Aerial cleaning robot system and mechanical arm control method

Abstract

The invention provides an aerial cleaning robot system and a control method, and aims to solve the problems of high danger, low coverage rate of a wall-climbing robot, poor mobility and inaccurate system positioning in a cleaning process when a glass curtain wall of a high-rise building is cleaned manually in the prior art. The system is composed of a six-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle and a cleaning device. The unmanned aerial vehicle main body comprises a special rack, a power system and a control system, the power system is composed of a servo motor, a rotor wing, a motor and a battery, and the control system is integrated with a flight control and GPS module. The cleaning device comprises a sensing module, a three-connecting-rod mechanical arm and a cleaning system. Through the integrated design, the flying capability of the unmanned aerial vehicle is combined with the cleaning function, and the safety and efficiency of high-altitude cleaning are improved. The special arm design enables the unmanned aerial vehicle to realize front and back power output without adjusting the attitude, and the positioning and control process is simplified. The mechanical arm adopts an inner and outer ring control method, high-precision position control and excellent anti-interference performance are achieved, and it is ensured that cleaning work is stable and reliable.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of high-rise glass curtain wall cleaning equipment, and in particular relates to an aerial cleaning robot and a mechanical arm control method. Background Art

[0002] The facades of high-rise buildings usually adopt glass curtain walls, which are not only beautiful but also provide good lighting. However, as the height of buildings increases, the cleaning and maintenance of glass curtain walls has become an issue that cannot be ignored. Traditional cleaning methods usually rely on manual operation, using hanging baskets or ropes for high-altitude operations, which not only poses great safety hazards, but also leads to low cleaning efficiency and high costs. In addition, weather conditions, wind force, and stubborn stains attached to the surface of glass curtain walls all pose challenges to manual cleaning.

[0003] With the development of science and technology and the popularization of intelligent equipment, the market demand for automated cleaning equipment is growing. Although some existing glass curtain wall cleaning equipment has reduced manual participation to a certain extent, most products still have many shortcomings, such as the use of wall-climbing robots, but their cleaning coverage is limited, their mobility is inflexible, and their equipment is bulky, complex to install, and difficult to maintain. Therefore, developing a robot that can efficiently, safely, and automatically clean the glass curtain walls of high-rise buildings has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings and deficiencies of the prior art and to propose an aerial cleaning robot system and control method to solve the problems of the dangers of traditional manual cleaning, the limited cleaning coverage of wall-climbing robots, inflexible movement and bulky equipment, and interference with the body system during the cleaning process, resulting in inaccurate positioning and imprecise control.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution provided by the present invention is: An aerial cleaning robot system is proposed, comprising a six-rotor UAV body and a cleaning device; the six-rotor UAV body comprises a special frame, a UAV power system, and a control system; the special frame comprises, from top to bottom, an upper mainboard, a mainboard support block, four conventional arms and two special arms, a connecting rod sleeve, a lower mainboard, a battery box, and a support frame; the mainboard support blocks are fixed between the upper mainboard and the lower mainboard in a hexagonal shape at 60° intervals; the four conventional arms and the two special arms are fixed in the corresponding mainboard support blocks; the connecting rod sleeve is installed on the other side of the four conventional arms and the two special arms; the UAV power system comprises six servo motors, three pairs of forward and reverse propellers, six electric regulators, and a UAV battery; the motor is installed on the connecting rod sleeve; the control system comprises a UAV flight control and a GPS positioning module; The cleaning device includes a sensing device, a three-link robotic arm, a cleaning head, and a cleaning power system; the sensing device includes a depth camera and a pressure sensor; the three-link robotic arm includes a robotic arm base connector, three robotic arm links, and a depth camera fixing; the cleaning head includes a cleaning head base connector, a cleaning head base, and nine cleaning brush heads; the cleaning power system includes three robotic arm link servos and nine cleaning brush motors.

[0006] Preferably, the six-rotor UAV system is centered on the UAV flight control, and combines the UAV power system, depth camera, and GPS positioning module to complete the positioning of the UAV and the object to be cleaned; the cleaning device is centered on the UAV flight control, and combines the cleaning power system to complete the precise positioning and cleaning of the cleaning head, and reduce the external disturbance caused by cleaning.

[0007] Preferably, the two special arms designed for the six-rotor drone can provide forward or backward power during operation by bending the horizontal component of force generated by the power system on the arms, without adjusting the drone's posture.

[0008] A method for controlling a mechanical arm of an aerial cleaning robot comprises the following steps: Step 1: The aerial cleaning robot takes off from the ground and heads to the location of the object to be cleaned based on the information returned by the GPS positioning module and the depth camera image transmission; Step 2: After the operator positions the aircraft at the designated location, the aircraft is kept relatively stationary to aim at the object to be cleaned; Step 3: The controller guides the cleaning head to reach the specified position, wherein the pressure sensor is located at the connection between the robot arm connecting rod and the cleaning head base. This design causes the system to continuously apply pressure to move the cleaning head forward to reach the desired position. The sensor collects data, which is filtered by the signal conditioner and then transmitted to the admittance controller of the outer loop; Step 4: During the forward pressure process or cleaning process, the external force received by the actuator may increase suddenly. The designed admittance controller converts the actual force f ext and the expected force f des Compare and adjust the initial expected position X0 to X d Eliminate the chattering caused by smooth control; Step 5: The position information is transmitted to the non-singular fast sliding mode controller of the inner loop to adjust the position and deal with the oversaturation problem caused by the admittance control until the actual input force matches the expected force of the admittance controller, and the system thus achieves stable operation; Step 6: Continue to clean the remaining parts by adjusting the position of the drone, and the cleaning results can be returned to the ground control personnel from the depth camera; Step 7: Return home after cleaning is completed.

[0009] Therefore, the present invention adopts the above-mentioned aerial cleaning robot system and mechanical arm control method, which has the following beneficial effects: (1) The present invention adopts an integrated design scheme, combining the drone and the cleaning device, making full use of the flight capability and flexibility of the drone, and effectively solving the danger and complexity of traditional high-altitude operations; (2) The present invention adopts a special arm design, which can provide forward and backward power without adjusting the posture of the drone in operation, reducing the positioning complexity and adjustment difficulty; (3) The present invention adopts an inner and outer loop control method. The controller guides the end effector (i.e., the cleaning head) to move to a predetermined position. The special desired position set causes the robot arm to continuously apply pressure, so that the actuator moves forward to reach the desired position. The force sensor carried transmits the collected data to the admittance controller of the outer loop after filtering by the signal conditioner. The admittance controller can adjust the initial expected position to achieve smooth control, eliminate the resulting jitter, adapt to the cleaning requirements of curtain wall surfaces of different materials, and achieve precise adjustment and control of the force during the cleaning process. Subsequently, the position information is transmitted to the non-singular fast terminal sliding mode controller of the inner loop to adjust the position and deal with the oversaturation problem caused by the admittance control. The non-singular fast terminal sliding mode controller has good tracking performance and robustness, can achieve high-precision position control and anti-interference performance of the robot arm, and ensure the stability and reliability of the cleaning operation. At the same time, it can also avoid the oversaturation phenomenon caused by the admittance control and can quickly restore the desired position. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the six-rotor UAV body structure of the present invention; Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the cleaning device of the present invention; Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the cleaning head of the present invention; Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the robot arm control method of the present invention; Figure 6 Logic block diagram of the position adjustment control process.

[0011] The aerial cleaning robot system includes a six-rotor drone body 1 and a cleaning device 2; the special frame 10 includes an upper mainboard 101, a mainboard support block 102, a conventional arm 103, a special arm 104, a connecting rod sleeve 105, a lower mainboard 106, a battery box 107, and a support frame 108; the drone power system 11 includes a servo motor 111, a forward propeller rotor 112, a reverse propeller rotor 113, an electric regulator 114, and a drone battery 115; the control system 12 includes a drone flight control 121 and a GPS positioning module 122; The cleaning device 2 includes a three-link robotic arm 20, a robotic arm base connector 201, a robotic arm connector 202, a robotic arm connector 203, a robotic arm connector 204, and a depth camera fixing part 205; a sensing device 21, a depth camera 211, and a pressure sensor 212; a cleaning power system 22, a robotic arm connector servo 221, a robotic arm connector servo 222, a robotic arm connector servo 223, and a cleaning brush motor 224; a cleaning head 23, a cleaning head base connector 231, a cleaning head base 232, and a cleaning brush head 233. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used in the present invention shall have the usual meanings understood by persons with ordinary skills in the field to which the present invention belongs. The words "first", "second" and similar words used in the present invention do not indicate any order, quantity or importance, but are only used to distinguish different components. The words "include" or "comprise" and similar words mean that the elements or objects appearing before the word include the elements or objects listed after the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. The words "connect" or "connected" and similar words are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but may include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. "Up", "down", "left", "right" and the like are only used to indicate relative positional relationships. When the absolute position of the described object changes, the relative positional relationship may also change accordingly.

[0013] The present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0014] like Figure 1 As shown, an aerial cleaning robot system includes a six-rotor drone body 1 and a cleaning device 2.

[0015] like Figure 2The six-rotor UAV body shown includes a special frame 10, a UAV power system 11 and a control system 12; the special frame 10 includes an upper mainboard 101, a mainboard support block 102, a conventional machine arm 103, a special machine arm 104, a connecting rod sleeve 105, a lower mainboard 106, a battery box 107, and a support frame 108. The mainboard support block 102 is fixed between the upper mainboard 101 and the lower mainboard 106 by hexagonal welding, and two support blocks are used at each position to be placed side by side in close proximity. A circular hole of the same size as the outer diameter of the machine arm is provided in the middle of the mainboard support block 102 to facilitate the subsequent installation and fixing of the machine arm; four conventional machine arms 103 The two special arms 104 are fixed around the mainboard through the circular holes of the mainboard support block 102 in turn, and the four conventional arms 103 and the two special arms 104 are all set to be hollow in the middle to facilitate subsequent wiring; the circular hole of the connecting rod sleeve 105 is the same size as the outer diameter of the six arms, and the connecting rod sleeve 105 is fixed on the other side of the six arms through the reserved screw holes; the battery box 107 is fixed to the lower side of the lower mainboard 106 by screws, and the center position of the battery box 107 coincides with the center position of the circle of the lower mainboard 106; the support frame 108 is fixed at both ends of the battery box 107, and the lower side foot support of the support frame is oriented in the same direction as the special arm 104. The UAV power system 11 includes a servo motor 111, a positive propeller rotor 112, a reverse propeller rotor 113, an electric regulator 114, and a UAV battery 115; the upper end of the flat side of the connecting rod sleeve 105 is provided with a fixing hole identical to the screw hole reserved at the lower side of the servo motor 111, and six servo motors 111 are fixed by screws; two adjacent motors are respectively provided with positive propeller rotors 112 and reverse propeller rotors 113 to offset the reaction torque generated by the rotation of the rotors; the electric regulator 114 is provided at the lower end of the connecting rod sleeve to control the current of the servo motor 111; the UAV battery 115 is provided in the battery box 107. The control system 12 includes a UAV flight control 121 and a GPS positioning module; the UAV flight control 121 is fixed at the middle position of the upper end of the lower main board 101; the GPS positioning module is fixed at the center position of the upper side of the upper main board 101 by screws.

[0016] like Figure 3As shown, the cleaning device 2 includes a three-link mechanical arm 20, a sensing device 21, a cleaning power system 22, and a cleaning head 23; the three-link mechanical arm 20 includes a mechanical arm base connector 201, a mechanical arm connecting rod 202, a mechanical arm connecting rod 203, a mechanical arm connecting rod 204, and a depth camera fixing member 205; the mechanical arm base connector 201 is arranged on the lower side of the battery box 107 and is fixed by screws at the four corners; the cleaning power system 22 includes a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 221, a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 222, a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 223, a mechanical arm connecting rod 224, and a depth camera fixing member 205; the mechanical arm base connector 201 is arranged on the lower side of the battery box 107 and is fixed by screws at the four corners; the cleaning power system 22 includes a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 221, a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 222, a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 225, a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 226, a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 227, a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 228, a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 229, a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 229, a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 221, a mechanical arm connecting rod servo 229 ... Servo 223, cleaning brush motor 224; the robot arm connecting rod 202 is connected to the robot arm base connecting piece 201 through the external gear disk of the robot arm connecting rod servo 221; the other side of the robot arm connecting rod 202 is connected to the robot arm connecting rod 203 through the external gear disk of the robot arm connecting rod servo 222, and similarly, the other side of the robot arm connecting rod 203 is connected to the robot arm connecting rod 204 through the external gear disk of the robot arm connecting rod servo 223; the depth camera fixing piece 205 is fixed to the right side of the robot arm base connecting piece 201. The sensing device includes a depth camera 211 and a pressure sensor 212; the depth camera 211 is arranged at the lower side of the depth camera fixing piece 205.

[0017] like Figure 4 As shown, the cleaning head 23 includes a cleaning head base connector 231, a cleaning head base 232, and a cleaning brush head 233; the cleaning head base connector 231 is fixed to the lower side of the robot arm connecting rod 204 by screws; the pressure sensor 212 is arranged between the cleaning head base 232 and the cleaning head base connector 231, and the system continuously applies pressure to obtain data from the pressure sensor 212 so that the drone flight control 121 controls the cleaning head 23 to move forward to reach the desired position; a cleaning brush motor 224 is arranged on the lower side of the cleaning head base 232 and is installed in a 3×3 arrangement; a cleaning brush head 233 is arranged on the lower side of the cleaning brush motor 224.

[0018] A method for controlling the mechanical arm of an aerial cleaning robot, the specific steps are as follows: Step 1: The aerial cleaning robot takes off from the ground and heads to the location of the object to be cleaned based on the information returned by the GPS positioning module and the depth camera image transmission; Step 2: After the operator positions the aircraft at the designated location, the aircraft is kept relatively stationary to aim at the object to be cleaned; Step 3: The UAV flight control 121 guides the cleaning head 23 to reach the specified position, wherein the pressure sensor 212 is located at the connection between the robot arm link 3 and the cleaning head base 232. This design causes the system to continuously apply pressure to move the cleaning head 23 forward to reach the desired position. The pressure sensor 212 collects data, which is filtered by the signal conditioner and then transmitted to the admittance controller of the outer loop; Step 4: During the forward pressing process or the cleaning process, the external force received by the cleaning head 23 may increase suddenly. The designed admittance controller converts the actual force f ext and the expected force f des Compare and adjust the initial expected position X0 to X d Eliminate the chattering caused by smooth control; Step 5: The position information is transmitted to the non-singular fast sliding mode controller of the inner loop to adjust the position and deal with the oversaturation problem caused by the admittance control until the actual input force matches the expected force of the admittance controller, and the system thus achieves stable operation; Step 6: Continue to clean the remaining parts by adjusting the position of the drone, and the cleaning results can be reported to the ground control personnel from the depth camera 211; Step 7: Return home after cleaning is completed.

[0019] The adjustment process described in step 3 is as follows Figure 6 As shown in the logic block diagram, the UAV flight control 121 guides the cleaning head 23 to reach the specified position, wherein the pressure sensor 212 is located at the connection between the mechanical arm connecting rod 3 and the cleaning head base 232, and the UAV flight control 121 sets initial data for the pressure required for cleaning different materials. Before the UAV flight control 121 guides the cleaning head 23 to reach the specified position, the pressure sensor 212 receives the data and continuously compares it with the initial setting value. When it does not meet the expected pressure, the UAV flight control 121 continues to guide the cleaning head 23 to press forward to reach the specified position until the pressure meets the requirements and then works normally.

[0020] Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings and deficiencies of the prior art and to propose an aerial cleaning robot system and control method to solve the problems of the dangers of traditional manual cleaning, the limited cleaning coverage of wall-climbing robots, the inflexible movement and bulky equipment, and the interference with the body system during the cleaning process, resulting in inaccurate positioning and imprecise control.

[0021] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify or replace the technical solution of the present invention with equivalents, and these modifications or equivalent replacements cannot cause the modified technical solution to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. An aerial cleaning robot system, characterized in that It comprises a six-rotor UAV body and a cleaning device; the six-rotor UAV body comprises a special frame, a UAV power system, and a control system; the special frame comprises, from top to bottom, an upper mainboard, a mainboard support block, four conventional arms and two special arms, a connecting rod bushing, a lower mainboard, a battery box, and a support frame; the mainboard support blocks are fixed between the upper mainboard and the lower mainboard in a hexagonal shape at 60° intervals; the four conventional arms and the two special arms are fixed in the corresponding mainboard support blocks; the connecting rod bushing is installed on the other side of the four conventional arms and the two special arms; the UAV power system comprises six servo motors, three pairs of forward and reverse propellers, six electric regulators, and a UAV battery; the motor is installed on the connecting rod bushing; the control system comprises a UAV flight control and GPS positioning module.

2. An aerial cleaning robot system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cleaning device includes a sensing device, a three-link robotic arm, a cleaning head, and a cleaning power system; the sensing device includes a depth camera and a pressure sensor; the three-link robotic arm includes a robotic arm base connector, three robotic arm links, and a depth camera fixture; the cleaning head includes a cleaning head base connector, a cleaning head base, and nine cleaning brush heads; the cleaning power system includes three robotic arm link servos and nine cleaning brush motors.

3. The six-rotor UAV system according to claim 1, characterized in that: With the UAV flight control as the core, combined with the UAV power system, depth camera, and GPS positioning module, the UAV positioning and the positioning of the object to be cleaned are completed; the cleaning device takes the UAV flight control as the core, combined with the cleaning power system to complete the precise positioning and cleaning of the cleaning head, and reduce the external disturbance caused by cleaning.

4. The six-rotor UAV system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The two special arms designed for the six-rotor drone can provide forward or backward power during operation by bending the horizontal component of force generated by the power system on the arms, without adjusting the drone's posture.

5. According to claim 1, the mainboard support block is fixed between the upper mainboard and the lower mainboard by hexagonal welding, and two support blocks are used at each position to be placed closely side by side front and back, and a circular hole with the same size as the outer diameter of the machine arm is set in the middle position of the mainboard support block to facilitate the subsequent installation and fixing of the machine arm; four conventional machine arms and two special machine arms are fixed around the mainboard in turn through the circular holes of the mainboard support block, and the four conventional machine arms and the two special machine arms are set to be hollow in the middle to facilitate subsequent wiring; the circular hole of the connecting rod sleeve is the same size as the outer diameter of the six machine arms, and the connecting rod sleeve is fixed on the other side of the six machine arms through the reserved screw hole; the battery box is fixed to the lower side of the lower mainboard by screws, and the center position of the battery box coincides with the center position of the circle of the lower mainboard; in the battery The support frames are fixed at both ends of the box, and the direction of the lower foot support of the support frame is consistent with the direction of the special arm. The UAV power system includes a servo motor, a forward propeller rotor, a reverse propeller rotor, an electric controller, and a UAV battery; a fixing hole identical to the screw hole reserved on the lower side of the servo motor is provided at the upper end of the flat side of the connecting rod sleeve, and six servo motors are fixed by screws; two adjacent motors are respectively provided with a forward propeller rotor and a reverse propeller rotor to offset the reaction torque generated by the rotation of the rotor; the electric controller is arranged at the lower end of the connecting rod sleeve to control the current of the servo motor; the UAV battery is arranged in the battery box, and the control system includes a UAV flight control and a positioning module; the UAV flight control is fixed at the middle position of the upper end of the lower mainboard; the GPS positioning module is fixed at the center position of the upper side of the upper mainboard by screws.

6. According to claim 2, the cleaning device includes a three-link robotic arm, a sensing device, a cleaning power system, and a cleaning head; the three-link robotic arm includes a robotic arm base connector, three robotic arm links, and a depth camera fixing; the robotic arm base connector is arranged on the lower side of the battery box and is fixed by screws at the four corners; the cleaning power system includes three robotic arm link servos and a cleaning brush motor; the robotic arm link is connected to the robotic arm base connector through the external gear disc of the robotic arm link servo; the other side of the robotic arm link is connected to the next robotic arm link through the external gear disc of the robotic arm link servo.

7. According to claim 2, the cleaning head includes a cleaning head base connector, a cleaning head base, and a cleaning brush head; the cleaning head base connector is fixed to the lower side of the robotic arm connecting rod by screws; a pressure sensor is arranged between the cleaning head base and the cleaning head base connector, and the system continuously applies pressure to obtain data from the pressure sensor so that the drone flight control controls the cleaning head to move forward to reach the desired position; a cleaning brush motor is arranged on the lower side of the cleaning head base and installed in a 3×3 arrangement; a cleaning brush head is arranged on the lower side of the cleaning brush motor.

8. A method for controlling a mechanical arm of an aerial cleaning robot, comprising the following steps: Step 1: The aerial cleaning robot takes off from the ground and heads to the location of the object to be cleaned based on the information returned by the GPS positioning module and the depth camera image transmission; Step 2: After the operator positions the aircraft at the designated location, the aircraft is kept relatively still to align with the object to be cleaned; Step 3: The controller guides the cleaning head to reach the specified position, wherein the pressure sensor is located at the connection between the robot arm connecting rod and the cleaning head base. This design causes the system to continuously apply pressure to move the cleaning head forward to reach the desired position. The sensor collects data and transmits it to the admittance controller of the outer loop after filtering by the signal conditioner. Step 4: During the forward pressure process or cleaning process, the external force received by the actuator may increase suddenly. The designed admittance controller converts the actual force f ext and the expected force f des Compare and adjust the initial expected position X0 to X d Eliminate the chattering caused by smooth control; Step 5: The position information is transmitted to the non-singular fast sliding mode controller of the inner loop to adjust the position and deal with the oversaturation problem caused by the admittance control until the actual input force matches the expected force of the admittance controller, and the system thus achieves stable operation; Step 6: Continue to clean the remaining parts by adjusting the position of the drone, and the cleaning results can be returned to the ground control personnel from the depth camera; Step 7: Return home after cleaning is completed.

9. According to the method for controlling the mechanical arm of an aerial cleaning robot of claim 8, the adjustment process in step 3 is as follows: The UAV flight control guides the cleaning head to reach the specified position, wherein the pressure sensor is located at the connection between the mechanical arm connecting rod and the cleaning head base. The UAV flight control sets initial data for the pressure required for cleaning different materials. Before the UAV flight control guides the cleaning head to reach the specified position, the pressure sensor receives the data and continuously compares it with the initial setting value. When the pressure does not meet the expected pressure, the UAV flight control continues to guide the cleaning head to press forward to reach the specified position until the pressure meets the requirements and then works normally.

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