Wheel and track interchange driving system and pipeline robot

Abstract

The invention discloses a wheel and crawler belt interchange driving system and a pipeline robot, and relates to the technical field of pipeline robots, the wheel and crawler belt interchange driving system comprises a rotary switching device, the rotary switching device is connected with a crawler belt module and a wheel, and the crawler belt module and the wheel are arranged in a virtual vertical plane at an angle; the rotary switching device can be switched to the contact between the track module and the ground or the contact between the wheels and the ground; the driving device can be in transmission connection with the track modules or the wheels and can provide driving force for the track modules or the wheels making contact with the ground. According to the wheel and track interchange driving system and the pipeline robot, the adaptability and the operation efficiency of the robot in different pipeline terrains can be improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of pipeline robots, and in particular to a wheel and track interchangeable driving system and a pipeline robot. Background Art

[0002] A pipeline robot is an integrated mechanical, electrical and instrumentation system that can automatically walk along the inside or outside of a small pipeline, carry one or more sensors and operating machinery, and perform a series of pipeline operations under the remote control of the staff or the automatic control of the computer. Most existing pipeline robots use a single drive mode, such as pure wheel drive or pure track drive. Although wheel drive can move efficiently in a flat pipeline, it is very easy to slip or get stuck when facing complex terrain such as mud, steep slopes or uneven pipe walls, resulting in interruption of operation; and although track drive can adapt to complex environments, it is difficult to meet the needs of long-distance or emergency tasks due to its slow movement speed, clumsy turning and high energy consumption. Some high-end robots try to combine dual drive systems, but there are significant design defects. The wheels and tracks are installed independently, resulting in a large robot size, which cannot pass through narrow pipelines or elbow areas. The drive mode switching relies on manual operation, and the module needs to be manually disassembled or installed, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive and cannot respond to terrain changes in real time.

[0003] Therefore, there is an urgent need to design a technical solution that can improve the adaptability and operating efficiency of robots in different pipeline terrains. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a wheel and track interchangeable drive system and a pipeline robot to solve the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art and to improve the adaptability and operating efficiency of the robot in different pipeline terrains.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following solutions:

[0006] The present invention provides a wheel and track interchangeable drive system, comprising:

[0007] A rotation switching device, which is connected to a track module and a wheel respectively, and the track module and the wheel are arranged at an angle in a virtual vertical plane, and the rotation switching device can switch to the track module contacting the ground or the wheel contacting the ground;

[0008] The driving device can be respectively connected to the track module or the wheel in driving mode, and can provide driving force for the track module or the wheel in contact with the ground.

[0009] Preferably, the rotation switching device includes a transmission shaft, on the side wall of which a first connecting rod and a second connecting rod are arranged at an angle. The first connecting rod is connected to the crawler module, the second connecting rod is connected to the wheel carrier of the wheel, and the transmission shaft is connected to a rotation driving device, which can drive the transmission shaft to rotate.

[0010] Preferably, the rotation driving device includes a servo motor, the output shaft of the servo motor is connected to a rack, the rack is meshed with a gear, the gear is fixedly connected to the transmission shaft, and the servo motor can drive the rack to move linearly back and forth.

[0011] Preferably, the crawler module includes a crawler bracket, on which a plurality of rotating wheels are movably arranged, and a closed crawler is arranged outside the plurality of rotating wheels. The rotation switching device is connected to the crawler bracket.

[0012] Preferably, the crawler bracket includes a connecting frame body, which is connected to the rotation switching device. A first support rod, a second support rod and a third support rod are sequentially connected end to end outside the connecting frame body. A rotating wheel is arranged at the connection position of the first support rod and the second support rod, at the connection position of the second support rod and the third support rod, and at the connection position of the third support rod and the first support rod.

[0013] Preferably, one of the rotating wheels is connected to a rotating wheel shaft, and a crawler driven gear is arranged on the rotating wheel shaft, which can be in transmission connection with the driving device.

[0014] The present invention also provides a pipeline robot, which includes a robot body, and a front wheel group and the above-mentioned wheel and crawler interchangeable driving system are arranged at the bottom of the robot body; the front wheel group includes a front wheel and a suspension system, the suspension system is arranged at the front position at the bottom of the robot body, and the front wheel is movably connected to the suspension system through a front wheel shaft; and the front wheel group is in transmission connection with a steering mechanism.

[0015] Preferably, lidar is arranged at both the front end and the rear end of the robot body. The lidar can monitor the pipeline inclination angle, ground adhesion force, and water accumulation depth data in real time, and control the rotation switching module to switch the positions of the crawler module and the wheels according to the monitored data.

[0016] Preferably, the front wheel group is provided with a power input device, which can be in transmission connection with the driving device, and the power input device can transmit the power of the driving device to the front wheel group and drive the front wheel group to rotate.

[0017] Preferably, the driving device includes a composite drive box, which can be in transmission connection with the crawler module and the wheels.

[0018] The present invention has achieved the following technical effects compared with the prior art:

[0019] The present invention integrates the track module and the wheels together by using a rotary switching device, which can automatically switch the track module or the wheels to contact the walking ground according to the state of the walking ground, realizing the automatic switching between the wheels and the track module, and improving the adaptability of the robot in different pipeline terrains; during the switching process, it only needs to rotate the switching device up and down by 90 degrees, without manual disassembly and replacement of the wheels and the track module, improving the operation efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0021] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the contact between the track module of the pipeline robot and the ground in one or some embodiments of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the contact between the wheels of the pipeline robot and the ground in one or some embodiments of the present invention.

[0023] In the figure: 1 - robot body, 2 - front wheel set, 3 - wheels, 4 - track module, 5 - rotary switching device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0024] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts belong to the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0025] The object of the present invention is to provide a wheel and track interchange drive system and a pipeline robot to solve the above problems existing in the prior art, and improve the adaptability and operation efficiency of the robot in different pipeline terrains.

[0026] In order to make the above objects, features, and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and specific embodiments.

[0027] In order to reduce the space occupancy rate and improve the switching efficiency of the wheels and the track module, the present invention provides a wheel and track interchange drive system, asFigure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, it includes a rotation switching device, which is respectively connected to the track module 4 and the wheel 3, and the track module 4 and the wheel 3 are set at an angle in a virtual vertical plane, and the rotation switching device can switch to the track module 4 in contact with the ground or the wheel 3 in contact with the ground; the driving device can be respectively connected to the track module 4 or the wheel 3 in transmission, and can provide driving force for the track module 4 or the wheel 3 in contact with the ground. The present invention integrates the track module and the wheel together by using the rotation switching device, and can automatically switch the track module or the wheel to contact the walking ground according to the state of the walking ground, realize the automatic switching of the wheel and the track module, and can improve the adaptability of the robot in different pipeline terrains; during the switching process, it is only necessary to rotate the rotation switching device up and down 90 degrees, and there is no need to manually disassemble and replace the wheel and track module, which improves the working efficiency.

[0028] In one embodiment, the rotation switching device includes a transmission shaft, and a first connecting rod and a second connecting rod arranged at an angle are provided on the side wall of the transmission shaft, the first connecting rod is connected to the track module 4, the second connecting rod is connected to the wheel frame of the wheel 3, and the transmission shaft is connected to a rotation drive device, which can drive the transmission shaft to rotate; the rotation switching device adopts a compact rotation connecting rod mechanism, and integrates the wheel 3 and the track module 4 into the same transmission shaft. When switching, the track module 4 can rotate 90° around the axis and flip from the bottom of the chassis to the ground state, and the wheel 3 is synchronously stored in the groove above. The whole process takes less than 3 seconds and does not require manual intervention. The high-speed wheel 3 drive is enabled in the flat pipeline to reduce energy consumption, and the track drive is switched to enhance stability in complex terrain. When encountering a place with high friction, the wheel 3 mode is switched to move forward quickly to increase efficiency; and the track mode is switched to increase passability in the part with low friction. In terms of energy management, the track power transmission is disconnected in the wheel 3 mode to reduce friction, and the wheel 3 power is also disconnected in the track mode, and the overall endurance is extended to more than 2 hours. Through the above improvements, the present invention significantly improves the adaptability, efficiency and reliability of the robot in a variety of pipeline environments.

[0029] The rotary drive device is not limited as long as it can realize the rotation of the drive shaft. In one embodiment, the rotary drive device includes a servo motor, the output shaft of the servo motor is connected to a rack, the rack is meshed with a gear, the gear is fixedly connected to the drive shaft, and the servo motor can drive the rack to move back and forth linearly. When the rack moves back and forth linearly, it drives the gear meshed with it to rotate, and the gear drives the drive shaft to rotate synchronously. The drive shaft is connected to the track bracket through a first connecting rod, and the drive shaft is connected to the wheel frame through a second connecting rod. When the drive shaft rotates, it can drive the first connecting rod and the second connecting rod to rotate synchronously, and then it can drive the track module and the wheel to rotate synchronously, realizing the position switching between the track module 4 and the wheel 3. The rotation of the two positions up and down 90° is achieved through precise indexing control.

[0030] In one embodiment, the crawler module 4 includes a crawler bracket, on which a plurality of rotating wheels are movably provided. A closed crawler is provided outside the plurality of rotating wheels, and the rotation switching device is connected to the crawler bracket. The crawler bracket is connected to the main body of the connecting frame, and the main body of the connecting frame is connected to the rotation switching device. Outside the main body of the connecting frame, there are a first support rod, a second support rod, and a third support rod that are connected end to end in sequence. After the first support rod, the second support rod, and the third support rod are integrally connected, they form a triangular structure. A rotating wheel is provided at each of the connection positions between the first support rod and the second support rod, between the second support rod and the third support rod, and between the third support rod and the first support rod. One of the rotating wheels is connected to a rotating wheel shaft, and a crawler driven gear is provided on the rotating wheel shaft, and the crawler driven gear can be in transmission connection with the driving device.

[0031] On the basis of the above, the present invention further provides a pipeline robot, which includes a robot body 1. At the bottom of the robot body 1, there are a front wheel group 2 and the above-mentioned wheel 3 and crawler interchange drive system; at the bottom of the rear end of the robot body 1, there is a groove that can accommodate the wheel 3 or the crawler module, so that when the robot body is driven by the wheel or the crawler module, the ineffective crawler module or wheel can be rotated upward to the position of the groove without interfering with the overall movement of the pipeline robot. The front wheel group 2 includes a front wheel and a suspension system. The suspension system is provided at the front position at the bottom of the robot body 1, and the front wheel is movably connected to the suspension system through a front wheel shaft; and the front wheel group 2 is in transmission connection with a steering mechanism. The steering mechanism adopts a mature vehicle steering mechanism, so it will not be elaborated here. The front part of the vehicle body of the present invention adopts a wheeled structure, and the rear part can adopt a wheeled structure or be switched to a crawler structure. With the variable configuration design of front wheels and rear crawlers, the efficient integration of wheeled drive and crawler drive is realized.

[0032] The driving device is not limited. In one embodiment, the main structure of the driving device includes three major parts: a front tire driving unit, a rear driving module, and a central transmission hub. In this embodiment, the front wheels of the front wheel group adopt high-elastic rubber tires with an independent suspension system, which can achieve steering. At the same time, in this embodiment, a four-wheel drive scheme can be adopted, that is, the driving device has two output shafts at the front and rear. The front wheel group is provided with a power input device, and the power input device can be in transmission connection with the output shaft at the front of the driving device. The power input device can transmit the power of the driving device to the front wheel group and drive the front wheel group to rotate. The output shaft at the rear of the driving device can be respectively in transmission connection with the wheels or crawler modules at the rear. The scheme of using one driving device to achieve front and rear drive belongs to a mature scheme, and the specific transmission structure is the transmission structure of a mature four-wheel drive vehicle, which can achieve synchronous drive of the front and rear wheels, and will not be elaborated here.

[0033] In order to achieve the power switching between the track module and the rear wheels, and without interfering with the requirement that the track module and the wheels rotate up and down to different positions, in one embodiment, a driving bevel gear is provided on the output shaft at the rear of the driving device, and a wheel driven gear is provided on the wheel shaft of the rear wheels. The wheel driven gear and the track driven gear can both be designed as bevel gear structures, so that they can be disconnected or engaged with the driving bevel gear for transmission connection. When the wheels rotate to contact the ground, the wheel driven gear of the wheels is in transmission engagement with the driving bevel gear at the rear of the driving device to achieve power transmission. When switching to the track module contacting the ground, the wheel driven gear is disengaged from the driving bevel gear at the rear of the driving device, and the track driven gear is in transmission engagement with the driving bevel gear at the rear of the driving device to achieve power transmission to the track module.

[0034] In another embodiment, other methods can also be adopted to achieve the power switching between the driving device and the wheels or the track module; for example, a mechanical clutch solution is used to control the connection between the rotating shaft of the track module and the wheel shaft of the wheels and the driving source of the driving device by means of a mechanical clutch. When the clutch engages a certain shaft, the power of the driving source will be transmitted to that shaft to achieve the driving of the corresponding track or wheel; when the clutch is disengaged, the power transmission is interrupted. In this embodiment, an electric motor is used as the power source, and its output shaft is connected to a gearbox to adjust the speed and torque. Electromagnetic clutches are respectively installed on the rotating shaft of the track module and the wheel shaft of the wheels. The electromagnetic clutch is composed of a coil, a friction plate, an armature, etc., which belongs to the prior art. A control circuit is designed to control the energization and de-energization of the electromagnetic clutch through a switch. When the clutch on the rotating shaft of the track module is energized, the clutch engages and the power is transmitted to the track module, and the track starts to move; when the clutch on the wheel shaft of the wheels is energized, the wheels obtain power and the wheels start to move.

[0035] In addition to the above methods, another gear drive switching scheme can be adopted. By using a movable gear set, the power of the drive source can be switched between the crawler shaft and the wheel shaft. Design a gearbox containing multiple gears. The output shaft at the rear of the drive device is connected to the driving gear, and the driving gear can mesh with the switching gear. A switching wheel shaft is arranged inside the gearbox. An axial chute is provided on the switching wheel shaft. The switching gear is sleeved on the switching wheel shaft and can axially slide along the chute. The axial position of the switching gear is controlled by a joystick or an electric push rod. The driving gear of the drive device meshes with the switching gear, and the switching gear meshes with the crawler driven gear of the crawler module or the wheel driven gear of the wheel to achieve power transmission. When it is necessary to switch the position between the crawler module and the wheel, first drive the switching gear to axially move away from the driving gear of the drive device. At this time, the switching gear has no meshing and driving relationship with both the crawler driven gear and the wheel driven gear of the wheel shaft, so as not to interfere with the position conversion between the wheel and the crawler module. When the position conversion between the wheel and the crawler module is in place, the control end controls the switching gear to axially move back in the reverse direction. When one side of it fits with the driving gear of the drive device and the other side meshes with the crawler driven gear connected to the crawler shaft, the power is transmitted to the crawler shaft; when the side of the switching gear away from the drive device meshes with the wheel driven gear connected to the wheel shaft, the power is transmitted to the wheel shaft and the wheel.

[0036] Further, lidar sensors are provided at both the front end and the rear end of the robot body 1. The lidar sensors can monitor the pipeline inclination angle, ground adhesion, and water accumulation depth data in real time, and control the rotation switching module to switch the positions of the crawler module 4 and the wheel 3 according to the monitored data. It can perform intelligent environmental perception of the ground and the surrounding environment. During normal operation, the rear drive box rotates to the lower part of the front chassis of the body, so that the rubber tires contact the bottom surface of the pipeline, reducing unnecessary friction loss. And using wheel drive, compared with crawler module drive, it realizes a fast driving state. At this time, only 30% of the power output is required to maintain progress, significantly reducing energy consumption. When the front and rear dual lidar sensors detect the appearance of silt accumulation in the pipeline or a complex terrain with an inclination angle exceeding 15°, the control system automatically activates the mode switching program. The power system transmits 100% of the torque to the runner shaft through a multi-disc clutch. The runner shaft can drive the runner connected to it to rotate, and then drive the crawler module to move forward. Thus, the runner shaft is used as the crawler drive shaft. The 0.35m 2 ground contact area of the wide crawler of the crawler module can generate a traction force of 4800N, ensuring continuous passability in muddy environments.

[0037] The present invention has the dual advantages of energy conservation and passability, and the comprehensive energy efficiency is increased by 40% compared with traditional single-mode pipeline robots. The ultra-low energy consumption in wheel mode is especially suitable for long-distance inspection tasks, while the high torque reserve in crawler mode can break through obstacles on sections with a slope of 35% and frictional force. The control system can complete the optimal selection of the driving mode within 50 ms by real-time monitoring parameters such as pipeline inclination, ground adhesion, and water accumulation depth and according to the remaining battery power of itself. This adaptive ability enables the device to not only meet 98% of the conventional inspection requirements of municipal pipe networks but also cope with the complex working conditions of special scenarios such as petrochemical pipelines, significantly expanding the application boundary of pipeline robots.

[0038] In this embodiment, the driving device includes a composite drive box. The overall principle of the composite drive box is the same as that of the driving system of existing vehicles. The difference is that the above-mentioned gear transmission structure and switching gear structure are provided in the composite drive box of this embodiment, which can realize the transmission connection with the crawler module 4 or the wheel 3. By modular design, the wheel 3 and the crawler module 4 are integrated into a single driving unit, reducing the number of mechanical interfaces and the assembly complexity.

[0039] In addition to being able to carry a lidar, the robot body 1 can also carry other multi-modal sensors (such as pressure sensors, visual cameras). After machine learning on existing pipeline data and then continuing with targeted learning in municipal pipelines, the machine learning pipeline is optimized and iterated. Terrain data is collected in real time and the optimal driving mode is automatically determined - the high-speed wheel 3 drive is enabled in flat pipelines to reduce energy consumption, and the crawler drive is switched to in complex terrains to enhance stability. Combining with brain-like technology (CNN), the slope, obstacle distribution, and pipe wall roughness in the pipeline are analyzed in real time, and the wheel 3 mode or the crawler mode is automatically switched, with a response time < 0.5 seconds; Brain-like technology (CNN) is a deep learning neural network specifically designed to process data with a grid structure (such as images, audio). It constructs a model architecture by simulating the way neurons in the biological visual cortex process visual information and belongs to an implementation method of brain-like computing. Its core idea is to use the convolutional kernels in the convolutional layer to slide on the data for convolutional operations to automatically extract the features of the data. The convolutional kernels share parameters at different positions, greatly reducing the number of model parameters, reducing the computational amount while also improving the invariance of the model to transformations such as translation and rotation. In addition, the pooling layer is used to downsample the feature map, further compressing the data, reducing the risk of overfitting of the model while retaining the main features. Since it is a mature technology, it will not be elaborated here. Specifically for the present invention, when it is carried on a pipeline robot, it can not only identify the object categories in the image but also locate the position of the object in the image, thereby being able to identify and locate the environmental state in the pipeline, and based on this, the control system such as a computer can control the switching of the positions of the wheels or crawler modules and the transmission relationship between the power device and the wheels or crawler modules.

[0040] In the present invention, specific examples are used to illustrate the principle and implementation manner of the present invention. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method and its core idea of the present invention; at the same time, for those of ordinary skill in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation manner and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

Claims

1. A wheel and track interchangeable drive system, characterized in that: include: A rotation switching device, which is connected to a track module and a wheel respectively, and the track module and the wheel are arranged at an angle in a virtual vertical plane, and the rotation switching device can switch to the track module contacting the ground or the wheel contacting the ground; The driving device can be respectively connected to the track module or the wheel in driving mode, and can provide driving force for the track module or the wheel in contact with the ground.

2. The wheel and track interchangeable drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The rotation switching device includes a transmission shaft, and a first connecting rod and a second connecting rod arranged at an angle are provided on the side wall of the transmission shaft. The first connecting rod is connected to the track module, and the second connecting rod is connected to the wheel frame of the wheel. The transmission shaft is connected to a rotation driving device, and the rotation driving device can drive the transmission shaft to rotate.

3. The wheel and track interchangeable drive system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The rotary drive device comprises a servo motor, the output shaft of the servo motor is connected to a rack, the rack is meshedly connected to a gear, the gear is fixedly connected to the transmission shaft, and the servo motor can drive the rack to move linearly back and forth.

4. The wheel and track interchangeable drive system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The track module comprises a track bracket, on which a plurality of rotating wheels are movably provided, and closed tracks are provided outside the plurality of rotating wheels, and the rotation switching device is connected to the track bracket.

5. The wheel and track interchangeable drive system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The crawler support includes a connecting frame body, the connecting frame body is connected to the rotation switching device, and a first support rod, a second support rod and a third support rod are provided on the outer side of the connecting frame body, which are connected end to end in sequence, and a rotating wheel is provided at the connection position between the first support rod and the second support rod, the connection position between the second support rod and the third support rod, and the connection position between the third support rod and the first support rod.

6. The wheel and track interchangeable drive system according to claim 5, characterized in that: One of the rotating wheels is connected to a rotating wheel shaft, and a track driven gear is provided on the rotating wheel shaft. The track driven gear can be transmission-connected to the driving device.

7. A pipeline robot, characterized in that: It comprises a robot body, the bottom of which is provided with a front wheel group and the wheel and track interchangeable drive system as described in any one of claims 1 to 6; the front wheel group comprises a front wheel and a suspension system, the suspension system is arranged at the front position of the bottom of the robot body, the front wheel is movably connected to the suspension system through a front wheel axle; and the front wheel group is transmission-connected with a steering mechanism.

8. The pipeline robot according to claim 7, characterized in that: The front and rear ends of the robot body are both provided with laser radars, which can monitor the pipeline inclination, ground adhesion, and water depth data in real time, and control the rotation switching module to switch the position of the track module and the wheels according to the monitored data.

9. The pipeline robot according to claim 7, characterized in that: The front wheel assembly is provided with a power input device, which can be transmission-connected with the driving device. The power input device can transmit the power of the driving device to the front wheel assembly and drive the front wheel assembly to rotate.

10. The pipeline robot according to claim 7, characterized in that: The driving device comprises a compound drive box, which can be connected to the track module or the wheel drivingly.

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