Soft manipulator with multiple grabbing modes

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a soft manipulator with multiple grabbing modes, which belongs to the technical field of robots and comprises a main driving unit, a grabbing unit connected with the driving unit, a flexible sucker, a first driving pump and a second driving pump, the main driving unit is composed of two steering engines, and the middle connecting part is driven to be bent or straightened through coiling movement. Each grabbing unit comprises a middle connecting part and an even number of grabbing main bodies, and except the head-tail connecting parts, the single-number connecting parts and the even-number connecting parts are the same in shape and size; the same grabbing bodies are all located below the odd number of connecting parts, the interiors of the grabbing bodies are hollow, and the first driving pump is used for filling and extracting media towards the channel and is bent towards or back to the direction of the middle connecting part; the output end of the second driving pump communicates with the other independent channel in the grabbing body, and the suction cups are controlled to deform by filling or extracting media into or out of the channel. By means of the soft manipulator with the multiple grabbing modes, electric, linear and pneumatic combined driving can be achieved, and objects in various forms can be grabbed in a self-adaptive mode.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application are directed to the field of robotics technology, and more specifically, to a soft manipulator with multiple grasping modes. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, soft robots have received extensive attention from researchers because of their advantages such as being able to adapt to various application environments and being safer in interacting with humans. Soft manipulators are an important part of the field of robotics research. They have the advantages of simple control and strong flexibility, and are widely used in industrial automation, agricultural production, medical health and other fields. However, most of the manipulators currently available are fixed in form, that is, the relative position of the manipulator cannot be changed and is fixed on a dedicated robotic arm for operation, which greatly reduces the scope of application of the manipulator. Furthermore, for soft manipulators, objects are generally obtained by bending the fingers, but it is difficult to grasp objects with smoother surfaces. Therefore, how to achieve controllable transformation of the manipulator's form has become one of the difficulties in manufacturing a manipulator with multiple adaptability. Summary of the invention

[0003] The embodiments of the present application provide a soft manipulator and a multi-scenario application robot, aiming to enhance the structural diversity of the soft manipulator, thereby enhancing the grasping ability and adaptability of the soft manipulator to multiple types of objects.

[0004] An embodiment of the present application provides a soft manipulator, comprising: a main drive unit, a grasping unit connected to the drive unit, a flexible suction cup, and a first and a second drive pump; the main drive unit is composed of two servos, which drives the intermediate connecting part to achieve bending or straightening through winding movement, thereby changing the relative position of the grasping body; the flexible suction cup is directly connected to the grasping body; the output end of the first drive pump is connected to the grasping body connected to the intermediate connecting part, and the first drive pump is used to fill and extract medium into and out of a channel, driving the grasping body to bend toward or away from the intermediate connecting part; the output end of the second drive pump controls the deformation of the flexible suction cup by filling and extracting medium into the second channel to achieve adsorption or release of the object.

[0005] Optionally, the winding mode of the main drive unit includes forward rotation and reverse rotation, so that the middle connecting part rotates clockwise or counterclockwise; when the servo is not driven, the middle connecting part is in a straight state; when the servo rotates forward or reversely, the middle connecting part is in a bent state, and the maximum limit position of the bending is that the odd connecting part is at the midpoint of the four sides of the minimum circumscribed square of the circle.

[0006] Optionally, the intermediate connection part and the grasping body are connected via a conversion piece, the head of the conversion piece is embedded in the intermediate connection part, and the tail is sleeved on the outside of the grasping body, so that the three form an integrated structure.

[0007] Optionally, the grasping body includes a vertical state, an extended bending state and a contracted bending state:

[0008] The head of the grasping body has a portion connected to the first driving pump. When the first driving pump is filled with a medium, the multiple deformation blocks (i.e., the comb-shaped end) of the grasping body approach each other, and the grasping body bends in the direction where the deformation blocks are concentrated, so that the grasping body changes to a contracted bending state.

[0009] When the first driving pump extracts the medium, the multiple deformation blocks (i.e., the comb-shaped end) of the grasping body move away from each other, and the grasping body bends in a direction away from the deformation blocks, so that the grasping body changes to a stretched and bent state;

[0010] Optionally, one side of the grabbing body is a plane, and the other side is provided with comb-tooth-shaped deformation blocks, and when the medium is filled or discharged, the deformation blocks move away from or close to each other to achieve bending deformation.

[0011] Optionally, the flexible suction cup includes a normal state, a contracted state and an extended state:

[0012] When the grasping body and the flexible suction cup are connected as one, a portion connected to the second driving pump is reserved at the head of the grasping body, and a channel is formed inside the grasping body between the portion and the protruding portion of the tail of the grasping body; when the second driving pump draws medium into the channel, the middle portion of the flexible suction cup is concave to absorb the object; when the second driving pump fills the medium into the channel, the middle portion of the flexible suction cup is convex to release the object.

[0013] Optionally, the material of the intermediate connecting part, the gripping body and the flexible suction cup is selected from at least one of TPU, PLA or silicone.

[0014] Optionally, the first channel and the second channel of the gripping body are integrated on the same gripping body and are independent of each other, and each channel is connected to a driving pump through a rubber tube to achieve individual or coordinated control.

[0015] Beneficial Effects

[0016] The present application provides a soft manipulator with multiple grasping modes, wherein the main driving unit drives the grasping unit to achieve displacement and overall shape change through winding motion, wherein the grasping unit includes an intermediate connecting part and an even number of grasping bodies, and a medium is filled and extracted toward a channel through a first driving pump, and the medium is bent toward or away from the intermediate connecting part, and a medium is filled or extracted toward a channel that controls the suction cup inside the grasping body through a second driving pump, and the suction cup is controlled to achieve deformation. Through a series of simultaneous or individual control such as servos, winding, and inflation and deflation, the accuracy and reliability of grasping objects can be improved, and the diversity of grasping positions can be changed, thereby improving the adaptability of grasping to multiple scenarios. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments of the present application will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative labor.

[0018] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a multi-grasping mode soft manipulator proposed in one embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a multi-grasping mode soft manipulator proposed in an embodiment of the present application, in which all the intermediate connecting parts work in a straight line;

[0020] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the main structure of a multi-grasping soft manipulator proposed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a structure of suction and inflation pressure of a grabbing body proposed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 5 It is a structural schematic diagram of a flexible suction cup proposed in one embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a structure of a flexible suction cup suction and inflation pressure proposed in an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Explanation of the accompanying drawings: 1. Grasping body; 11. First channel; 12. Second channel; 13. Deformation block; 2. Flexible suction cup; 3. Middle connecting part; 4. Conversion part; 5. Loading platform; 6. Cable reel; 7. Servo.

[0025] In view of this, the embodiment of the present application proposes a soft manipulator with multiple grasping modes, which is provided by setting a main driving unit, a grasping unit connected to the driving unit, a flexible suction cup, and a first and a second driving pump; the main driving unit is composed of two servos, which drives the middle connecting part to realize bending or straightening through winding motion, and switches to different grasping modes; the grasping unit includes an middle connecting part and an even number of grasping bodies, and except for the head and tail connecting parts, the shapes and sizes of the odd and even number of connecting parts are respectively the same; the multiple identical grasping bodies are all located below the odd number of connecting parts, and the inside thereof is hollow, and the first driving pump is used to fill and extract the medium toward the channel, and bend toward or away from the direction of the middle connecting part; the output end of the second driving pump is connected to another separate channel inside the grasping body, and the suction cup is controlled to realize deformation by filling or extracting the medium into the channel. The soft manipulator with multiple grasping modes provided by the embodiment of the present application can realize the combined drive of electricity, wire, and pneumatics and adaptive grasping of objects of various shapes.

[0026] Reference Figure 1 As shown, a soft manipulator with multiple grasping modes disclosed in an embodiment of the present application includes a main driving unit, a grasping unit connected to the driving unit, a flexible suction cup, and a first and a second driving pump.

[0027] Specifically, the main drive unit is composed of two identical steering gears, which coordinate with each other to facilitate the subsequent winding movement. The intermediate connecting part 4 is smoothly rotated into a desired shape clockwise or counterclockwise, and even into a circle (such as Figure 1 ), thereby changing the relative position of the grasping subject to facilitate grasping.

[0028] At the same time, the grasping unit includes an intermediate connection portion 4 and an even number of grasping bodies 1, and the even number of grasping bodies 1 are initially designed according to the interval along the intermediate connection portion. Exemplarily, the even number of grasping bodies 1 can be 2 or 4. Such a design can ensure that the position of the grasping body is exactly located at the midpoint of the four sides of the smallest circumscribed square that encloses the circle, increasing the symmetry of the structure and the grasping stability. In addition, except for the head and tail connection portions, the single and even number connection portions are the same in shape and size. Such a design can use the least intermediate connection portions to enclose the most ideal shape, which is convenient for manufacturing and operation.

[0029] In addition, the middle connection part and the grabbing body are connected by a conversion piece, that is, the head of the connection piece is embedded in the middle connection part, and the tail of the conversion piece is sleeved on the outside of the head of the grabbing body, so that the grabbing body is supported and the three are connected as one.

[0030] Furthermore, a loading platform 6 is provided outside the steering gear to facilitate placing the device on the robot arm so that the robot arm is supported and the position can be changed as a whole, thereby improving the adaptability to multiple locations.

[0031] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, there are two grabbing modes: Figure 1 The state shown is that when it is loaded on a single robotic arm, the object is directly grasped by relying on the contraction and bending or extension and bending of the grasping body, or the object is directly sucked by the suction cup at the end of the grasping body. Figure 2 The state shown is the working mode when two manipulators are loaded on a dual manipulator arm. Through the cooperation of the dual manipulator arms, dual grippers are used to perform holding or dual grippers suck larger objects.

[0032] Reference Figure 3 As shown, the soft manipulator is hollow inside and includes a first channel 11 and a second channel 12, wherein the first channel controls the bending deformation of the grasping body and the second channel 12 controls the deformation of the suction cup. In addition, the wall thickness of the grasping body is consistent and is designed to be 0.6mm, mainly to facilitate 3D printing, so that it overlaps exactly three times during printing to form three layers, at which time the bending performance of the grasping body reaches a better level.

[0033] Furthermore, the gripping body 1 is made of an elastic material, such as at least one of TPU, PLA or silicone.

[0034] Reference Figure 4 As shown, in the embodiment of the present application, the structure of the grasping body 1 is a plane on one side and a comb-shaped structure composed of 12 identical deformation blocks 13 on the other side. With this structure, when the output end of the first driving pump is connected to the grasping body connected to the intermediate connecting part, and the first driving pump fills and extracts the medium toward the channel, the grasping body will bend toward or away from the direction of the intermediate connecting part, thereby contracting or stretching it to increase the practicality of the grasping body.

[0035] Exemplarily, when the grasping body is contracted and bent, multiple deformation blocks contact, squeeze and deform each other, thereby bending at a certain angle to firmly grasp the object; conversely, when the grasping body is extended and bent, the gap on the comb-tooth side increases and the flat side bends inward to grasp the object.

[0036] Reference Figure 5 As shown, in the embodiment of the present application, the flexible suction cup and the gripping body are directly connected to form a whole. The lower part of the suction cup is closed, and the four suction cups can be individually controlled to inflate and inhale, and the work does not affect each other;

[0037] In addition, when the grasping body and the flexible suction cup are connected as one, a portion connected to the second driving pump is reserved at the head of the grasping body, and a channel is formed inside the grasping body between the portion and the protruding portion of the tail of the grasping body, namely the second channel 12, which independently controls the operation of the suction cup.

[0038] When the second driving pump fills or extracts the medium into the channel, the suction cup is in an extended or contracted state to place or take an object.

[0039] Exemplarily, when the second driving pump fills the medium into the channel, the middle of the flexible suction cup bulges outward, so that the suction cup is in an extended state, that is, a state of releasing an object; when the second driving pump extracts the medium into the channel, the middle of the flexible suction cup is sunken inward, so that the suction cup is in a contracted state, that is, a state of sucking an object. The material of the flexible suction cup is silicone, and the suction and release of the object is determined by the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the suction cup.

[0040] Comprehensive reference Figure 1 , 2 As shown in , 4, and 6, the head of the grasping body has a part connected to the first and second driving pumps. Multiple parts can be controlled separately or connected in series with rubber tubes and controlled by the driving pumps at the same time, so that the grasping body and the flexible suction cup can work separately or deform in various forms. When the steering gear is winding at the same time, the device can deform and inflate to grasp or absorb, achieving the effect of a multi-grasping mode soft manipulator.

[0041] It should be noted that the various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. The same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referenced to each other.

[0042] It should also be noted that, in this article, the orientation or position relationship indicated by the terms "center", "up", "down", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inside", "outside", etc. is based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, which is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. In addition, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply that there is any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying relative importance. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variant thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or terminal device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also includes other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or terminal device. Without more restrictions, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a ..." does not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or terminal device comprising the element.

[0043] The technical solution provided by the present application is described in detail above. The principle and implementation method of the present application are described in this article using specific examples. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the present application, and the content of this specification should not be understood as limiting the present application. At the same time, for those of ordinary skill in the art, according to the present application, there will be different forms of changes in the specific implementation methods and application scopes. It is not necessary and impossible to list all the implementation methods here, and the obvious changes or modifications derived therefrom are still within the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A soft manipulator with multiple grasping modes, characterized in that: include: The main drive unit is composed of two rudders, which control the bending or straightening of the middle connection part through the winding movement; A gripping unit, comprising an intermediate connecting portion and an even number of gripping bodies, wherein the intermediate connecting portion is driven by a main driving unit to change the relative positions of the gripping bodies; Flexible suction cup, directly connected to the gripping body; The first driving pump and the second driving pump are respectively connected to the first channel and the second channel inside the grasping body, The first driving pump drives the grasping body to bend toward or away from the middle connecting part by filling or extracting the medium into the first channel; the second driving pump controls the deformation of the flexible suction cup to adsorb or release the object by filling or extracting the medium into the second channel.

2. The soft robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bending limit of the intermediate connection portion is that the odd-numbered connection portion is located at the midpoint of the four sides of the smallest circumscribed square of the circle.

3. The soft robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The intermediate connection part is connected to the grabbing body through a conversion piece, the head of the conversion piece is embedded in the intermediate connection part, and the tail is sleeved on the outside of the grabbing body, so that the three form an integrated structure.

4. The soft robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The grabbing subject includes the following states: Vertical state: initial state when not driven; Stretching and bending state: when the first driving pump is filled with medium, the grabbing body bends away from the middle connecting part; Contraction bending state: when the first driving pump extracts the medium, the grabbing body bends toward the middle connecting part.

5. The soft robot according to claim 4, characterized in that: One side of the grabbing body is a plane, and the other side is provided with a comb-tooth-shaped deformation block. When the medium is charged or discharged, the deformation blocks move away from or close to each other to achieve bending deformation.

6. The soft robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The flexible suction cup comprises: Extended state: when the second driving pump is filled with medium, the middle part of the suction cup bulges outward to release the object; Contraction state: When the second driving pump extracts the medium, the middle part of the suction cup is concave to absorb the object.

7. The soft robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material of the intermediate connecting part, the grasping body and the flexible suction cup is selected from at least one of TPU, PLA or silicone.

8. The soft robot arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first channel and the second channel of the gripping body are integrated on the same gripping body and are independent of each other, and each channel is connected to a driving pump through a rubber tube to achieve individual or coordinated control.

9. A multi-scenario application robot, characterized in that: It comprises a soft manipulator as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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