Climbing type pine cone picking robot capable of avoiding obstacles

Abstract

The invention discloses a climbing type pine cone picking robot capable of avoiding obstacles, which relates to the technical field of forest fruit picking robots and comprises a robot rotating platform, a climbing mechanism, a clamping mechanism, a visual camera, a manipulator, a mechanical arm and the like. The robot rotating platform is driven by a stepping motor to drive a mechanical arm, a mechanical hand and a camera to rotate, and obstacle climbing and pine cone picking target recognition and positioning are achieved. The clamping mechanism drives a tensioning wheel to stretch out and draw back through an air cylinder and is used for being suitable for climbing trunks with different thicknesses. The two groups of climbing mechanisms are distributed at equal intervals with the circumference of the clamping mechanism; by controlling the rotating speed of the climbing motor, actions such as climbing operation and inclination of the robot can be realized, and the deflection angle of the driving wheel can be changed by driving the steering motor so as to adapt to more complex climbing operation scenes; the pine cone harvester effectively solves the problems that traditional equipment is poor in trunk adaptability, insufficient in active obstacle avoidance capacity and the like, the harvesting efficiency is improved, and the pine cone harvester is suitable for efficient and automatic harvesting operation of pine cones in complex forest areas.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of forest fruit picking robots, and in particular to a climbing pine cone picking robot capable of avoiding obstacles, which is suitable for efficient and automatic harvesting of pine cones in complex forest areas. Background Art

[0002] Pine cones mostly grow on the middle and high branches of pine trees (2 to 15 meters in height). Traditional manual picking requires climbing or using aerial work vehicles, which is inefficient and dangerous. Existing ground mobile picking robots cannot break through the vertical space limitations and are difficult to cover the main distribution areas of pine cones. Vibrating pine cone picking equipment will damage pine trees during the vibration picking process, and the vibration transmission effect is poor, affecting their growth and yield.

[0003] Existing climbing and picking robots are mainly of winding, clamping and embracing types. Among them, the winding type (such as CN110065054A, CN116902102) has high flexibility and strong obstacle-crossing ability, but the design of the actuator and controller is relatively complex; the clamping type (such as CN114261457A) mainly relies on claws to climb, and its mechanism requires multiple clamping components, and the climbing efficiency is low; the embracing type (such as CN117429529) is uniformly stressed, has strong load capacity, and is reliable in operation, but the existing embracing climbing and picking robots are complex in structure, usually require at least two embracing clamping mechanisms, and the overall structure is too large, which is not conducive to climbing in complex obstacle scenes or scenes with multiple obstacles at the same height. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a climbing robot with a simple structure, high climbing efficiency, and strong obstacle avoidance ability to achieve high-altitude precision picking of pine cones. Summary of the invention

[0004] The main purpose of the present invention is to propose a climbing pine cone picking robot that can avoid obstacles, aiming to effectively solve the technical problems of existing tree climbing robots such as poor trunk adaptability, insufficient active obstacle avoidance ability and high harvesting damage rate.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the embodiments of the present invention provide the following technical solutions:

[0006] A climbing pine cone picking robot capable of avoiding obstacles, comprising a robot rotating platform, a climbing mechanism, a clamping mechanism, a visual camera, a manipulator and a manipulator arm;

[0007] A robot rotating platform, including a robot platform, a stepper motor, a gear, a ring rack and a guide wheel;

[0008] The guide wheel is arranged circumferentially above the robot platform for annular rack guidance. The stepper motor is placed below the robot platform to drive the gear and annular rack to rotate, which is used for the circumferential rotation of the robot arm, manipulator, visual camera and other components.

[0009] Optionally, there are multiple guide wheels;

[0010] The robotic arm is fixed on the annular rack, and the mechanical hand and the vision camera are arranged at the wrist of the robotic arm;

[0011] The clamping mechanism includes a telescopic cylinder, a bracket, and a tension pulley;

[0012] The clamping mechanism is fixed under the robot platform and is used to clamp tree trunks of different sizes. The bracket is arranged on the telescopic rod of the cylinder, and the tension pulleys are arranged at both ends of the bracket;

[0013] Optionally, the number of tension pulleys is two;

[0014] Optionally, the clamping mechanism further includes: a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of the clamped tree trunk;

[0015] The climbing mechanism includes a driven wheel, a driven wheel bracket, a tension spring, a support, a driving wheel bracket, a steering wheel platform, a gear shaft, a spur gear, a pin shaft, a straight bevel gear, a driving wheel, a bearing seat, a climbing motor, a climbing pulley, a climbing synchronous belt, a steering motor, a steering pulley, a steering synchronous belt, a large pulley, an end cover, a screw, a steering shaft, and a bearing;

[0016] Optionally, the number of climbing mechanisms is two groups, and they are evenly distributed in the circumferential direction of the robot platform at an equal distance from the clamping mechanism;

[0017] The whole climbing mechanism is fixed to the bottom of the robot platform through the support by screws. The driven wheel bracket and the driving wheel bracket are fixed to the support by shafts and are connected by a tension spring;

[0018] The driven wheel is fixed to the driven wheel bracket by a shaft, and the steering wheel platform is fixed to the driving wheel bracket by screws;

[0019] The climbing motor and the steering motor are fixed to the steering wheel platform by screws. The climbing motor is connected to the climbing pulley by a setscrew. The power is transmitted between the climbing pulley and the pulley part on the gear shaft through the climbing synchronous belt. The gear part of the gear shaft is engaged with the spur gear to achieve power transmission;

[0020] Optionally, the gear shaft is of a hollow structure. In addition to the stepped shaft section on the outer surface, it also includes a pulley mating section and a gear mating section;

[0021] The spur gear is connected to the straight bevel gear by a pin shaft and is fixed to the bearing seat. The bearing seat is fixed to the steering wheel platform by screws;

[0022] The straight bevel gear meshes with the tooth surface on the end face of the driving wheel for the circumferential rotation of the driving wheel to achieve the climbing action;

[0023] Optionally, the end face of the driving wheel is a gear surface, and the circumferential surface is a spike array structure;

[0024] The steering pulley is fixed on the steering motor shaft by a setscrew and is connected to the large pulley through the steering pulley. The steering pulley is fixed on the steering shaft by a cover using screws. The outside of the steering shaft is fitted with a bearing, and the outside of the bearing is fitted with the hole of the gear shaft. The rotation of the steering shaft drives the active wheel to deflect, which is used to avoid complex obstacles;

[0025] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: (1) For the obstacle-avoiding climbing pinecone picking robot of the present invention, through the rotational speed difference between the climbing motors and the steering motor in the two climbing mechanisms, the tilt angle and the traveling direction of the robot platform can be controlled, and in cooperation with a vision camera, a clamping mechanism, etc., it can achieve autonomous obstacle avoidance and climbing for multiple obstacles at the same height, solving the problem that it is difficult for the existing climbing robot platform to avoid complex obstacles; (2) During the pinecone picking process, by controlling the deflection angle of the active wheel through the steering motor, the end face of the active wheel is perpendicular to the axis of the tree trunk, which can achieve self-locking with the tree trunk while the clamping mechanism clamps the tree trunk, increasing the stability of the picking process and simplifying the self-locking structure; (3) By driving the mechanical arm, the mechanical hand and the vision camera to rotate circumferentially through the annular rack, the obstacle and target recognition is faster, and the picking action is more convenient. Description of the Drawings

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for description in the embodiments.

[0027] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a climbing pinecone picking robot;

[0028] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the clamping mechanism;

[0029] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the climbing mechanism.

[0030] In the figure, 1 is the mechanical hand, 2 is the vision camera, 3 is the mechanical arm, 4 is the clamping mechanism, 5 is the annular rack, 6 is the gear, 7 is the stepping motor, 8 is the robot platform, 9 is the climbing mechanism, 10 is the guide wheel, 4-1 is the telescopic cylinder, 4-2 is the bracket, 4-3 is the tension pulley, 9-1 is the driven wheel, 9-2 is the driven wheel bracket, 9-3 is the tension spring, 9-4 is the support, 9-5 is the active wheel bracket, 9-6 is the steering wheel platform, 9-7 is the gear shaft, 9-8 is the spur gear, 9-9 is the pin shaft, 9-10 is the straight bevel gear, 9-11 is the active wheel, 9-12 is the bearing seat, 9-13 is the climbing motor, 9-14 is the climbing pulley, 9-15 is the climbing timing belt, 9-16 is the steering motor, 9-17 is the steering pulley, 9-18 is the steering timing belt, 9-19 is the large pulley, 9-20 is the end cover, 9-21 is the screw, 9-22 is the steering shaft, 9-23 is the bearing, 9-24 is the steering bracket. Detailed Embodiments

[0031] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0032] The embodiment of the present invention provides a climbing type pinecone picking robot capable of avoiding obstacles, as shown in Figures 1 to 3 . Figure 1 The structure diagram of the climbing type pinecone picking robot is shown. The manipulator 1 and the vision camera 2 are mounted on the wrist of the robotic arm 3 and are arranged on the annular rack 5 together with the robotic arm 3; the gear 6 is fixed on the stepping motor 7 and cooperates with the annular rack 5 to drive the annular rack 5 to rotate in the groove of the guide wheel 10 evenly distributed circumferentially on the robot platform; a clamping mechanism 4 and two sets of climbing mechanisms 9 are also arranged on the robot platform 8.

[0033] Figure 2 The schematic diagram of the clamping mechanism is shown. The telescopic cylinder 4-1 is arranged at the bottom of the robot platform, and a pair of tension wheels 4-3 are arranged on the bracket 4-2 and fixed on the telescopic rod of the telescopic cylinder 4-1.

[0034] Figure 3 The schematic diagram of the climbing mechanism is shown. The whole climbing mechanism is fixed at the bottom of the robot platform 8 through the support 9-4. The driven wheel bracket 9-2 and the driving wheel bracket 9-5 are fixed on the support 9-4 and are connected by a tension spring 9-3; among them, the driven wheel 9-1 is fixed on the driven wheel bracket 9-2, and the steering wheel platform 9-6 is fixed on the driving wheel bracket 9-5; the climbing motor 9-13 and the steering motor 9-16 are arranged on the steering wheel platform 9-6. The climbing pulley 9-14 is fixed on the climbing motor 9-13 and cooperates with the climbing synchronous belt 9-15. The belt drive drives the pulley on the gear shaft 9-7 to rotate. The gear shaft 9-7 drives the spur gear 9-8 to rotate through gear meshing. At the same time, the spur gear 9-8 and the straight bevel gear 9-10 are fixed on the bearing seat 9-12 through the pin shaft 9-9. The bearing seat 9-12 is arranged on the steering bracket 9-24. The straight bevel gear 9-10 drives the driving wheel 9-11 to rotate through gear meshing to realize the climbing action; the steering pulley 9-17 is fixed on the steering motor 9-16 and cooperates with the steering synchronous belt 9-18. The belt drive transmits the power to the large pulley 9-19. The large pulley 9-19 is fixed on the steering shaft 9-22 through the end cover 9-20 and the screw 9-21. The steering shaft 9-22 and the gear shaft 9-7 are fixed through the bearing 9-23. The rotation of the large pulley 9-19 drives the steering shaft 9-22 to rotate, thereby realizing the deflection of the driving wheel.

[0035] Reference Figures 1 to 3 The working process of a climbing type pinecone picking robot with obstacle avoidance according to the present invention is as follows: During the climbing process, the climbing motor 9-13 drives the climbing pulley 9-14 to transmit power to the gear shaft through the climbing synchronous belt 9-15. The gear shaft transmits power to the spur gear 9-8 through gear meshing, and drives the straight bevel gear 9-10 to rotate through the pin shaft 9-9. The straight bevel gear 9-10 drives the driving wheel 9-11 to rotate through gear meshing, and cooperates with the telescopic cylinder 4-1 and the tension pulley 4-3 at the same time, so as to realize the climbing action of the robot. During the climbing process, elastic mechanisms such as the tensioning mechanism 4 and the tension spring 9-3 can be used to cooperate with parts such as the driving wheel 9-11 and its bracket 9-2, and the driven wheel 9-1 and its bracket 9-5 to adapt to small obstacles or size changes on the surface of the tree trunk.

[0036] When the vision camera 2 recognizes an obstacle or a tree branch, the robot starts to change its posture. The steering motor 9-16 drives the steering pulley 9-17 to drive the large pulley 9-19 to rotate through the steering synchronous belt 9-18. The large pulley 9-19 and the steering shaft 9-22 are fixed by screws 9-21 and end caps 9-20. The rotation of the steering shaft drives the steering bracket 9-24 and the driving wheel 9-11 to deflect, and cooperates with parts such as the climbing motor 9-13 to make the robot move along the vertical, horizontal circumferential and spiral directions at different angles, and pass through the obstacle through the notch position of the robot platform 8 and the annular rack 5, so as to realize the climbing operation in the multi-obstacle and complex obstacle scenarios at the same height.

[0037] When the robot climbs to a suitable picking position, the steering motor 9-16 makes the end face of the driving wheel 9-11 horizontal through the above transmission route, and cooperates with the clamping mechanism 4 to realize the self-locking of the robot platform. At the same time, the vision camera 2 recognizes and locates the picking target position. The stepping motor 7 drives the gear 6 to drive the annular rack 5 to rotate in the grooves of a series of guide wheels 10 through gear meshing, so as to realize the circumferential movement of the annular rack 5 around the tree trunk; Since the base of the robotic arm 3 is fixed on the annular rack 5, when the annular rack 5 drives the robotic arm 3 to the position of the branch close to the picking target, the stepping motor 7 stops rotating. At the same time, the robotic arm 3 moves the manipulator 1 to the picking target position through the cooperation of its own joint motors, opens the mechanical fingers, clamps the target pinecone to separate it from the branch, and opens the manipulator to make the pinecone fall to the ground naturally, so as to realize the picking operation of the pinecone.

[0038] The above is only the specific implementation manner of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily thought of by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention should be covered by the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A climbing pinecone picking robot capable of avoiding obstacles, characterized in that: It includes a robot rotating platform, a climbing mechanism, a clamping mechanism, a visual camera, a manipulator and a robotic arm; the visual camera and the manipulator are installed on the wrist of the robotic arm, the robotic arm is installed on the annular rack of the robot rotating platform, and the clamping mechanism and the climbing mechanism are installed at equal distances around the bottom of the robot platform.

2. The climbing pinecone picking robot capable of obstacle avoidance according to claim 1, wherein: The robot rotating platform is composed of a robot platform, an annular rack, a gear, a stepper motor and a guide wheel. The gear is fixed on the stepper motor and meshes with the annular rack. The guide wheels are equidistantly distributed on the robot platform in the circumferential direction. The outer ring of the annular rack is installed in the groove of the guide wheel. The gear is driven to rotate by controlling the stepper motor, and the gear is meshed with the annular rack, so that the annular rack drives the manipulator, the mechanical arm and the camera to rotate rapidly around the trunk.

3. The climbing pinecone picking robot capable of obstacle avoidance according to claim 1, wherein: The clamping mechanism is composed of a telescopic cylinder, a bracket and a tension wheel. The telescopic cylinder is fixed under the robot platform, and the bracket is installed on the telescopic rod. A pair of tension wheels is installed on the bracket. The cylinder is controlled to be telescopic so as to climb tree trunks of different sizes and prevent falling.

4. A climbing pinecone picking robot capable of obstacle avoidance according to claim 1, characterized in that: The climbing mechanism is mainly composed of a driven wheel, a driven wheel bracket, a tensioning spring, a support, a driving wheel bracket, a steering wheel platform, a gear shaft, a spur gear, a pin shaft, a spur bevel gear, a driving wheel, a bearing seat, a climbing motor, a climbing pulley, a climbing synchronous belt, a steering motor, a steering pulley, a steering synchronous belt, a steering bracket, a large pulley, an end cover, a screw, a steering shaft, a bearing, etc.; the climbing mechanism is fixed to the bottom of the robot platform through a support, and the driven wheel bracket and the driving wheel bracket are fixed to the support with an axis and are connected through a tensioning spring to adapt to small changes in tree trunk size and to overcome smaller obstacles.

5. The climbing mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that: A driven wheel is installed on the driven wheel bracket.

6. The climbing mechanism according to claim 4, wherein: A steering wheel platform is installed on the driving wheel bracket, and a climbing motor and a steering motor are installed on the steering wheel platform; a climbing pulley is installed on the motor shaft of the climbing motor, and the climbing pulley and the gear shaft are transmitted through a climbing synchronous belt; the gear shaft drives the spur gear to rotate through gear meshing; the spur gear and spur bevel gear are fixed to the bearing seat through a pin shaft, and the bearing seat is fixed to the steering bracket, and the spur bevel gear drives the driving wheel to rotate through gear meshing, thereby realizing forward and backward actions during the climbing process.

7. The gear shaft according to claim 6, characterized in that: The gear shaft has a hollow structure inside, and outside it has a spur gear shaft section and a synchronous pulley shaft section in addition to a stepped shaft section. The spur gear shaft section is meshed with the spur gear through gears, and the synchronous pulley shaft section cooperates with the climbing synchronous belt.

8. The climbing mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that: A steering pulley is installed on the steering motor, and the steering pulley is connected to the large pulley through a steering synchronous belt to implement power transmission. The large pulley is fixed to the steering shaft through an end cover and screws. One end of the steering shaft cooperates with the inner hole of the bearing, and the outer hole of the bearing cooperates with the inner hole of the gear shaft. The other end of the steering shaft is connected to the steering bracket, and the driving wheel is fixed on the steering bracket. The rotation of the steering shaft drives the driving wheel to deflect, thereby realizing functions such as obstacle avoidance during climbing and self-locking of the robot on the tree trunk during picking.

9. The climbing mechanism according to claim 4, wherein: There are two sets of the climbing mechanisms. By controlling the rotational speed difference of the climbing motors in the two sets, the tilt angle of the robot platform can be adjusted. Cooperating with the steering motor, the traveling direction during the overall climbing process of the picking robot can be controlled. At the same time, the self-locking function can be realized, enabling it to achieve different running trajectories such as up and down, left and right, and different spiral angles, so as to adapt to autonomous obstacle avoidance with multiple obstacles at the same height.

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