Modularized driving system suitable for quick disassembly and assembly of bionic snake robot rope

Abstract

The invention discloses a modular driving system suitable for quick disassembly and assembly of a bionic snake robot rope, which comprises a driving box body and a plurality of driving units, and rope driving, guiding and rigidity control mechanisms are arranged in the driving units. The rope driving mechanism is composed of a gear motor and a circuit board and can control the motor to rotate. A rope winding drum, an intermediate winding wheel and a guiding winding wheel of the rope guiding mechanism cooperate to achieve winding, rigidity adjustment and direction adjustment of a driving rope. The rigidity control mechanism effectively adjusts the tension of the driving rope and optimizes the rigidity of the robot through the synergistic effect of manually rotating a knob and tension feedback control. The driving units adopt modular design, are simple in structure and can be increased or decreased according to needs. According to the system, the endoscopic detection performance of the rope-driven bionic snake robot can be improved, the applicability of the rope-driven bionic snake robot in a narrow environment is enhanced, and the system has the advantages of being simple in structure, convenient to control and high in integration level and has wide application prospects in the field of endoscopic operation of major engineering equipment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of robots, and in particular relates to a modular drive system suitable for rapid assembly and disassembly of ropes of a bionic snake robot. Background Art

[0002] As a new type of robot that draws on the physiological structure and movement form of biological snakes in nature, the bionic snake robot has a higher degree of freedom and flexible movement posture compared to traditional rigid robots. It can achieve long-distance endoscopic movement in a multi-constrained unknown environment, thereby successfully completing the inspection task in the chamber environment. The bionic snake robot has excellent application prospects in the field of endoscopic operation in small spaces of major engineering equipment.

[0003] However, since the bionic snake robot needs to be structurally designed to adapt to the internal structure of the narrow and tortuous chamber of major engineering equipment, the bionic snake robot usually has a snake-like arm structure with a large aspect ratio. This structural form makes the bionic snake robot have poor structural stiffness properties and super-redundant degrees of freedom of movement, and requires drive control of a large number of snake-like arm joints, which not only aggravates the difficulty of stiffness control of the bionic snake robot, but also makes the drive system of the bionic snake robot occupy a considerable proportion of the body volume and mass, resulting in its overall movement appearing slow and less flexible. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the above-mentioned problems, the object of the present invention is to provide a modular drive system suitable for the rapid assembly and disassembly of the rope of a bionic snake robot.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention is: a modular drive system suitable for rapid assembly and disassembly of a rope of a bionic snake robot, comprising a bionic snake robot drive system, the bionic snake robot drive system comprising a drive box and a plurality of drive units arranged in the drive box, the drive unit being provided with a rope drive mechanism, a rope guide mechanism and a stiffness control mechanism; The driving unit comprises a rectangular base with a left side plate and a right side plate fixed on both sides, a rotating member and a motor bracket are arranged between the left side plate and the right side plate, the rotating member is located at the rear end of the driving unit and is connected to the motor bracket by a cross countersunk screw, the motor bracket is used to rotate around the rotating axis of the rotating member, and is used to provide posture feedback for the change of rope tension, and a front plate is installed at the front end of the driving unit, and an aviation plug is installed on the front plate and connected to the upper computer of the rope-driven bionic snake robot, thereby realizing the integrated design of the electric control cable; The rope drive mechanism includes a reduction motor and a circuit board. The reduction motor is composed of a reducer, a drive motor, and an encoder connected in sequence from top to bottom. The output shaft of the reduction motor is suspended vertically upward. The circuit board is installed on the inner wall of the right side plate through a hexagon socket head screw. The circuit board is connected to the encoder through an electric control cable to realize motion control of the reduction motor. The rope guide mechanism includes a rope drum, an intermediate winding wheel and a guide winding wheel, wherein the rope drum is coaxially fixedly sleeved on the output shaft of the reduction motor, the guide winding wheel is arranged at the front end of the driving unit, the intermediate winding wheel is located between the rope drum and the guide winding wheel, the rope drum, the intermediate winding wheel and the guide winding wheel are connected through the driving rope of the bionic snake robot, the rope drum is used for winding and storing the driving rope, the intermediate winding wheel is used for realizing the stiffness adjustment of the driving rope, and the guide winding wheel is used for adjusting and changing the direction of the driving rope; The stiffness control mechanism includes a baffle, a spring group, a slider, a trapezoidal nut, a sleeve, a trapezoidal lead screw, an optical axis, a rotating knob, a set screw, a connecting rod, a tension sensor and a rear plate. One end of the trapezoidal lead screw and the optical axis are connected to the inner wall of the right side plate through the baffle. The other end of the trapezoidal lead screw passes through the left side plate and is fixedly connected to the rotating knob through a set screw. The connecting rod is installed above and below the intermediate winding wheel for connecting the upper and lower sliders. The slider is respectively installed with a trapezoidal nut and a sleeve for moving the slider along the direction of the trapezoidal lead screw and the optical axis. A spring group is arranged between the baffle and the slider for autonomously restoring the intermediate winding wheel to the initial position in the stiffness control mechanism when the manual adjustment of the driving rope tension is stopped. One end of the tension sensor is connected to the rear plate and the other end is connected to the motor bracket for obtaining data information on rope tension changes.

[0006] Furthermore, the left side plate and the right side plate are respectively connected and fixed on both sides of the rectangular base through cross countersunk screws, hexagon socket cylindrical head screws and support rods.

[0007] Furthermore, four mounting holes are evenly arranged on the rectangular base, and hexagon socket head screws are respectively arranged in the four mounting holes for fixing the rectangular base to the inside of the drive box.

[0008] Furthermore, the heights of the front and rear end walls of the driving box are lower than the height of the driving unit to avoid interference problems when the driving ropes are connected to the joints of the bionic snake robot.

[0009] Furthermore, the layout of the mounting holes inside the drive housing should be designed in combination with the size of the drive unit to ensure smooth installation and disassembly of the drive unit and the operating space of the stiffness adjustment mechanism.

[0010] Furthermore, a gap is left between the reduction motor and the rectangular base to reserve space for arranging electric control cables.

[0011] Furthermore, the layout of the mounting holes inside the drive housing should be designed in combination with the size of the drive unit to ensure smooth installation and removal of the drive unit and operating space for the stiffness adjustment mechanism.

[0012] The working principle of the present invention is as follows: for inspection operation scenarios such as endoscopic operation of major engineering equipment, the number of drive units is reasonably set according to the size of the internal space, and they are installed in the drive box to form a bionic snake robot drive system. During the endoscopic movement of the rope-driven bionic snake robot, instructions are issued by the host computer to the circuit board in the rope drive mechanism to control the rotation of the reduction motor composed of a reducer, a motor and an encoder. The rotation of the reduction motor drives the movement of the rope reel in the rope guide mechanism, driving the rope to extend or contract along the intermediate winding wheel and the guide winding wheel, thereby realizing the change of the movement posture of the rope-driven bionic snake robot to adapt to the complex structure inside the major engineering equipment. In normal working state, the bionic snake robot uses the tension sensor fixed on the rear plate to sense and transmit the rope tension change data that causes the rotation trend of the motor bracket, thereby improving the movement stiffness of the rope-driven bionic snake robot. In addition, in response to the task requirements of high-precision endoscopic inspection, the rotary knob of the driving unit of the corresponding joint of the rope-driven bionic snake robot is manually rotated to a certain angle, so that the slider drives the intermediate winding wheel to move along the trapezoidal lead screw and the optical axis, changing the tension of the driving rope to achieve the optimal adjustment of the stiffness of the rope-driven bionic snake robot. After completing the high-precision endoscopic inspection, the rotational torsion of the rotary knob is released, so that the intermediate winding wheel is restored to the initial position in the stiffness control mechanism for subsequent endoscopic operation actions.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: 1. The present invention discloses a bionic snake robot driving system capable of realizing stiffness adjustment, which can improve the performance of the rope-driven bionic snake robot in performing fine endoscopy detection tasks. When the rope-driven bionic snake robot is operating stably under normal conditions, the tension sensor is used to sense the change in rope tension to achieve stiffness adjustment of the snake arm; when performing high-precision endoscopy inspection operations, the position of the intermediate winding wheel of the rope guide mechanism is changed by manually adjusting the rotation angle of the rotating knob on one side of the stiffness control mechanism, thereby adjusting the tension of the driving rope in real time, optimizing the structural stiffness of the snake arm, ensuring the accuracy and stability of the movement of the end of the snake arm of the bionic snake robot, and thus improving the efficiency and accuracy of the endoscopy detection work of the rope-driven bionic snake robot.

[0014] 2. The specially designed drive unit of the present invention adopts a modular design structure, including a rope drive mechanism, a rope guide mechanism and a stiffness control mechanism. The bionic snake robot drive system has a simple structural design and occupies less space. It can flexibly increase or decrease the drive unit according to the actual needs of the endoscopy operation of major engineering equipment, ensuring that the rope-driven bionic snake robot can smoothly reach the damaged inspection area and enhance its applicability in various narrow inspection environments.

[0015] 3. The present invention has the characteristics of simple structure, convenient control and high integration, and is particularly suitable for endoscopic operation of major engineering equipment. It not only expands the working range of the rope-driven bionic snake robot, but also improves the structural rigidity of its working state, and has broad application prospects in related technical fields. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the driving system of the bionic snake robot of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the driving unit of the bionic snake robot of the present invention; Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the side panel of the driving unit of the bionic snake robot of the present invention; Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a rope driving mechanism of a driving unit of a bionic snake robot of the present invention; Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a rope guide mechanism of a driving unit of a bionic snake robot of the present invention; Figure 6 It is a partial schematic diagram of the stiffness control mechanism of the driving unit of the bionic snake robot of the present invention; Figure 7 It is a panoramic schematic diagram of the stiffness control mechanism of the bionic snake robot drive unit of the present invention.

[0017] Among them, 1. Bionic snake robot drive system; 2. Drive box; 3. Drive unit; 301. Left side plate; 302. Right side plate; 303. Rectangular base; 304. Cross countersunk screw; 305. Hexagon socket head screw; 306. Mounting hole; 307. Rotating part; 308. Support rod; 309. Motor bracket; 310. Front plate; 4. Rope drive mechanism; 401. Reducer; 402. Drive motor; 403. Encoder device; 404, circuit board; 5, rope guide mechanism; 501, rope drum; 502, intermediate winding wheel; 503, guide winding wheel; 6, stiffness control mechanism; 601, baffle; 602, spring group; 603, slider; 604, trapezoidal nut; 605, bushing; 606, trapezoidal lead screw; 607, optical axis; 608, turning knob; 609, set screw; 610, connecting rod; 611, tension sensor; 612, back plate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The following is combined with Figure 1 To the attached Figure 7 , the specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail. In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0019] The terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features; in the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, "plurality" means two or more.

[0020] It should be noted that the circuit connections involved in the present invention all adopt conventional circuit connection methods and do not involve any innovation.

[0021] Example: Figure 1 As shown, a modular drive system suitable for rapid assembly and disassembly of a rope of a bionic snake robot comprises a bionic snake robot drive system 1, wherein the bionic snake robot drive system 1 comprises a drive box 2 and a plurality of drive units 3 arranged in the drive box 2. Among them, a rope drive mechanism 4, a rope guide mechanism 5 and a stiffness control mechanism 6 are arranged in the drive unit 3; like Figure 2-3As shown, the drive unit 3 includes a rectangular base 303 with a left side plate 301 and a right side plate 302 fixed on both sides, a rotating member 307 and a motor bracket 309 are provided between the left side plate 301 and the right side plate 302, the rotating member 307 is located at the rear end of the drive unit 3, and is connected to the motor bracket 309 by a cross countersunk screw 304, the motor bracket 309 is used to rotate around the rotating axis of the rotating member 307, and is used to adjust the three-dimensional spatial position of the motor bracket 309 according to the change of the rope tension, so as to provide posture feedback, and a front plate is installed at the front end of the drive unit 3 310, by installing an aviation plug on the front plate 310 and connecting it to the upper computer of the rope-driven bionic snake robot, the integrated design of the electric control cable is realized, the left plate 301 and the right plate 302 are respectively connected and fixed to the two sides of the rectangular base 303 by cross countersunk screws 304, hexagon socket head screws 305 and support rods 308, and four mounting holes 306 are evenly arranged on the rectangular base 303, and the four mounting holes 306 are respectively provided with hexagon socket head screws 305, which are used to fix the rectangular base 303 to the inside of the driving box 2; like Figure 4 As shown, the rope drive mechanism 4 includes a reduction motor and a circuit board 404. The reduction motor is composed of a reducer 401, a drive motor 402, and an encoder 403 that are sequentially connected from top to bottom. The output shaft direction of the reduction motor is suspended vertically upward. The circuit board 404 is installed on the inner wall surface of the right side plate 302 through a hexagon socket head screw 305. The circuit board 404 is connected to the encoder 403 through an electric control cable to realize the motion control of the reduction motor. like Figure 5 As shown, the rope guide mechanism 5 includes a rope drum 501, an intermediate winding wheel 502 and a guide winding wheel 503. The rope drum 501 is coaxially fixedly sleeved on the output shaft of the reduction motor, the guide winding wheel 503 is arranged at the front end of the driving unit 3, the intermediate winding wheel 502 is located between the rope drum 501 and the guide winding wheel 503, the rope drum 501, the intermediate winding wheel 502 and the guide winding wheel 503 are connected through the driving rope of the bionic snake robot, the rope drum 501 is used to wind and store the driving rope, the intermediate winding wheel 502 is used to adjust the stiffness of the driving rope, and the guide winding wheel 503 is used to adjust and change the direction of the driving rope; like Figure 6-7As shown, the stiffness control mechanism 6 includes a baffle 601, a spring group 602, a slider 603, a trapezoidal nut 604, a sleeve 605, a trapezoidal lead screw 606, an optical axis 607, a rotating knob 608, a set screw 609, a connecting rod 610, a tension sensor 611 and a rear plate 612. One end of the trapezoidal lead screw 606 and the optical axis 607 are connected to the inner wall of the right side plate 302 through the baffle 601. The other end of the trapezoidal lead screw 606 passes through the left side plate 301 and is fixedly connected to the rotating knob 608 through the set screw 609. A connecting rod 610 is installed above and below the intermediate winding wheel 502 to connect the upper and lower sliders 603. The inner wall of the slider 603 A trapezoidal nut 604 and a bushing 605 are respectively installed and connected, and are used to make the slider 603 move along the trapezoidal lead screw 606 and the optical axis 607. A spring group 602 is arranged between the baffle 601 and the slider 603, and is used to make the intermediate winding wheel 502 autonomously restore to the initial position in the stiffness control mechanism 6 when the manual adjustment of the driving rope tension is stopped. One end of the tension sensor 611 is fixed to the rear plate 612, and the other end is connected to the motor bracket 309. By sensing the rotation trend of the motor posture caused by the change of rope tension, the rope tension change data is received and fed back, so as to realize the real-time stiffness control of the snake-like arm of the rope-driven bionic snake robot.

[0022] Preferably, the heights of the front and rear end walls of the driving box 2 are lower than the height of the driving unit 3 .

[0023] Preferably, the layout of the mounting holes 306 inside the drive housing 2 should be designed in combination with the size of the drive unit 3 to ensure smooth installation and disassembly of the drive unit 3 and the operating space of the stiffness adjustment mechanism.

[0024] Preferably, a gap is left between the reduction motor and the rectangular base 303 to reserve space for arranging electric control cables.

[0025] The working principle of the above embodiment is: For the inspection operation scenes such as the endoscopic operation of major engineering equipment, the number of drive units 3 is reasonably set according to the size of the internal space, and they are installed in the drive box 2 to form a bionic snake robot drive system 1. In the process of the rope-driven bionic snake robot's endoscopic movement, the host computer issues instructions to the circuit board 404 in the rope drive mechanism 4 to control the rotation of the reduction motor composed of the reducer 401, the drive motor 402 and the encoder 403. The rotation of the reduction motor drives the movement of the rope reel 501 in the rope guide mechanism 5, and drives the rope to extend or contract along the intermediate winding wheel 502 and the guide winding wheel 503, thereby realizing the change of the rope-driven bionic snake robot's movement posture to adapt to the complex structure inside the major engineering equipment. In the normal working state, the bionic snake robot uses the tension sensor 611 fixed on the rear plate 612 to sense and transmit the rope tension change data that causes the rotation trend of the motor bracket 309, so as to improve the motion stiffness of the rope-driven bionic snake robot. In addition, in response to the task requirements of high-precision endoscopic inspection, the rotary knob 608 of the driving unit 3 of the corresponding joint of the rope-driven bionic snake robot is manually rotated to a certain angle, so that the slider 603 drives the intermediate winding wheel 502 to move along the trapezoidal lead screw 606 and the optical axis 607, and changes the tension of the driving rope to achieve the optimal adjustment of the stiffness of the rope-driven bionic snake robot. After completing the high-precision endoscopic inspection, the rotational torsion of the rotary knob 608 is released, so that the intermediate winding wheel 502 is restored to the initial position in the stiffness control mechanism 6 for subsequent endoscopic operation actions.

[0026] The specific models of the above electronic components are not specially specified, and ordinary products available on the market can be selected as long as they can meet the use requirements of the present invention.

[0027] The specific embodiments described above further illustrate the objectives, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present invention in detail. It should be understood that the above description is only a specific embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention are included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A modular drive system suitable for rapid assembly and disassembly of a rope of a bionic snake robot, comprising a bionic snake robot drive system (1), the bionic snake robot drive system (1) comprising a drive housing (2) and a plurality of drive units (3) arranged in the drive housing (2), characterized in that: The drive unit (3) is provided with a rope drive mechanism (4), a rope guide mechanism (5) and a stiffness control mechanism (6); The driving unit (3) comprises a rectangular base (303) with a left side plate (301) and a right side plate (302) fixedly provided on both sides; a rotating member (307) and a motor bracket (309) are provided between the left side plate (301) and the right side plate (302); the rotating member (307) is located at the rear end of the driving unit (3) and is connected to the motor bracket (309) via a cross countersunk screw (304); the motor bracket (309) is used to rotate around the rotating axis of the rotating member (307) to provide posture feedback for changes in rope tension; a front plate (310) is installed at the front end of the driving unit (3); an aviation plug is installed on the front plate (310) and connected to a host computer of the rope-driven bionic snake robot, thereby realizing an integrated design of the electric control cable; The rope drive mechanism (4) comprises a reduction motor and a circuit board (404), wherein the reduction motor comprises a reducer (401), a drive motor (402), and an encoder (403) which are sequentially connected from top to bottom, wherein the output shaft of the reduction motor is suspended vertically upward, and the circuit board (404) is mounted on the inner wall surface of the right side plate (302) via a hexagon socket head screw (305), and the circuit board (404) is connected to the encoder (403) via an electric control cable, thereby realizing motion control of the reduction motor; The rope guide mechanism (5) comprises a rope drum (501), an intermediate winding wheel (502) and a guide winding wheel (503); the rope drum (501) is coaxially fixedly sleeved on the output shaft of the reduction motor; the guide winding wheel (503) is arranged at the front end of the driving unit (3); the intermediate winding wheel (502) is located between the rope drum (501) and the guide winding wheel (503); the rope drum (501), the intermediate winding wheel (502) and the guide winding wheel (503) are connected via a driving rope of the bionic snake robot; the rope drum (501) is used to wind and store the driving rope; the intermediate winding wheel (502) is used to adjust the stiffness of the driving rope; and the guide winding wheel (503) is used to adjust and change the direction of the driving rope; The stiffness control mechanism (6) comprises a baffle (601), a spring group (602), a slider (603), a trapezoidal nut (604), a sleeve (605), a trapezoidal lead screw (606), an optical axis (607), a rotating knob (608), a set screw (609), a connecting rod (610), a tension sensor (611) and a rear plate (612). One end of the trapezoidal lead screw (606) and the optical axis (607) are connected to the inner wall of the right side plate (302) through the baffle (601), the other end of the trapezoidal lead screw (606) passes through the left side plate (301) and is fixedly connected to the rotating knob (608) through the set screw (609). The connecting rod (610) is installed above and below the intermediate winding wheel (502) for connecting the upper and lower sliders (611). 03), a trapezoidal nut (604) and a shaft sleeve (605) are respectively installed and connected in the slider (603), which are used to make the slider (603) move along the direction of the trapezoidal lead screw (606) and the optical axis (607). A spring group (602) is arranged between the baffle (601) and the slider (603), which is used to make the intermediate winding wheel (502) automatically return to the initial position in the stiffness control mechanism (6) when the manual adjustment of the driving rope tension is stopped. One end of the tension sensor (611) is fixed to the rear plate (612), and the other end is connected to the motor bracket (309). By sensing the rotation trend of the motor posture caused by the change of rope tension, the rope tension change data is received and fed back, so as to realize the real-time stiffness control of the snake-like arm of the rope-driven bionic snake robot.

2. A modular drive system suitable for rapid assembly and disassembly of ropes of a bionic snake robot as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The left side plate (301) and the right side plate (302) are respectively connected and fixed to two sides of the rectangular base (303) via cross countersunk screws (304), hexagon socket head screws (305) and support rods (308).

3. A modular drive system suitable for rapid assembly and disassembly of ropes of a bionic snake robot as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: Four mounting holes (306) are evenly arranged on the rectangular base (303), and hexagon socket head screws (305) are respectively arranged in the four mounting holes (306) for fixing the rectangular base (303) to the inside of the drive box (2).

4. A modular drive system suitable for rapid assembly and disassembly of ropes of a bionic snake robot as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The height of the front and rear end walls of the drive housing (2) is lower than the height of the drive unit (3).

5. A modular drive system suitable for rapid assembly and disassembly of ropes of a bionic snake robot as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The layout of the mounting holes inside the drive housing (2) should be designed in combination with the size of the drive unit (3) to ensure smooth installation and removal of the drive unit (3) and the operating space of the stiffness adjustment mechanism.

6. A modular drive system suitable for rapid assembly and disassembly of ropes of a bionic snake robot as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: A spacing is left between the reduction motor and the rectangular base (303) to reserve space for arranging electric control cables.

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