Shallow pipeline damage positioning method and system based on multi-robot cooperation

Abstract

The invention discloses a shallow pipeline damage positioning method and system based on multi-robot cooperation, and the method comprises the steps: placing a pipeline robot in a pipeline, connecting the rear end of the pipeline robot with a take-up device for taking up and paying off a cable, and placing a mechanical dog at the ground surface above the pipeline robot; the pipeline robot is controlled to advance in the pipeline, the cable in the take-up device is pulled out along with advancing of the pipeline robot, and the pipeline robot stops advancing after detecting a pipeline damage point; the mechanical dog obtains the length variation of the cable pulled out of the take-up device, advances towards the initial movement direction of the pipeline robot, and inspects inwards step by step with the length variation as the radius; the signal receiver acquires signal intensity data transmitted by the signal transmitter in real time during inspection; and the location of the mechanical dog when the intensity of the signal received by the signal receiver is maximum is used as the position of the pipeline damage point. Through cooperative positioning of the mechanical dog and the pipeline robot, the accuracy of pipeline damage detection is effectively improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of pipeline detection, and in particular to a shallow pipeline damage positioning method and system based on multi-robot collaboration. Background Art

[0002] Mobile robots play an indispensable role in the inspection process of industrial infrastructure, such as underground pipelines in modern cities or industrial transportation environments. Since pipelines are usually buried underground, they are exposed to a variety of potential risks, including corrosion, wear, leakage, and impact from external objects. Therefore, regular inspection and maintenance are crucial to ensure the safety and reliability of pipelines. Traditional underground pipeline inspection methods mainly rely on remotely operated vehicles, but they are prone to many problems such as signal loss and loss of connection in closed pipelines.

[0003] In terms of locatability, GPS signals are usually not received in underground pipelines or enclosed spaces, so pipeline robots cannot use conventional satellite positioning systems. This makes it extremely difficult to accurately position the robot in the pipeline, and it is necessary to rely on other positioning technologies, such as inertial navigation, odometers, or vision-based positioning systems, but these technologies still have limitations in accuracy and reliability. During the journey, the robot may tilt or rotate due to the bends, inclinations, or slopes of the pipeline. This unstable movement affects the robot's posture control, which in turn affects the accurate estimation of its position (position and attitude), especially when there is no support or the diameter of the pipeline changes.

[0004] Based on this, the present invention provides a shallow pipeline damage positioning method and system based on multi-robot collaboration to achieve accurate positioning of the robot in the pipeline. Summary of the invention

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a shallow pipeline damage positioning method and system based on multi-robot collaboration.

[0006] In order to solve the above technical problems, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: a shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration, comprising the following steps:

[0007] S1: Place the pipeline robot in the pipeline, connect the rear end of the pipeline robot to a cable retractor for retracting and releasing cables, and place the robot dog on the ground above the pipeline robot;

[0008] The pipeline robot is equipped with a signal transmitter, and the mechanical dog is equipped with a signal receiver;

[0009] S2: Control the pipeline robot to move in the pipeline. As the pipeline robot moves, the cable in the cable take-up device is pulled out. When the pipeline robot detects a damaged point in the pipeline, it stops moving.

[0010] S3: The robot dog obtains the length change value of the cable pulled out by the cable receiver (the current length of the cable minus the initial length of the cable), and moves a corresponding distance in the initial movement direction of the pipeline robot (this position is the initial position of the robot dog), and gradually inspects inward with the length change value as the radius; during the inspection, the signal receiver collects the signal strength data transmitted by the signal transmitter in real time;

[0011] S4: The location of the mechanical dog when the signal strength received by the signal receiver is the largest is taken as the location of the pipeline damage point.

[0012] As a possible implementation, further, the mechanical dog is provided with a sensor module for collecting the surrounding environment data of the mechanical dog in real time; the environmental data includes terrain and obstacles.

[0013] As a possible implementation, further, the sensor module includes a laser radar and a wide-angle camera.

[0014] As a possible implementation manner, further, a positioning module is installed on the mechanical dog, and the mechanical dog performs accurate GPS / Beidou dual-precision positioning through the positioning module.

[0015] As a possible implementation manner, further, the pipeline robot is provided with a telephoto camera and a millimeter wave radar for acquiring environmental information in the pipeline.

[0016] As a possible implementation manner, further, the cable take-up device includes a meter grinding wheel and a meter, the meter grinding wheel is mounted on a rotating shaft of the meter, the cable is wound around the meter grinding wheel, and the meter is used to obtain length data of the pulled cable.

[0017] As a possible implementation, further, S4 specifically steps as follows:

[0018] After the robot collects the signal strength at the initial position, it measures the signal strength changes around the position, updates the robot position according to the gradient direction, and measures the signal again, repeating this process until the stop condition is reached.

[0019] Afterwards, the robot dog is accurately positioned using GPS / Beidou dual-precision positioning, and this position is used as the location of the pipeline damage point.

[0020] As a possible implementation manner, further, the stopping condition is that the signal strength change is less than a set threshold.

[0021] The present invention also provides a shallow pipeline damage positioning system based on multi-robot collaboration, which is applied as the above-mentioned shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration, and the system includes: a pipeline robot, a mechanical dog, a wire take-up device, a communication module, a control hub station, and a signal strength indicator;

[0022] The pipeline robot is used to travel in the pipeline, and is equipped with a telephoto camera and a millimeter-wave radar for obtaining environmental information in the pipeline;

[0023] The robot dog is used to move on the surface above the pipeline, and is equipped with a laser radar for real-time collection of environmental data around the robot dog, a wide-angle camera, and a positioning module for accurately locating the position of the robot dog;

[0024] The pipeline robot and the mechanical dog communicate wirelessly via a communication module (a low-frequency wireless communication module is selected), and the communication module includes a signal receiver and a signal transmitter, the signal receiver is installed on the mechanical dog, and the signal transmitter is installed on the pipeline robot;

[0025] The mechanical dog is connected to the control center station via wireless communication, and the position information of the mechanical dog is fed back to the control center station;

[0026] The cable take-up device is used to take up and release the cable, and comprises a cable winding reel assembly, which is composed of a meter grinding wheel and a meter, the meter grinding wheel is installed on the rotating shaft of the meter, the cable is wound on the meter grinding wheel, and the meter is used to obtain the length data of the pulled cable; the cable take-up device is connected to the pipeline robot by a cable, and the cable take-up device is connected to the mechanical dog by wireless communication, and is used to transmit signals and exchange data with the mechanical dog;

[0027] The signal strength indicator is used to obtain the signal strength of the communication module and feed it back to the mechanical dog.

[0028] As a possible implementation, further, the wire take-up device includes a mounting seat, a pulley assembly, and a winding reel assembly;

[0029] The winding drum assembly is installed on the mounting seat, and the pulley assembly is installed on the bottom of the mounting seat;

[0030] The cable winding drum assembly is driven to rotate by a hand crank or a motor to achieve cable retraction and release.

[0031] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0032] The present invention combines the cooperation of the mechanical dog and the pipeline robot during the pipeline inspection process, and realizes the precise positioning of the pipeline robot through signal transmission and reception technology; through the coordinated positioning of the mechanical dog and the pipeline robot, the accuracy of pipeline damage detection is improved, and it is suitable for further promotion and application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Figure 1 A simplified flow chart of a shallow pipeline damage location method based on multi-robot collaboration provided as an implementation example of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a shallow pipeline damage positioning system based on multi-robot collaboration provided by an implementation example of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a pipeline robot according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a mechanical dog in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a wire take-up device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of a winding reel assembly in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] The designations in the accompanying drawings are as follows:

[0040] 10. Pipeline robot; 20. Mechanical dog; 30. Control center station; 40. Cable collector; 11. Telephoto camera; 12. Millimeter wave radar; 13. 433 signal transmitter; 21. Wide-angle camera; 22. LiDAR; 23. Signal receiver; 24. Positioning module; 41. Cable reel assembly; 42. Mounting base; 43. Pulley assembly; 44. Hand crank; 45. Motor; 411. Meter grinding wheel; 412. Meter. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in combination with the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0042] First, the applicable application scenarios of the present invention are introduced. The present invention can be applied to the field of shallow pipelines, and is mainly applied to corrugated pipes. Due to the bends, inclinations or slopes of the pipeline, the environment is complex and it is a closed space. The signal cannot be transmitted over long distances and the positioning device will also deviate. In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes a shallow pipeline damage positioning method and system based on multi-robot collaboration.

[0043] Example 1

[0044] Refer to the attached Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment provides a shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration, comprising the following steps:

[0045] S1: Place the pipeline robot 10 in the pipeline, connect the rear end of the pipeline robot 10 to a cable reel 40 for retracting and releasing cables, and place the robot dog 20 on the ground above the pipeline robot 10; wherein the pipeline robot 10 is equipped with a signal transmitter 13, and the robot dog 20 is equipped with a signal receiver 23.

[0046] In this embodiment, the robot dog 20 is equipped with a sensor module (including a laser radar 22, a wide-angle camera 21, etc.) for collecting the surrounding environment data of the robot dog 20 in real time; the environmental data includes terrain, obstacles, etc., so as to assist the robot dog 20 to avoid obstacles; in addition, the robot dog 20 is also equipped with a positioning module 24, and the robot dog 20 performs accurate GPS / Beidou dual-precision positioning through the positioning module 24.

[0047] In this embodiment, a telephoto camera 11 and a millimeter-wave radar 12 are installed on the pipeline robot 10 to obtain environmental information in the pipeline so as to identify damaged points and obstacles in the pipeline.

[0048] In this embodiment, the cable take-up device 40 includes a meter counter 412, a grinding wheel 411 and a meter counter 412. The meter counter 412, the grinding wheel 411 is installed on the rotating shaft of the meter counter 412, and the cable is wound around the grinding wheel 411 of the meter counter 412. The meter counter 412 is used to obtain the length data of the pulled out cable. To ensure the accuracy of the length measurement, the grinding wheel 411 of the meter counter 412 is only wound around a full layer of cable.

[0049] S2: Control the pipeline robot 10 to move in the pipeline. As the pipeline robot 10 moves, the cable in the cable take-up device 40 is pulled out. When the pipeline robot 10 detects a damaged point in the pipeline, it stops moving.

[0050] S3: The robot dog 20 obtains the length change value of the cable pulled out by the cable take-up 40 (the current length of the cable minus the initial length of the cable), and moves a corresponding distance in the initial movement direction of the pipeline robot 10 (this position is the initial position of the robot dog 20), and gradually patrols inward with the length change value as the radius; during the patrol process, the signal receiver 23 collects the signal strength data transmitted by the signal transmitter 13 in real time;

[0051] S4: The location of the mechanical dog 20 when the signal strength received by the signal receiver 23 is the largest is used as the location of the pipeline damage point; the specific steps are as follows:

[0052] After the robot dog 20 collects the signal strength at the initial position, it measures the signal strength change around the position, updates the robot position according to the gradient direction and measures the signal again, and repeats this process until a stop condition is reached, such as when the signal strength change is less than a set threshold.

[0053] Afterwards, the robot dog 20 is accurately positioned using GPS / Beidou dual-precision positioning, and this position is used as the location of the pipeline damage point.

[0054] Example 2

[0055] Refer to the attached Figure 2-4 As shown, this embodiment also provides a shallow pipeline damage positioning system based on multi-robot collaboration, which applies the shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration in Example 1. The system includes: a pipeline robot 10, a mechanical dog 20, a wire collector 40, a communication module, a control hub station 30, and a signal strength indicator (not shown in the figure);

[0056] The pipeline robot 10 is used to travel in the pipeline and is equipped with a telephoto camera 11 and a millimeter wave radar 12 for acquiring environmental information in the pipeline;

[0057] The robot dog 20 is used to move on the surface above the pipeline, and is equipped with a laser radar 22 for real-time collection of environmental data around the robot dog 20, a wide-angle camera 21, and a positioning module 24 for accurately positioning the position of the robot dog 20;

[0058] The pipeline robot 10 and the mechanical dog 20 communicate wirelessly through a communication module (a low-frequency wireless communication module such as 433MHz, 868MHz, 915MHz is selected); the communication module includes a signal receiver 23 and a signal transmitter 13, the signal receiver 23 is installed on the mechanical dog 20, and the signal transmitter 13 is installed on the pipeline robot 10; in this embodiment, a 433 signal transmitter 13 and a receiver are selected to realize communication between the robot in the pipeline and the surface.

[0059] The robot dog 20 is connected to the control center station 30 via wireless communication, and the position information of the robot dog 20 is fed back to the control center station 30;

[0060] Refer to the attached Figure 5 and 6As shown, the cable take-up device 40 is used for taking up and releasing the cable, and comprises a cable winding reel assembly 41, the cable winding reel assembly 41 is composed of a meter meter 412, a grinding wheel 411 and a meter meter 412, the meter meter 412 grinding wheel 411 is installed on the rotating shaft of the meter meter 412, the cable is wound on the grinding wheel 411 of the meter meter 412, and the meter meter 412 is used to obtain the length data of the pulled out cable; the cable take-up device 40 is connected to the pipeline robot 10 by a cable, and the cable take-up device 40 is connected to the mechanical dog 20 by wireless communication, and is used for signal transmission and data exchange with the mechanical dog 20; the signal strength indicator is used to obtain the signal strength of the communication module and feed it back to the mechanical dog 20.

[0061] The pipeline robot 10 will automatically stop moving when a damaged point in the pipeline is detected. Then the mechanical dog 20 receives the distance data measured by the meter 412 and moves the corresponding distance in the initial movement direction of the pipeline robot 10, and gradually patrols inward with this radius. By detecting the maximum value of the signal, the relative position of the pipeline robot 10 in space is determined. This process can achieve the relative positioning of the two, so that the mechanical dog 20 and the pipeline robot 10 are kept in a basically vertical relative position. At this time, the mechanical dog 20 is accurately positioned through its built-in positioning module 24, and then the mechanical dog 20 sends the relevant data to the control center station 30. After completing the data transmission, it stops moving, which is convenient for subsequent operators to perform positioning detection and maintenance work in the pipeline.

[0062] In this embodiment, the cable reel 40 includes a mounting seat 42, a pulley assembly 43 (universal wheel), and a cable winding reel assembly 41; the cable winding reel assembly 41 is installed on the mounting seat 42, and the pulley assembly 43 is installed at the bottom of the mounting seat 42; the cable winding reel assembly 41 is driven to rotate by a hand crank 44 or a motor 45 to achieve cable retraction and release.

[0063] After the pipeline robot 10 detects damage and stops, the mechanical dog 20 processes the received signal and gradually detects the maximum value of the signal to maintain a relative vertical position with the robot in the pipeline. Because of the separation of pipelines, soil, concrete, etc., the signal transmission distance will be greatly reduced. Too large a distance will greatly increase the difficulty of communication and the effectiveness of the signal. Therefore, the implementation background of this system is also based on the gradient pipeline.

[0064] In summary, the robot dog 20 acts on the surface positioning of the pipeline robot 10. Since the pipeline robot 10 communicates in a wired manner, it cannot accurately locate the detection and maintenance position in the pipeline where the wireless signal is poor. The robot dog 20 tracks and adjusts the signal position to keep its position roughly vertical to the pipeline robot 10 (the positions of the two robots are allowed to have an acceptable error).

[0065] In order to maintain the relative positioning between the robot dog 20 and the pipeline robot 10, the robot dog 20 can track the relative position of the pipeline robot 10. The robot dog 20 is equipped with a signal receiving module, a positioning module 24, a wide-angle camera 21 and a laser radar 22. In the process of tracking the pipeline robot 10, the robot dog 20 advances in the initial moving direction of the pipeline robot 10 by the distance corresponding to the value of the cable length change measured by the meter 412, and patrols inward with this as the radius. After collecting the signal strength at the initial position, the signal strength change is measured in a small range around the position, the robot position is updated according to the gradient direction, and the signal measurement is performed again, and this is repeated until the stop condition is reached, such as the signal strength change is less than the set threshold.

[0066] Afterwards, the robot dog 20 performs accurate GPS / Beidou dual-precision positioning through the positioning module 24, and sends a completion signal to the control center station 30 to remind the subsequent tasks.

[0067] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit the same. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments may still be modified, or some of the technical features thereof may be replaced by equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration, characterized in that: The steps include: S1: Place the pipeline robot in the pipeline, connect the rear end of the pipeline robot to a cable retractor for retracting and releasing cables, and place the robot dog on the ground above the pipeline robot; The pipeline robot is equipped with a signal transmitter, and the mechanical dog is equipped with a signal receiver; S2: Control the pipeline robot to move in the pipeline. As the pipeline robot moves, the cable in the cable take-up device is pulled out. When the pipeline robot detects a damaged point in the pipeline, it stops moving. S3: The robot dog obtains the length change value of the cable pulled out by the cable receiver, and moves the corresponding distance in the initial movement direction of the pipeline robot, and gradually conducts inspections inward with the length change value as the radius; during the inspection process, the signal receiver collects the signal strength data transmitted by the signal transmitter in real time; S4: The location of the mechanical dog when the signal strength received by the signal receiver is the largest is taken as the location of the pipeline damage point.

2. The shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The mechanical dog is provided with a sensor module for collecting the surrounding environment data of the mechanical dog in real time; the environmental data includes terrain and obstacles.

3. The shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The sensor module includes a laser radar and a wide-angle camera.

4. The shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The mechanical dog is equipped with a positioning module, and the mechanical dog performs accurate GPS / Beidou dual-precision positioning through the positioning module.

5. The shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The pipeline robot is provided with a telephoto camera and a millimeter wave radar for acquiring environmental information in the pipeline.

6. The shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The cable take-up device comprises a meter counter grinding wheel and a meter counter, wherein the meter counter grinding wheel is mounted on a rotating shaft of the meter counter, the cable is wound around the meter counter grinding wheel, and the meter counter is used to obtain length data of the pulled cable.

7. The shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The specific steps of S4 are as follows: After the robot collects the signal strength at the initial position, it measures the signal strength changes around the position, updates the robot position according to the gradient direction, and measures the signal again, repeating this process until the stop condition is reached. Afterwards, the robot dog is accurately positioned using GPS / Beidou dual-precision positioning, and this position is used as the location of the pipeline damage point.

8. The shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration according to claim 7 is characterized in that: The stop condition is that the signal strength change is less than the set threshold.

9. A shallow pipeline damage positioning system based on multi-robot collaboration, characterized in that: The shallow pipeline damage positioning method based on multi-robot collaboration as described in any one of claims 1 to 8 is applied, the system comprising: a pipeline robot, a mechanical dog, a wire collector, a communication module, a control hub station, and a signal strength indicator; The pipeline robot is used to travel in the pipeline, and is equipped with a telephoto camera and a millimeter-wave radar for obtaining environmental information in the pipeline; The robot dog is used to move on the surface above the pipeline, and is equipped with a laser radar for real-time collection of environmental data around the robot dog, a wide-angle camera, and a positioning module for accurately locating the position of the robot dog; The pipeline robot and the mechanical dog perform wireless communication via a communication module, wherein the communication module comprises a signal receiver and a signal transmitter, wherein the signal receiver is mounted on the mechanical dog, and the signal transmitter is mounted on the pipeline robot; The mechanical dog is connected to the control center station via wireless communication, and the position information of the mechanical dog is fed back to the control center station; The cable take-up device is used to take up and release the cable, and comprises a cable winding reel assembly, which is composed of a meter grinding wheel and a meter, the meter grinding wheel is installed on the rotating shaft of the meter, the cable is wound on the meter grinding wheel, and the meter is used to obtain the length data of the pulled cable; the cable take-up device is connected to the pipeline robot by a cable, and the cable take-up device is connected to the mechanical dog by wireless communication, and is used to transmit signals and exchange data with the mechanical dog; The signal strength indicator is used to obtain the signal strength of the communication module and feed it back to the mechanical dog.

10. The shallow pipeline damage positioning system based on multi-robot collaboration according to claim 9 is characterized in that: The wire take-up device comprises a mounting seat, a pulley assembly, and a winding reel assembly; The winding drum assembly is installed on the mounting seat, and the pulley assembly is installed on the bottom of the mounting seat; The cable winding drum assembly is driven to rotate by a hand crank or a motor to achieve cable retraction and release.

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