Offshore photovoltaic cleaning and inspection integrated robot and use method thereof

Abstract

The invention provides an offshore photovoltaic cleaning and inspection integrated robot and a using method thereof.The offshore photovoltaic cleaning and inspection integrated robot comprises a robot body, the robot body comprises a stopping track, traction devices, a line feed device, a cleaning device, an inspection device and an upper computer, and the traction devices are arranged at the two ends of the stopping track respectively; the cleaning device moves along the limiting steel cable so as to clean the photovoltaic array; the line feed device moves on the shutdown track to drive the cleaning device to transversely switch working areas; the inspection device is fixed on the cleaning device, inspects the photovoltaic panel in the cleaning process and provides fault data; the upper computer exchanges data with the robot body through a communication network, and controls the robot body to operate and execute instructions. The photovoltaic panel cleaning and polling device integrates photovoltaic panel cleaning and polling functions, adapts to the environment and technical requirements of an offshore photovoltaic power station, has the remarkable advantages of high efficiency, safety, energy conservation, unattended operation and the like, and can greatly improve the offshore photovoltaic operation and maintenance efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of cleaning and inspection of photovoltaic panels, and in particular to an integrated cleaning and inspection robot for offshore photovoltaics and a method of using the robot. Background Art

[0002] Photovoltaic power generation is an important part of renewable energy, especially offshore photovoltaic power stations, which are developing rapidly due to their geographical advantages. However, during the operation of offshore photovoltaic power stations, due to the special marine environment, they face problems such as salt spray corrosion, high humidity, and bird droppings dirt. These factors will seriously affect the power generation efficiency and service life of photovoltaic panels. There are many problems with traditional photovoltaic cleaning technology, especially in the application of offshore photovoltaic power stations. The structure and design of conventional cleaning robots cannot meet the cleaning needs of large-scale photovoltaic panel arrays at sea, and manual inspection and cleaning work have problems such as low efficiency and poor safety. The photovoltaic panel array of offshore photovoltaic power stations is large in area and complex in arrangement. Existing photovoltaic cleaning robots often face the following challenges: The robot size is too large: If traditional straddle-type or large vehicle-mounted photovoltaic cleaning robots are used, the photovoltaic panels and their supporting structures may be damaged due to the excessive weight of the equipment. Small robots have poor wind adaptability: The wind is strong at sea, and traditional small crawler robots are easily blown away by the wind and cannot withstand the cleaning of large-scale photovoltaic arrays. Problems with manual inspection: Traditional manual inspection work has problems such as easy mistakes, difficult management and high risks, and it is difficult to guarantee the maintenance effect and efficiency of photovoltaic panels. Summary of the invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an integrated cleaning and inspection robot for offshore photovoltaics and a method of using the same. By combining the cleaning and inspection functions of photovoltaic panels, the operation and maintenance efficiency of photovoltaic panels can be effectively improved, and safety and sustainability can be ensured.

[0004] According to one object of the present invention, the present invention provides an integrated cleaning and inspection robot for offshore photovoltaics, comprising a robot body, the robot body comprising a stop track, a traction device, a line-changing device, a cleaning device, an inspection device and a host computer, the stop tracks are respectively arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the photovoltaic array, and the traction devices are respectively arranged at both ends of each stop track;

[0005] The line-changing device comprises an upper parking platform located on the upper side of the photovoltaic array and a lower parking platform located on the lower side of the photovoltaic array, the left and right ends of the upper parking platform and the lower parking platform are respectively connected to the traction devices at the two ends of the corresponding parking track, and the upper parking platform and the lower parking platform are respectively driven by the traction devices to move left and right along the parking track;

[0006] The upper parking platform and the lower parking platform are connected by a limiting steel cable, the cleaning device passes through the limiting steel cable and is slidably connected to the limiting steel cable, and the cleaning device moves along the limiting steel cable to clean the photovoltaic array; the line-changing device moves on the parking track to drive the cleaning device to switch the working area horizontally;

[0007] The inspection device is fixed on the cleaning device, and inspects the photovoltaic panels and provides fault data during the cleaning process; the host computer exchanges data with the robot body through a communication network to control the operation of the robot body and execute instructions.

[0008] Furthermore, the traction device includes a winch and a traction steel cable, the traction steel cable is connected to the line-changing device, and the line-changing device is driven to move along the parking track by the traction action of the traction steel cable.

[0009] Furthermore, the cleaning device includes a shell, a running wheel, a roller brush, a motor, a cleaning device photovoltaic panel and a cleaning device battery. The running wheel is arranged on the shell, the roller brush is driven to continuously rotate by the motor, the shell is made of anti-corrosion material, the cleaning device photovoltaic panel is arranged on the shell, and the cleaning device battery is arranged in the shell.

[0010] Furthermore, the inspection device includes a dual-spectrum camera including a visible light camera and an infrared camera. The dual-spectrum camera is installed in the middle of the cleaning device to capture the state of the photovoltaic panel surface and generate image data. The image data is analyzed by an industrial computer and transmitted to the host computer for fault alarm.

[0011] Furthermore, the upper parking platform is used to provide a temporary parking position for the cleaning device, and the lower parking platform provides a parking position for the cleaning device to standby or after cleaning.

[0012] Furthermore, rollers are installed at the bottom of the upper parking platform and the lower parking platform.

[0013] Furthermore, both ends of the cleaning device are provided with limiting rings, through which the traction steel rope on the line-changing device passes, thereby providing a limiting function for the traction steel rope.

[0014] According to another object of the present invention, the present invention provides a method for using the above-mentioned integrated cleaning and inspection robot for offshore photovoltaics, comprising the following steps:

[0015] After the host computer issues a cleaning command, the cleaning device starts from the parking position and cleans the surface of the photovoltaic panel from the bottom to the top of the photovoltaic array. It also collects relevant photovoltaic panel surface data through the inspection device and limits the position through the limit steel cable to prevent wind and fall.

[0016] When the cleaning device reaches another parking position from one parking position, it automatically returns to clean the row of photovoltaic panels again. When the cleaning device returns to the parking position where the work started, the traction device starts, driving the line change device to move along the parking track. After entering the position for cleaning the next row of photovoltaic panels, the traction device stops and the cleaning device starts to clean the next row of photovoltaic panels. Similar to the previous cleaning link, the cycle is repeated until all photovoltaic panels in this photovoltaic array are cleaned.

[0017] Furthermore, during the cleaning process, the dual-spectrum camera of the inspection device monitors the surface status of the photovoltaic panels in real time, transmits the data to the industrial computer for analysis, promptly detects cracks, stains, and hot spots on the photovoltaic panels, automatically generates fault data, and transmits it to the host computer for alarm and processing.

[0018] Furthermore, the inspection device uses computer vision technology to identify abnormal phenomena such as cracks, hot spots, stains, etc. of the photovoltaic panels, and can generate a detection report in real time and upload it to a host computer for processing via a wireless network.

[0019] The technical solution of the present invention integrates the cleaning and inspection functions of photovoltaic panels, adapts to the environmental and technical requirements of offshore photovoltaic power stations, has significant advantages such as high efficiency, safety, and energy saving, and can greatly improve the operation and maintenance efficiency of offshore photovoltaics; it integrates the inspection and cleaning functions into one. During the cleaning of photovoltaic panels, abnormal conditions on the photovoltaic panels can also be visually identified. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific implementation methods of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the specific implementation methods or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some implementation methods of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0021] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of a line feed device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] In the figure: 1. Stop track; 2. Traction device; 3. Line-changing device; 4. Cleaning device; 5. Photovoltaic panel array; 6. Limiting steel cable; 7. Stop platform A; 8. Stop platform B. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The technical solution of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than 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.

[0025] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0026] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. 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, "multiple" means two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined. In addition, the terms "installed", "connected" and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal connection of two components. 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.

[0027] Example 1

[0028] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown,

[0029] A cleaning and inspection integrated robot for offshore photovoltaics is composed of a parking track 1, a traction device 2, a line-changing device 3, a cleaning device 4, an inspection device, and a host computer.

[0030] The upper left, lower left, upper right and lower right ends of the photovoltaic panel array are marked as A, B, C and D respectively, and a stop track 1 is added to the upper side (i.e., AC end) and the lower side (i.e., BD end) of the photovoltaic panel array 5. The functions of the two stop tracks 1 are:

[0031] ① Park the line-changing device 3 and the cleaning device 4; ② Install the traction device at the A end and the B end of the parking track 1; ③ Provide a track for the movement of the line-changing device 3 in the AC and BD directions.

[0032] A traction device 2 is installed at each of the A, B, C and D ends of the parking track 1. The traction devices 2 at the A and C ends are connected to the upper line-changing device 3 with steel cables. The function is that when the robot stops on the line-changing device 3, the steel cables can be pulled by the traction device to drive the line-changing device 3 and the robot to move back and forth along the parking track in the AC direction. The lower end is similarly configured, and the steel cables can be pulled by the traction device to drive the line-changing device and the robot to move back and forth along the parking track in the BD direction.

[0033] The line-changing device 3 is composed of a limiting steel cable 6, a stop platform A 7, and a stop platform B 8. The stop platform A 7 and the stop platform B 8 are connected by a limiting steel cable 6. The two stop platforms are respectively connected to the steel cables of the traction device 2 on both sides, and rollers are installed at the bottom of the stop platform so that the stop platform can move along the stop track.

[0034] The functions of the line-changing device 3 are: ① The B stop platform provides a stop position for the cleaning device when it is on standby or after cleaning, and can provide a locking and anti-falling function for the robot; ② The cleaning device is connected to the limit steel cable for limit, so that the cleaning device will not shift sideways or slide and fall during operation; ③ The stop platform in the line-changing device is connected to the steel cable of the traction device, and the power provided by the traction device 2 can drive the line-changing device 3 and the cleaning device 4 to move along the stop track 1. ④ The A stop platform 7 provides a temporary stop position for the cleaning device 4, and is equipped with a brush to clean the photovoltaic panel of the cleaning device. The power of the traction device 2 is adopted by adding photovoltaic panels on the outside of the photovoltaic array, and one photovoltaic panel is added to each end of A, B, C, and D.

[0035] The cleaning device 4 is mainly composed of the following components:

[0036] ① Roller brush: The roller brush rotates continuously to clean the dust, salt stains, bird droppings and other stains on the photovoltaic panel surface;

[0037] ② Motor: drives the roller brush to rotate continuously;

[0038] ③ Shell: The shell can prevent rust from sea fog;

[0039] ④ Cleaning device photovoltaic panel: installed on the surface of the shell to power the battery of the cleaning device;

[0040] ⑤ Cleaning device battery: installed in the electric control box, collects solar energy during the day to power the roller brush motor;

[0041] ⑥Robot walking wheels: enable the cleaning device to move on the frame of the photovoltaic panel to avoid damaging the photovoltaic panel;

[0042] ⑦Electrical control box: It contains batteries, circuit boards, industrial computers, communication chips, etc.

[0043] The host computer is realized through the cloud platform.

[0044] It sends instructions and collects data with the robot through 4G or 5G communication. Its functions include: 1. controlling all actions of the cleaning device, including start, stop, cleaning direction, walking speed setting, brush rotation speed setting, etc.; 2. controlling the start, stop and rotation direction of the traction device; 3. collecting, counting and analyzing fault information, including relevant robot parameters, robot fault information, photovoltaic panel stains, cracks, fastener status and other data, which does not include photos of fault-free data.

[0045] The inspection device is mainly composed of a dual-spectrum camera with a visible light camera and an infrared camera. The dual-spectrum camera is installed in the middle of the cleaning device shell to capture the appearance of the photovoltaic panel. The data obtained can be analyzed by the industrial computer installed in the cleaning device. The fault information can be transmitted to the host computer through the communication chip for alarm and fault statistics.

[0046] According to the above description, in the standby state, since the A stop platform 7 is equipped with a brush, it will affect the charging effect of the photovoltaic panel on the cleaning device. Therefore, the cleaning device is generally stopped on the B stop platform 8. Only when the cleaning device needs to be temporarily stopped can it stay on the A stop platform 7 for a short time.

[0047] After the host computer issues a cleaning command, the cleaning device 4 starts from the parking position and starts to clean the surface of the photovoltaic panel from end B to end A, and collects relevant photovoltaic panel surface data through a dual-spectral camera, and limits the position through a limit steel cable to prevent wind and fall. When the cleaning device 4 reaches another parking position from one parking position, it automatically returns to clean the row of photovoltaic panels again. When the cleaning device returns to the parking position where the work started, the traction device starts, driving the line change device to move along the parking track. After entering the position for cleaning the next row of photovoltaic panels, the traction device stops, the cleaning device starts, and starts to clean the next row of photovoltaic panels. Similar to the previous cleaning link, the cycle repeats until all photovoltaic panels in this photovoltaic array are cleaned.

[0048] In the above embodiment, when building the shutdown track, first, it is necessary to use a slightly smaller purlin according to the size of the vertical purlin at the lower end of the photovoltaic panel bracket, so that it can just be inserted into the original purlin, and fixed with a U-shaped clamp on the outside, and then two tracks are set horizontally on the extended purlin. The track uses a C-shaped channel steel with a width of 80mm, and is fixed to the purlin with screws. The C-shaped channel steels on the track are connected with connectors. The track should be slightly lower than the photovoltaic panel surface. When the line change device is placed on the track, the upper surface of the line change device is flush with the photovoltaic panel.

[0049] In the above embodiment, the traction device adopts a winch, which is arranged at each of the four ends of the photovoltaic panel array A, B, C, and D, and is arranged on the parking track, and is located outside the photovoltaic panel so as not to hinder the robot's cleaning path. The steel cables of the winches at the A end and the C end are respectively connected to the head and tail ends of the line change device, and a hole seat for fixing the line is installed at the lower edge of the frame at both ends, so that when the winch at the C end rotates, the upper line change device can be pulled along the parking track from the A end to the C end. Conversely, when the winch at the A end rotates, the upper line change device slides along the parking track from the C end to the A end, and the movement of the lower line change device is similar.

[0050] In the above embodiment, the power supply station is composed of photovoltaic panels and an electric control box, and the electric control box contains ① a battery: installed in the electric control box, collecting solar energy during the day to power the roller brush motor; ② a 4G module: providing communication and control command functions; and being able to feedback the state of the winch. When the line change device is not synchronized, the upper computer sends instructions to adjust the speed to ensure its synchronization.

[0051] In the above embodiment, the line change device is divided into an upper line change device (A parking platform) and a lower line change device (B parking platform), and the frames are all made of stainless steel. When the robot walks onto the line change device, it will not block the photovoltaic panel, and the upper surface of the installed line change device is flush with the upper surface of the photovoltaic panel, ensuring that the robot can smoothly reach the line change device. Four rollers are installed under the upper and lower line change devices for rolling on the parking track. Two columns are installed on each of the two line change devices, and the columns are connected to steel cables. The steel cables of the upper line change device columns are connected to the corresponding columns of the lower line change device. The two steel cables pass through the holes on the cleaning device respectively, which play a role in limiting the cleaning device, and can also prevent wind, lateral displacement, and falling.

[0052] In the above embodiments, the cleaning device is basically the same as the photovoltaic cleaning robot commonly used in the industry, except that: (1) It is different from the hanging robot used in land photovoltaics: Usually, the unattended hanging photovoltaic cleaning robot on land is designed with windproof hooks at both ends of the robot for windproof and position limiting. The windproof hooks will be hooked at both ends of the photovoltaic panel, and guide wheels will be added at both ends. Since the flat area of ​​the offshore photovoltaic string is very large, the above design is not applicable. In the present invention, limit rings are installed at both ends of the cleaning device, and the steel cables on the upper and lower end line change devices pass through them to provide a position limiting function for it. (2) It is different from the crawler robot: In general industries, crawler robots can walk on the surface of the photovoltaic panel, but in order to reduce the pressure of the robot on the surface of the photovoltaic panel, the size of the robot cleaning device is generally designed to be small, about only 30-50CM, and there is no position limiting and windproof function. In the present invention, the length of the cleaning device is designed according to the sum of the width dimensions of the two photovoltaic panels, and the general length can reach more than 2 meters. At the same time, the walking wheels are designed to roll on the frame of the photovoltaic panel, so that while ensuring the cleaning efficiency, it will not cause damage to the surface of the photovoltaic panel. (3) The cleaning device is equipped with a patrol device, which is mainly composed of a dual-spectrum camera with a visible light camera and an infrared camera. The dual-spectrum camera is installed in the middle of the cleaning device shell to capture the status of the photovoltaic panel. The data obtained can be analyzed by the industrial computer installed in the cleaning device. The fault information can be transmitted to the host computer through the communication chip for alarm and fault statistics.

[0053] The present invention is suitable for larger-scale photovoltaic panel arrays of offshore photovoltaics, and can perform overall cleaning and photovoltaic panel inspections without human supervision.

[0054] Compared with the traditional method, the present invention is more suitable for the application of multi-row and multi-column photovoltaic panel arrays at sea, and provides a fast, convenient and labor-saving way to clean photovoltaic panels at sea.

[0055] In the present invention, a method of changing lines by pulling a cleaning device horizontally with a steel cable, and a small cleaning device using its own power to perform vertical cleaning, solves the deformation and vibration problems that may occur in a traditional cross-photovoltaic panel design structure when encountering large-scale photovoltaic panel strings due to the excessive length of the robot.

[0056] The present invention integrates the functions of inspection and cleaning. During the cleaning of the photovoltaic panels, abnormal conditions on the photovoltaic panels can be visually identified. The useful performance of inspection is presented, and the overall operation and maintenance time is shortened.

[0057] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or replace some or all of the technical features therein with equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cleaning and inspection integrated robot for offshore photovoltaics, characterized in that: The robot body includes a stop track, a traction device, a line-changing device, a cleaning device, an inspection device and a host computer. The stop tracks are respectively arranged on the upper side and the lower side of the photovoltaic array, and the traction devices are respectively arranged at both ends of each stop track; The line-changing device comprises an upper parking platform located on the upper side of the photovoltaic array and a lower parking platform located on the lower side of the photovoltaic array, and the left and right ends of the upper parking platform and the lower parking platform are respectively connected to the traction devices at the two ends of the corresponding parking track, and the upper parking platform and the lower parking platform are respectively driven by the traction devices to move left and right along the parking track; The upper parking platform and the lower parking platform are connected by a limiting steel cable, the cleaning device passes through the limiting steel cable and is slidably connected to the limiting steel cable, and the cleaning device moves along the limiting steel cable to clean the photovoltaic array; the line-changing device moves on the parking track to drive the cleaning device to switch the working area horizontally; The inspection device is fixed on the cleaning device, and inspects the photovoltaic panels and provides fault data during the cleaning process; the host computer exchanges data with the robot body through a communication network to control the operation of the robot body and execute instructions.

2. The cleaning and inspection integrated robot for offshore photovoltaics according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The traction device comprises a winch and a traction steel cable, wherein the traction steel cable is connected to the line-changing device, and the line-changing device is driven to move along the parking track by the traction action of the traction steel cable.

3. The cleaning and inspection integrated robot for offshore photovoltaics according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The cleaning device includes a shell, a running wheel, a roller brush, a motor, a cleaning device photovoltaic panel and a cleaning device battery. The running wheel is arranged on the shell, the roller brush is driven to rotate continuously by the motor, the shell is made of anti-corrosion material, the cleaning device photovoltaic panel is arranged on the shell, and the cleaning device battery is arranged in the shell.

4. The cleaning and inspection integrated robot for offshore photovoltaics according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The inspection device includes a dual-spectrum camera of a visible light camera and an infrared camera. The dual-spectrum camera is installed in the middle of the cleaning device and is used to capture the state of the photovoltaic panel surface and generate image data. The image data is analyzed by an industrial computer and transmitted to the host computer for fault alarm.

5. The cleaning and inspection integrated robot for offshore photovoltaics according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The upper parking platform is used to provide a temporary parking position for the cleaning device, and the lower parking platform provides a parking position for the cleaning device to standby or after cleaning is completed.

6. The cleaning and inspection integrated robot for offshore photovoltaics according to claim 1, characterized in that: Rollers are arranged at the bottom of the upper parking platform and the lower parking platform.

7. The cleaning and inspection integrated robot for offshore photovoltaics according to claim 2, characterized in that: Limiting rings are arranged at both ends of the cleaning device, and the traction steel rope on the line-changing device passes through them to provide a limiting effect therefor.

8. The method for using the cleaning and inspection integrated robot for offshore photovoltaics according to claim 1, characterized in that: The steps include: After the host computer issues a cleaning command, the cleaning device starts from the parking position and cleans the surface of the photovoltaic panel from the bottom to the top of the photovoltaic array. It also collects relevant photovoltaic panel surface data through the inspection device and limits the position through the limit steel cable to prevent wind and fall. When the cleaning device reaches another parking position from one parking position, it automatically returns to clean the row of photovoltaic panels again. When the cleaning device returns to the parking position where the work started, the traction device starts, driving the line change device to move along the parking track. After entering the position for cleaning the next row of photovoltaic panels, the traction device stops and the cleaning device starts to start cleaning the next row of photovoltaic panels. This cycle repeats until all photovoltaic panels in this photovoltaic array are cleaned.

9. The method for using the cleaning and inspection integrated robot for offshore photovoltaics according to claim 8, characterized in that: During the cleaning process, the dual-spectrum camera of the inspection device monitors the surface status of the photovoltaic panels in real time, transmits the data to the industrial computer for analysis, promptly detects cracks, stains, and hot spots on the photovoltaic panels, automatically generates fault data, and transmits it to the host computer for alarm and processing.

10. The method for using the cleaning and inspection integrated robot for offshore photovoltaics according to claim 8, characterized in that: The inspection device uses computer vision technology to identify abnormal phenomena such as cracks, hot spots, and stains on photovoltaic panels, and can generate a detection report in real time and upload it to a host computer for processing via a wireless network.

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