and fixedly connected to the rotating drive bracket 302 through a pressure plate tensioning assembly; through the transmission between the active synchronous pulley, the driven synchronous pulley and the synchronous belt 404, the rotating drive bracket 302, the robotic arm 200 and the milking actuator 100 are driven to move linearly along the Y-axis.

[0032] Specifically, the axis of the active synchronous pulley is provided with a ball spline pair, the ball spline nut is fixed to the active synchronous pulley as a whole, the ball spline shaft 403 passes through the active synchronous pulley and the Y-axis guide beam 401, and extends to be connected to the Y-axis drive assembly 400, the Y-axis drive assembly 400 includes a Y-axis drive motor 402, in order to shorten the overall width of the parallel transmission arm device, the Y-axis drive motor 402 is located at the top of the column, and a transmission assembly is provided between the output end of the Y-axis drive motor 402 and the top of the ball spline shaft 403, the transmission assembly can also adopt a synchronous belt and synchronous pulley combination structure, the ball spline shaft 403 is driven to rotate by the Y-axis drive motor 402, the active synchronous pulley is driven to rotate by the ball spline shaft 403, and the mechanical arm 200 is driven to perform linear motion along the Y-axis by the synchronous belt 404.

[0033] In the parallel transmission arm device of this embodiment, please refer to Figures 1 to 12 , and also includes a Z-axis driving assembly 500 fixed on the Y-axis guide beam 401, which is a combined transmission of a Z-axis driving motor 501, a reducer and a Z-axis gear. The Z-axis gear is engaged with a Z-axis rack 502 arranged along the vertical direction. The Z-axis driving motor 501 drives the Z-axis gear to rotate through the reducer, driving the Y-axis guide beam 401 and the robot arm 200 arranged on the Y-axis guide beam 401 to move linearly along the Z-axis.

[0034] Specifically, the Z-axis driving motor 501, the speed reducer and the Z-axis gear are arranged on one side of the driven synchronous pulley, and the Z-axis rack 502 is arranged on the column.

[0035] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a milking robot is provided. Figures 1 to 14 , comprising a housing 700, a milking actuator 100 and the parallel transmission arm device, wherein the housing 700 is arranged parallel to the length direction of the four-legged lactating animal; The robotic arm 200 carries the milking actuator 100. When the robotic arm 200 rotates and swings along the XZ plane to the storage position, the parallel transmission arm device and the milking actuator 100 can be contained inside the shell 700, and the transmission advantage of the parallel robotic arm is achieved within the narrow width range of the shell 700. An opening is provided on the side of the shell 700 close to the four-legged lactating animal. When the milking actuator 100 is coupled to the nipple of the four-legged lactating animal and milking begins under the drive of the driving component, only the milking actuator 100 and a part of the robotic arm 200 extend out of the opening on one side of the shell.

[0036] It should be noted that the shell 700 is configured to be a narrow-upper-wide-lower structure, the upper width of the shell 700 is slightly larger than the maximum width of the Y-axis guide beam 401, and the lower width of the shell 700 is slightly larger than the width of the milking actuator 100, so that when the robot arm 200 rotates and swings along the XZ plane to the storage position, the Y-axis guide beam 401 and the components installed thereon can be stored in the upper part of the shell, and the robot arm 200 and the milking actuator 100 can be accommodated in the lower part of the shell, so that lifting and storage can be achieved within a narrow width range. At the same time, it can also reflect the transmission advantages of the parallel robot arm. In addition, when the milking robot is used on a milking turntable, there are restrictions on the width of the milking actuator and the arm device. In principle, the narrower the better, saving space, so that the milking turntable can carry a larger number of four-legged lactating animals. Compared with the existing milking robot with tandem robotic arms, the present application does not need to expand the space in the width direction of the shell. In other words, the space occupied by the present application in the width direction is basically the same as that of the tandem robotic arm, and can also be applied to the milking turntable.

[0037] In the milking robot of this embodiment, please refer to Figures 1 to 14 , also includes a visual camera 600 installed on the milking actuator 100 to locate the nipples of the four-legged lactating animal and provide positioning data for the movement of the robotic arm 200.

[0038] It should be noted that the milking actuator 100 is driven by the robot 200 to move so that the milking actuator 100 moves to below the nipple of the four-legged lactating animal to prepare for milking; the installation height of the visual camera 600 is lower than the entrance height of the milking cup end of the teat cup assembly in a vertical posture in the milking actuator 100 to prevent the visual camera 600 from interfering in the process of the teat cup assembly adsorbing the teat; the visual camera 600 is used to obtain the position of the teat of the four-legged lactating animal, provide positioning data for the action of the robot 200, and assist the teat cup assembly to be accurately adsorbed in place; at the same time, the milking actuator 100 only needs to translate along the Y-axis, Z-axis and X-axis, and correspondingly, the visual camera 600 also translates relative to the teat of the four-legged lactating animal, ensuring that the teat of the four-legged lactating animal is always within the field of view of the visual camera 600, and the position data provided by the visual camera 600 is continuous, which helps to achieve precise control, and at the same time, timely countermeasures can be taken for unexpected situations such as the teat cup falling off during the positioning process.

[0039] The present invention has been described in detail above. The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and should not limit the scope of implementation of the present invention. That is, all equivalent changes and modifications made within the scope of this application should still fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A parallel transmission arm device for milking a four-legged lactating animal, which can carry a milking actuator to move and is arranged on the side of the four-legged lactating animal in the length direction, comprising a mechanical arm with a movement function along the Y axis and the Z axis, the Y axis is along the length direction of the four-legged lactating animal, and the Z axis is along the vertical direction, and the milking actuator is arranged on the mechanical arm, characterized in that: The invention also includes a rotary drive component, which drives the robot arm to perform rotational motion in a vertical plane where the width direction of the four-legged lactating animal is located. Combined with the interpolation motion compensation of the robot arm in the vertical direction of the Z-axis, the milking actuator arranged on the robot arm can perform linear motion along the width direction of the four-legged lactating animal, and the linear motion is regarded as the movement of the robot arm along the X-axis.

2. A parallel transmission arm device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The mechanical arm is a parallelogram four-bar linkage, wherein an upper link and a lower link are arranged along the X-axis direction, and the lengths of the upper link and the lower link are shorter than those of the other two links. The upper link is integrated with the rotary drive assembly, a hinge shaft of the upper link serves as the drive shaft of the rotary drive assembly, a link connected to the hinge shaft serves as an active arm, and an opposite link of the active arm serves as a driven arm. The milking actuator is fixed on the lower link, and when the active arm rotates, the mechanical arm is caused to rotate and swing in the XZ plane, and the milking actuator is kept in a horizontal posture during movement.

3. A parallel transmission arm device according to claim 2, characterized in that: A makeshift groove for avoiding the bottom hinge shaft of the driven arm is arranged near the bottom hinge shaft of the active arm, and a makeshift groove for avoiding the strength-reinforced portion of the active arm is arranged on the driven arm, so that when the mechanical arm rotates and swings to the extreme angle in the XZ plane, the active arm and the driven arm are in contact with each other and maintain sufficient mechanical strength.

4. The parallel transmission arm device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The rotary drive assembly is a worm gear transmission driven by a rotary drive motor. The worm wheel is integrated with the active arm. The worm is arranged on a rotary drive bracket through a bearing support. The rotary drive bracket is integrated with the upper connecting rod. The rotary drive motor is connected to the worm transmission. The worm wheel is meshed with the worm. The rotary drive motor drives the worm to rotate, thereby driving the active arm integrated with the worm wheel to rotate, thereby realizing the rotation and swinging of the robotic arm in the XZ plane.

5. The parallel transmission arm device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The rotary drive assembly is a combination of a cylinder, a gear, and a rack. The gear is integrated with the active arm, the rack is arranged on the rotary drive bracket, the rotary drive bracket is integrated with the upper connecting rod, the rack is meshed with the gear, and one end of the rack is connected to the cylinder rod. The cylinder drives the rack to move linearly, driving the active arm integrated with the gear to rotate, thereby realizing the rotation and swinging of the robotic arm in the XZ plane.

6. A parallel transmission arm device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: It also includes a Y-axis guide beam, on which a linear guide is arranged, and a linear guide slider coupled with the linear guide is arranged on the rotary drive bracket, so that a mechanical arm fixed on the rotary drive bracket can achieve linear motion along the Y-axis.

7. The parallel transmission arm device according to claim 6, characterized in that: A driving synchronous pulley and a driven synchronous pulley are respectively provided at the two ends of the Y-axis guide beam, and a synchronous belt connects the driving synchronous pulley and the driven synchronous pulley, and the synchronous belt is fixedly connected to the rotating drive bracket through a pressure plate tensioning assembly.

8. The parallel transmission arm device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The axis of the active synchronous pulley is provided with a ball spline pair, the ball spline nut is fixed to the active synchronous pulley as a whole, the ball spline shaft passes through the active synchronous pulley and the Y-axis guide beam, and extends to be connected to the Y-axis drive assembly, the Y-axis drive assembly drives the active synchronous pulley to rotate through the ball spline shaft, and drives the robot arm to move linearly along the Y-axis through the synchronous belt.

9. The parallel transmission arm device according to claim 6, characterized in that: It also includes a Z-axis drive assembly fixed on the Y-axis guide beam, which is a combined transmission of a Z-axis drive motor, a reducer and a Z-axis gear. The Z-axis gear is meshed with a Z-axis rack arranged along the vertical direction. The Z-axis drive motor drives the Z-axis gear to rotate through the reducer, driving the Y-axis guide beam and the robotic arm arranged on the Y-axis guide beam to move linearly along the Z-axis.

10. A milking robot, characterized in that: It comprises a housing, a milking actuator and a parallel transmission arm device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the housing is arranged in a direction parallel to the body length of a four-legged lactating animal; The robotic arm carries the milking actuator, and a visual camera is arranged on the milking actuator to locate the nipple of the four-legged lactating animal and provide positioning data for the movement of the robotic arm. When the robotic arm rotates and swings along the XZ plane to the storage position, the parallel transmission arm device and the milking actuator can be contained inside the shell, and the transmission advantage of the parallel robotic arm can be realized within the narrow shell width range. An opening is arranged on the side of the shell close to the four-legged lactating animal. When the milking actuator is driven by the driving component and combines with the nipple of the four-legged lactating animal and starts milking, only the milking actuator and part of the robotic arm extend out of the opening on one side of the shell.

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