Space multi-ring robot

Abstract

The invention discloses a space multi-ring robot. The space multi-ring robot comprises a plurality of multi-pair platforms and a plurality of motion branch chains connected between every two multi-pair platforms. The multiple pairs of platforms are platforms comprising a plurality of kinematic pairs connected with the kinematic branch chains, and the number of the kinematic pairs of the multiple pairs of platforms is larger than 2; the kinematic pair is a single-degree-of-freedom kinematic pair or a multi-degree-of-freedom kinematic pair; the number of degrees of freedom of the motion branch chains is larger than 2, and motion pairs of the motion branch chains comprise active motion pairs; the multiple platforms are connected through the movement branch chains according to the specific topological connection relation to jointly form a plurality of space closed loops, and the space multi-loop robot is jointly formed by the space closed loops. The lengths of the moving branch chains between the platforms are changed through the driving motors, the robot can be driven to generate local multi-degree-of-freedom movement and overall movement, rolling or complex deformation movement, and the robot can be used for the fields of rescue and relief work, space exploration, movable buildings and the like.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of mobile robots, and in particular to a space multi-ring robot mechanism. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of science and technology and the expansion of human production and life, the work tasks of robots have gradually expanded to movement and operation in unknown areas and complex environments. However, when faced with extremely complex terrain environments such as large-scale rocks, steep cliffs, large-span trenches, extremely narrow caves, and ultra-low bridges, conventional mobile systems still find it difficult to cross the obstacles and enter the target area to perform tasks. Most existing mobile mechanisms use a design that separates the fuselage and the walking mechanism, which results in specific requirements for the robot's own posture during movement. When the fuselage overturns or the walking mechanism fails due to external disturbances, the robot will most likely lose its ability to move.

[0003] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a spatial multi-ring mobile robot that has the function of resetting after overturning or the ability to move continuously under arbitrary posture conditions to avoid the loss of mobility due to mechanism overturning, etc. Summary of the invention

[0004] In response to the above-mentioned prior art, the present invention provides a space multi-ring robot having the advantages of high degree of freedom, strong deformation ability and multiple gait movement ability, as well as a series of advantages such as simple structure and easy expansion. It is suitable for space exploration, military reconnaissance, disaster relief, new mobile robots, movable buildings, space exploration and other fields.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention proposes a spatial multi-ring robot, comprising multiple multi-pair platforms and multiple motion branches connected between two multi-pair platforms; the multi-pair platform refers to a platform comprising multiple motion pairs connected to the motion branches, and the number of motion pairs arranged on the multi-pair platform is greater than 2; the motion pairs are single-degree-of-freedom motion pairs or multi-degree-of-freedom motion pairs; the number of degrees of freedom of the motion branches is greater than 2, and the motion pairs of the motion branches include active motion pairs; the multiple multi-pair platforms are connected by motion branches to form multiple spatial closed loops, and the multiple spatial closed loops together constitute the spatial multi-ring robot.

[0006] Furthermore, the spatial multi-ring robot of the present invention, wherein:

[0007] The number of the multiple platforms is eight, including four six-sub-platforms and four three-sub-platforms; the number of the motion branches is eighteen, and the motion branches include upper branches and lower branches connected by spiral pairs; each six-sub-platform is respectively connected to one of the other three six-sub-platforms, and each six-sub-platform is also respectively connected to one of the three three-sub-platforms; the motion pair connection forms of the motion branches and the six-sub-platforms are as follows: one is that the upper branch or the lower branch of the motion branch is respectively connected to the six-sub-platform through a Hooke's hinge; the other is that the upper branch or the lower branch of the motion branch is respectively connected to the six-sub-platform through a rotating pair; the motion pair connection form of the motion branch and the three-sub-platform is that the upper branch or the lower branch of the motion branch is connected to the three-sub-platform through a rotating pair.

[0008] The single-degree-of-freedom kinematic pair includes one or more of a rotation pair, a translation pair, a screw pair, and a gear pair.

[0009] The multi-degree-of-freedom kinematic pair is one or more of a Hooke's hinge, a plane pair, a ball and pin pair, a ball pair, and a cam pair.

[0010] The driving form of the active motion pair is a moving pair driving form, a rotating pair driving form or a screw pair driving form.

[0011] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0012] (1) The spatial multi-ring robot proposed in the present invention has the characteristics of high degree of freedom, strong deformation ability and multiple moving gaits because each branch chain in its structural design can move relatively independently to control the deformation of the robot.

[0013] (2) Due to the flexibility of the annular structure, the simple and easy expansion structure, and the various deformation forms, the present invention not only has the advantage of high adaptability to complex terrain, but also has the function of resetting after overturning and the ability to move continuously under any posture conditions.

[0014] (3) The motion branches of the spatial multi-ring robot of the present invention can be arbitrarily replaced with a variety of configurations. By changing the number of multi-platforms, the type of multi-platforms, the arrangement of multi-platforms, and the type, position, and number of active motion pairs, the spatial multi-ring robot mechanism can change its form and number of degrees of freedom, thereby changing the function and performance of the robot mechanism. This can avoid the problems of redundant degrees of freedom, complex driving, and dead points of the mechanism caused by a single configuration. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an embodiment of a space multi-ring robot proposed by the present invention;

[0016] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of six sub-platforms in this embodiment;

[0017] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of three sub-platforms in this embodiment.

[0018] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the structure of the central tetrahedron composed of four six-sub-platforms and connected kinematic branches in this embodiment;

[0019] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the structure of an extended tetrahedron consisting of three six-sub-platforms, one three-sub-platform and connected kinematic branches in this embodiment;

[0020] Figure numerals: 1-sixth sub-platform, 2-third sub-platform, 2-movement branch chain, 31-upper branch chain, 32-lower branch chain. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] It should be noted that in the description of the present invention, the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "upper" and "lower" is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, which is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operate in a specific orientation. In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "connected" and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0022] A spatial multi-ring robot proposed in the present invention comprises a plurality of multi-pair platforms and a plurality of kinematic branches connected between two multi-pair platforms; the multi-pair platform refers to a platform comprising a plurality of kinematic pairs connected to the kinematic branches, the number of kinematic pairs arranged in the multi-pair platform is greater than 2, and the kinematic pairs are single-degree-of-freedom kinematic pairs or multi-degree-of-freedom kinematic pairs; the single-degree-of-freedom kinematic pairs include one or more of a rotating pair, a moving pair, a screw pair, and a gear pair, and the multi-degree-of-freedom kinematic pairs are one or more of a Hooke's hinge, a plane pair, a ball pin pair, a ball pair, and a cam pair. In the present invention, the number of degrees of freedom of the kinematic branch is greater than 2, the number of degrees of freedom of the kinematic branch is greater than 2, the kinematic pairs of the kinematic branch include active kinematic pairs, and the driving form of the active kinematic pairs is a moving pair drive, a rotating pair drive, or a screw pair drive. In the present invention, the plurality of multi-pair platforms are connected by kinematic branches to form a plurality of spatial closed loops, and the plurality of spatial closed loops together constitute the spatial multi-ring robot.

[0023] In the present invention, the multi-platform includes but is not limited to: a two-platform, a three-platform, a four-platform, a five-platform, a six-platform and a platform with more kinematic pairs. In the present invention, the kinematic branch chain can be a two-degree-of-freedom branch chain, a three-degree-of-freedom branch chain, a four-degree-of-freedom branch chain, a five-degree-of-freedom branch chain, a six-degree-of-freedom branch chain and a branch chain with higher degrees of freedom of motion.

[0024] The specific implementation of the present invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific examples. It should be understood that the specific implementation described here is only used to illustrate and explain the present invention, and is not used to limit the present invention.

[0025] Example

[0026] The design idea of ​​a space multi-ring robot proposed in this embodiment is: take a tetrahedron in space as the design prototype, change the vertices of the tetrahedron into multiple platforms, and change the edges of the tetrahedron into motion branches; use the four faces of a tetrahedron as the bottom of a new tetrahedron to expand four new tetrahedrons outwards, the vertices of the central tetrahedron need to be connected to six branches, so it is designed as six platforms; the vertices of the extended tetrahedron need to be connected to three branches, so it is designed as three platforms. In this way, the space multi-ring robot of the present invention is obtained.

[0027] like Figure 1 As shown, the spatial multi-ring robot described in this embodiment includes four six-sub platforms 1 and four three-sub platforms 2 and eighteen motion branches 3. The six-sub platform refers to a platform including six motion pairs connected to the motion branches 3; Figure 2 As shown, the three-joint platform refers to a platform including three kinematic pairs connected to the kinematic branch chain 3, such as Figure 3 The kinematic branch chain 3 comprises an upper branch chain 31 and a lower branch chain 32 connected by a spiral pair, as shown in FIG. Figure 1 shown.

[0028] The connection relationship between all the six-sub-platforms 1, the three-sub-platforms 2 and the motion branches 3 is: each of the six-sub-platforms 1 is connected to one of the above-mentioned motion branches with the other three six-sub-platforms 1, and each of the six-sub-platforms 1 is also connected to one of the three three-sub-platforms 2 with one of the motion branches 3, such as Figure 1 shown.

[0029] In this embodiment, the motion branch chain 3 is a two-degree-of-freedom branch chain, which is composed of the upper branch chain 31 and the lower branch chain 32 connected by a spiral pair. The upper branch chain 31 and the lower branch chain 32 can produce relative translation and rotation motion under the driving and constraint of the spiral pair; according to the different connection methods between the upper branch chain 31, the lower branch chain 32 and the adjacent multiple sub-platforms, the motion pair connection form of the motion branch chain 3 and the six-sub-platform 1 has the following two situations, one is: the upper branch chain 31 or the lower branch chain 32 of the motion branch chain 3 is respectively connected to the six-sub-platform 1 through a Hooke's hinge; the other is: the upper branch chain 31 or the lower branch chain 32 of the motion branch chain 3 is respectively connected to the six-sub-platform 1 through a rotation pair.

[0030] In this embodiment, three revolute pairs and three Hooke joints are arranged on each of the six platforms. The two types of kinematic pairs are arranged symmetrically with each other on the six platforms. Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 4 As shown, specifically, in this embodiment, each six-sub-platform 1 has six kinematic pairs connected to the kinematic branches 3 between the six platforms (three six-sub-platforms 1 and three three-sub-platforms 2), and the six-sub-platform 1 is connected to each kinematic branch 3 at six uniform angles through a Hooke's hinge, and the angles of the three Hooke's hinges in the plane are 120° respectively; the angles of the three rotation pairs in the plane are also 120° respectively. The three-sub-platform is provided with three rotation pairs, which are centrally symmetrically arranged on the three-sub-platform, as shown in FIG. Figure 1 , Figure 3 and Figure 5 As shown, specifically, the kinematic connection form between the kinematic branch chain 3 and the three-sub-platform 2 is that the upper branch chain 31 or the lower branch chain 32 of the kinematic branch chain is connected to the three-sub-platform 2 through a rotating pair. Figure 3 As shown, in this embodiment, the angles of the three rotation pairs on each three-sub-platform 2 in the plane are 120° respectively, and are evenly divided into the entire three-sub-platform 12. Such a design ensures that the entire multi-ring robot has certain structural symmetry characteristics, facilitates deformation, rolling, and moving gait design, and is conducive to motion control under various gaits.

[0031] After all the six sub-platforms 1 and three sub-platforms 2 are connected, each of the six sub-platforms 1 is connected with a motion branch chain 3, and a total of four six sub-platforms 1 and six motion branch chains 3 form a space-like tetrahedron structure. The six sub-platforms 1 constitute the vertices of the tetrahedron, and the motion branch chains 3 constitute the edges of the tetrahedron. Three six sub-platforms 1 and three motion branch chains 3 are sequentially connected at intervals to form a closed loop and constitute the four faces of the tetrahedron, that is, a tetrahedron structure composed of four six sub-platforms 1 and six connected motion branch chains 3, as shown in FIG. Figure 1 and Figure 4 As shown, Figure 1As shown, four three-sub-platforms 2 are arranged on the outside of each face of the above-mentioned tetrahedron (according to the relative position of the tetrahedron, it is called the central tetrahedron in the present invention), and three kinematic branches 3 are arranged between each three-sub-platform 2 and the three six-sub-platforms 1 in the adjacent face, with a total of twelve kinematic branches 3. The upper branch 31 and the lower branch 32 in each kinematic branch 3 are connected to a six-sub-platform 1 and a three-sub-platform 2 through a rotation pair, that is, a plurality of tetrahedrons composed of three six-sub-platforms connected by a three-sub-platform and three kinematic branches, which are expansions relative to the above-mentioned central tetrahedron, and are called extended tetrahedrons in the present invention, such as Figure 1 and Figure 5 As shown. Thus, a spatial multi-ring machine structure is constructed by a central tetrahedron and four extended tetrahedrons.

[0032] In each motion branch chain, the active motion pair helical pair connected between the upper branch chain 31 and the lower branch chain 32 is realized by connecting the output shaft of the stepper motor in the branch chain with the lead screw through an elastic coupling; the stepper motor drives the lead screw to rotate, which is used to change the distance between the upper branch chain 31 and the lower branch chain 32, thereby changing the overall length of the branch chain. At the same time, the helical pair also has a passive helical degree of freedom, which can convert the relative rotation between the upper branch chain 31 and the lower branch chain 32 into relative movement, thereby driving the robot to generate local multi-degree-of-freedom movement and overall movement, rolling or complex deformation movement.

[0033] The degrees of freedom of the overall structure of this embodiment are the same as the number of drives, which is 18, and more flexible spatial multi-degree-of-freedom movement forms can be achieved, such as spatial six-degree-of-freedom positioning movement, overall bending, twisting, extension, contraction and other deformation movements, as well as rolling, crawling, walking, jumping and other multi-mode movements, thereby making the spatial multi-ring robot have higher movement flexibility and mobility.

[0034] In the present invention, the multiple multi-sub platforms have the same structure (for example, in the embodiment, the four six-sub platforms have the same structure, and the four three-sub platforms have the same structure), and the multiple motion branches have the same structure. Through such component design, the space multi-ring robot has the advantages of simple structure, few types of parts, low manufacturing cost, and convenient replacement and expansion. At the same time, the space multi-ring robot designed by the above connection method has a higher number of degrees of freedom, giving the space multi-ring robot more powerful movement and deformation capabilities.

[0035] Although the present invention has been described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned specific embodiments, which are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Under the guidance of the present invention, ordinary technicians in this field can make many improvements and changes without departing from the purpose of the present invention. For example, by increasing or decreasing the number of the multiple platforms, changing the types of the multiple platforms, changing the layout of the multiple platforms, replacing the types of motion branches between the platforms, changing the positions and numbers of the active motion sub-types, the spatial multi-ring robot can change its own form and the number of degrees of freedom, thereby changing the function and performance of the robot mechanism, so that the spatial multi-ring robot can have a higher degree of freedom of movement and a more flexible mode of movement; all of these are within the protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A spatial multi-ring robot, characterized in that: It comprises a plurality of multi-pair platforms and a plurality of motion branches connected between two multi-pair platforms; the multi-pair platform refers to a platform comprising a plurality of motion pairs connected to the motion branches, and the number of motion pairs arranged on the multi-pair platform is greater than 2; the motion pairs are single-degree-of-freedom motion pairs or multi-degree-of-freedom motion pairs; the number of degrees of freedom of the motion branches is greater than 2, and the motion pairs of the motion branches include active motion pairs; the plurality of multi-pair platforms are connected by motion branches to form a plurality of space closed loops, and the plurality of space closed loops together constitute the space multi-loop robot.

2. The spatial multi-ring robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the multiple platforms is eight, including four six-platforms and four three-platforms; the number of the motion branches is eighteen, and the motion branches include an upper branch and a lower branch connected by a spiral pair; Each of the six-sub-platforms is connected to the other three six-sub-platforms via a kinematic pair by a kinematic branch chain, and each of the six-sub-platforms is also connected to three of the three-sub-platforms via a kinematic pair by a kinematic branch chain; There are two following situations for the kinematic branch chain and the kinematic pair connection of the six platforms: one is that the upper branch chain or the lower branch chain of the kinematic branch chain is connected to the six platforms through a Hooke's joint; the other is that the upper branch chain or the lower branch chain of the kinematic branch chain is connected to the six platforms through a revolute pair; The kinematic connection form between the kinematic branch chain and the three-sub-platform is that the upper branch chain or the lower branch chain of the kinematic branch chain is connected to the three-sub-platform via a rotating pair.

3. The spatial multi-ring robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The single-degree-of-freedom kinematic pair includes one or more of a rotation pair, a translation pair, a screw pair, and a gear pair.

4. The spatial multi-ring robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The multi-degree-of-freedom kinematic pair is one or more of a Hooke's hinge, a plane pair, a ball and pin pair, a ball pair, and a cam pair.

5. The spatial multi-ring robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The driving form of the active motion pair is a moving pair driving form, a rotating pair driving form or a screw pair driving form.

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