Ground moving flexible automatic charging robot

Abstract

A flexible automatic charging robot capable of moving on the ground comprises a charging plug part, a multi-axis movement module, a flexible assembly, a vision module, a walking module, a charging unit, a control processing unit, a communication module and a power supply module. The multi-axis movement module can enable the charging plug part to have multi-axis movement capability, the flexible assembly has elasticity and can enable the charging plug part to have swinging flexibility under the condition that the charging plug part is subjected to external force, the vision module is used for positioning and guiding, and the walking module is used for enabling the automatic charging robot to move along the ground. The invention relates to the field of new energy vehicle charging, through the design of the flexible assembly, the automatic gun insertion success rate and smoothness under low alignment precision are greatly improved, the implementation cost of automatic charging is reduced, and meanwhile the reliability and stability of automatic gun insertion and extraction are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of new energy vehicle charging, and particularly to a ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot. Background Art

[0002] With the popularization and gradual penetration of electric vehicle intelligent driving technology and automatic parking technology, many vehicles already have the ability to autonomously search for parking spaces and park themselves. As a result, before the vehicle enters the parking space, the driver and passengers may have already gotten off the vehicle in advance. For example, the car owner gets off at the entrance of the community, and the vehicle drives into the underground parking lot of the community through autonomous driving to search for its own parking space and park automatically. The traditional charging method that requires manual plugging and unplugging of the charging gun can no longer meet the charging needs in this scenario. In this scenario, the automatic charging technology that can automatically plug and unplug the charging gun is gradually becoming a necessity. In addition, automatic charging can also solve the needs of car owners for remotely starting charging temporarily, scheduling charging during late-night low-demand periods, and automatically charging when the battery level is low according to the threshold set by the car owner. In summary, the demand for automatic charging technology will become more and more intense and urgent.

[0003] Regarding the automatic charging technology for electric vehicles, some preliminary developments have been made in recent years. The applicant has previously submitted a utility model patent with the patent name "An aerial mobile charging robot system for fully automatic plugging and unplugging of charging guns" and the application number "2024227557501", and has developed corresponding automatic charging products. During the development of this automatic charging product, it was found that the docking between the charging gun and the vehicle charging interface requires a high degree of fitting accuracy. To achieve this fitting accuracy, it is necessary to precisely control two translation axes and three rotation axes of the charging gun head simultaneously, so that it first aligns with the vehicle charging interface, and then control the charging gun head to insert into the vehicle charging interface along its own axis direction. It can be seen that the realization of the above automatic plugging action is actually a high-precision six-axis motion control process, and requires high-precision positioning guidance. In specific implementation, existing automatic charging technology solutions usually require the use of high-precision six-axis robotic arms and high-precision 3D vision positioning guidance modules, both of which are very costly. Therefore, it is a very uneconomical automatic charging solution and is not conducive to the popularization and penetration of automatic charging. And to reduce the implementation cost of automatic charging, the most direct way is to find a way to get rid of the dependence on high-precision six-axis robotic arms and high-precision 3D vision.

[0004] The present invention is committed to providing a low-cost automatic charging solution, which can achieve automatic charging without relying on high-precision six-axis robotic arms and high-precision 3D vision, greatly reducing the implementation cost of automatic charging, and will greatly accelerate the popularization and penetration of automatic charging technology. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide a ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot. By adopting the design of flexible components, the charging plug head that plugs into the vehicle charging interface has swinging flexibility. Therefore, even if the initial insertion accuracy is not high enough, due to the swinging flexibility of the charging plug head, during the insertion process, the charging plug head will move along the direction with less resistance, thereby adaptively and passively adjusting the insertion posture and angle, and finally achieving the accurate docking of the charging plug head with the vehicle charging interface. Since the requirement for the initial insertion accuracy of the present invention is greatly reduced, only a multi-axis motion module with lower accuracy and a low-cost two-dimensional camera can be used to replace the high-precision six-axis robotic arm and high-precision 3D vision module, greatly reducing the implementation cost of automatic charging. For the sake of concise description, the "automatic charging robot" in the following text also specifically refers to the "ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot" described in the present invention.

[0006] To achieve the object of the present invention, the corresponding technical solutions are as follows: A ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot includes a charging plug head, a multi-axis motion module, a flexible component, a vision module, a walking module, a charging unit, a control processing unit, a communication module, and a power supply module. The charging plug head is used to dock with the vehicle charging interface. The multi-axis motion module enables the charging plug head to have multi-axis motion capabilities. The flexible component has elasticity, enabling the charging plug head to have swinging flexibility when subjected to external forces. When the external force is withdrawn, the flexible component can spontaneously return to its initial state when not subjected to external forces. It should be noted that the return to the initial state when not subjected to external forces here refers to the initial state in a macroscopic sense, not the initial state in a strict microscopic perspective. Taking a spring deformed by force as an example, the macroscopic characteristics of the spring are mainly manifested as elasticity. However, each time it is deformed by force, there must be plastic deformation in a microscopic sense. When it rebounds and returns to its original state after the external force is withdrawn, it cannot return to the strict initial state in a microscopic sense, but it returns to the initial state in a macroscopic sense. The flexible component described in the present invention can spontaneously return to its initial state when not subjected to external forces, which also refers to the return to the initial state in a macroscopic sense, without delving into the microscopic subtle differences. The vision module is used for positioning and guiding. When performing the automatic gun insertion action, the vision module guides the charging plug head to align with the vehicle charging interface. The walking module is used to enable the automatic charging robot to move along the ground. The charging unit is used to achieve the function of charging the vehicle. The control processing unit is used to provide processing and control capabilities for the actions and functions of the automatic charging robot. The communication module is used to provide the ability for information transmission and interaction of the automatic charging robot. The power supply module is used to supply power to the automatic charging robot.

[0007] The swing flexibility of the charging plug head is the most crucial technical feature for the realization of low-cost automatic charging in the present invention. Since low cost means that high-precision six-axis robotic arms and high-precision 3D vision cannot be adopted. Taking a high-precision six-axis collaborative robotic arm with an end load of 5 kg as an example, its market price usually ranges from tens of thousands of yuan to more than one hundred thousand yuan. Moreover, the market price of a high-precision 3D structured light vision positioning module that meets the requirements of automatic charging gun guiding and positioning also ranges from tens of thousands of yuan. In contrast, the price of a low-precision multi-axis motion module with the same load can be at the level of several thousand yuan, while an ordinary two-dimensional camera only costs a few hundred yuan. Therefore, there is an order-of-magnitude cost gap between the two different sets of hardware. Of course, low-cost hardware means low precision. When the vision module uses an ordinary two-dimensional camera and the multi-axis motion module also uses low-precision drive hardware, on the one hand, the precision of vision positioning and guidance will be relatively low. Especially, the positioning precision in the normal direction of the vehicle charging interface has very high requirements for vision hardware, and it is basically impossible to guide the charging plug head to align with the vehicle charging interface in the normal direction of the plugging gun through a two-dimensional camera. At most, alignment in a two-dimensional plane can be achieved based on the imaging screen of the camera, which means that at least the alignment of the plugging gun angle cannot be achieved. On the other hand, the execution precision of the low-cost multi-axis motion module will also be lower than that of a high-precision six-axis robotic arm, resulting in the inability to move precisely according to the guiding information provided by the vision module. In this case, if the charging plug head does not have swing flexibility, there is basically no possibility of realizing the automatic plugging gun action. However, if the charging plug head has swing flexibility, it only needs to ensure that the head of the charging plug head can enter the large hole of the vehicle charging interface at the initial insertion. Even if the angle is not aligned or there are errors in other axial directions at this time, due to the swing flexibility of the charging plug head, the charging plug head will travel along the direction with less resistance during the insertion process, thereby passively adjusting the insertion posture and angle, and finally achieving the accurate docking of the charging plug head with the vehicle charging interface. The applicant has verified the feasibility and technical effects of this technical solution when implementing the technical solution recorded in the present invention, and can realize automatic plugging and unplugging under vision guidance when using a low-precision multi-axis motion module and a two-dimensional camera vision module.

[0008] Preferably, the implementation method of the first preferred position of the flexible component is as follows: the multi-axis motion module includes a plugging gun swing arm, a rotating swing shaft is arranged at the tail of the plugging gun swing arm, the charging plug head is arranged at the head of the plugging gun swing arm, and the flexible component is arranged between the charging plug head and the rotating swing shaft of the plugging gun swing arm. Preferably, the plugging gun swing arm includes a first swing arm part and a second swing arm part. The first swing arm part is located at the head end of the plugging gun swing arm, and the second swing arm part is located at the tail end of the plugging gun swing arm. Preferably, one end of the flexible component is connected to the first swing arm part, and the other end is connected to the second swing arm part.

[0009] Preferably, the first preferred embodiment of the flexible component is a spring component. The spring used in the spring component can be various types of springs, including helical springs, leaf springs, rod springs, plate springs, and other special-shaped springs.

[0010] Preferably, the second preferred embodiment of the flexible component is an elastic structural member composed of an elastic material. Preferably, the elastic structural member is made of a soft elastic material. Preferably, the soft elastic material is rubber, silica gel, other polymer elastic materials, or composite elastic materials, etc., similar elastic materials.

[0011] Preferably, the third preferred embodiment of the flexible component is a combined flexible structure, which is formed by combining any two or three of a spring component, an elastic structural member, and a rigid structural member, and obtains flexibility by optimizing the structure and configuration.

[0012] Preferably, the second preferred position setting method of the flexible component is as follows: The automatic charging robot further includes a base. The multi-axis motion module is installed on the base. The walking module is arranged at the bottom of the base. The flexible component is arranged on the multi-axis motion module. When the axes of the multi-axis motion module do not perform active motion, the flexible component enables the charging plug head to still have swinging flexibility. Preferably, the flexible component is arranged on the arm of a certain motion axis of the multi-axis motion module.

[0013] Preferably, the charging plug head includes a guiding portion. When the charging plug head is inserted into the vehicle charging interface, the guiding portion can provide insertion guidance. Preferably, the guiding portion is a guiding conical surface. The feature of the guiding conical surface is that in the direction of the charging plug head towards the charging gun, the cross-section of the charging plug head presents a conical surface structure feature that gradually becomes thinner from thick. This conical surface structure feature allows a certain alignment error between the charging plug head and the vehicle charging interface when the automatic charging robot performs the automatic charging gun insertion action. The setting of the guiding portion can further reduce the accuracy requirements for the multi-axis motion module and the vision module. And because a larger alignment error is allowed, the reliability and stability of the automatic gun insertion can be greatly improved. At the same time, the hardware cost can be further reduced. The technical effect of setting the guiding conical surface has been verified in the actual implementation process of the applicant's implementation of the present invention.

[0014] Further, the automatic charging robot further includes a pin telescopic assembly and a gun insertion positioning end face. The pin telescopic assembly includes a pin telescopic driving module and a male pin. The vehicle charging interface includes a surface end face and a female pin. After the charging plug head is completely inserted into the vehicle charging interface, its insertion length is shorter than that of a standard charging gun after being completely inserted into the vehicle charging interface. When the charging plug head is completely inserted into the vehicle charging port, the gun insertion positioning end face fits with the surface end face of the vehicle charging interface. The pin telescopic assembly can push the male pin into the female pin of the vehicle charging interface, so that a contact fit is formed between the male pin and the female pin. The setting of the pin telescopic assembly can further improve the success rate and smoothness of automatic gun insertion under low alignment accuracy. Because if the male pin is inserted into the vehicle charging interface together with the charging plug head at the beginning, when the charging plug head is passively adjusted in the insertion posture and angle under the action of swinging flexibility, if the deviation angle is too large, the male pin may interfere with the female pin, resulting in the obstruction of the angle adjustment of the charging plug head and the risk of being stuck. The setting of the pin telescopic assembly can avoid this problem because the male pin is pushed into the female pin after the charging plug head is completely inserted into the vehicle charging port, and the above interference phenomenon will not occur. The reason for making the insertion length of the charging plug head shorter than that of the standard charging gun after being completely inserted into the vehicle charging interface is to shorten the docking length when the insertion angle is not aligned, and use the fact that the gun insertion positioning end face will automatically fit with the surface end face of the vehicle charging interface under the action of the gun insertion force to realize the secondary alignment of the insertion angle, so that the process of passive adjustment and alignment of the gun insertion angle is shorter, smoother and has a higher success rate. The technical effect of this setting has also been verified in the actual implementation of the present invention by the applicant.

[0015] Preferably, the vision module includes a vision acquisition unit, and the vision acquisition unit is arranged near the charging plug head, and the direction of its vision acquisition is the same as the direction of the charging plug head for gun insertion. Preferably, the vision acquisition unit is a two-dimensional camera.

[0016] Further, the automatic charging robot further includes a supplementary light source, and the supplementary light source is used to provide supplementary light for the operation of the vision module when the ambient light is relatively dim. In this way, automatic charging services can be provided for electric vehicles day and night.

[0017] Preferably, the traveling power mechanism of the traveling module is a Mecanum wheel set. The advantage of the Mecanum wheel set is that it can easily achieve translation in all directions and in-situ turning.

[0018] Preferably, the traveling power mechanism of the traveling module is a differential wheel set, which is composed of four power wheels that can rotate forward and backward independently and are installed in parallel. In addition to moving forward and backward, the differential wheel set can also turn by means of the differential of the left and right wheels, and can also achieve in-situ turning by means of the opposite rotation directions of the left and right wheels but the same speed.

[0019] Preferably, the traveling power mechanism of the traveling module is a steering wheel set. The advantage of the steering wheel set is that it can arbitrarily switch the traveling direction through the rudder and can also achieve the functions of turning and in-situ turning.

[0020] Furthermore, the automatic charging robot further includes a rigid-flexible state switching component. The flexible component is installed in a two-end manner. The structural members at both ends of the flexible component are respectively called the first installation end and the second installation end. The rigid-flexible state switching component is used to constrain the flexibility of the flexible component when the charging plug head does not need to swing flexibly, so as to form a rigid connection between the first installation end and the second installation end. When the charging plug head needs to swing flexibly, the rigid-flexible state switching component releases the constraint on the flexibility of the flexible component, so that the flexible component resumes its flexibility. Preferably, the rigid-flexible state switching component is a pin telescopic module, which includes a telescopic pin and a pin hole. One of the telescopic pin and the pin hole is arranged on the first installation end, and the other is arranged on the second installation end, and the positions of the telescopic pin and the pin hole correspond to each other. When the charging plug head does not need to swing flexibly, the pin telescopic module drives the telescopic pin to insert into the pin hole. When the charging plug head needs to resume swinging flexibly, the pin telescopic module drives the telescopic pin to pull out from the pin hole. The purpose of setting the rigid-flexible state switching component is to solve the following problems: when the automatic charging robot is traveling and when the charging plug head is aligned with the vehicle charging interface, if the flexibility of the flexible component is not constrained, then both the vision module and the charging plug head will shake due to walking or multi-axis movement, thereby affecting the image acquisition of the vision module and the alignment of the charging plug head with the vehicle charging interface. Therefore, at this time, it is necessary to constrain the flexibility of the flexible component. When the charging plug head has been initially inserted into the vehicle charging interface, at this time, the charging plug head needs to have swinging flexibility to achieve adaptive passive adjustment of the insertion posture and angle, so it is necessary to resume the flexibility of the flexible component.

[0021] The general working process of the ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot of the present invention to achieve automatic charging is as follows: The described automatic charging robot is deployed beside the parking space. When the electric vehicle in the parking space has an automatic charging requirement, the automatic charging robot walks to beside the vehicle charging interface under the guidance of the vision module through the walking module. The electric vehicle automatically opens the charging port cover or opens the charging port cover under the control instruction of the automatic charging robot. Then, under the guidance of the vision module, the multi-axis motion module first drives the charging plug head to align with the vehicle charging interface, and then drives the charging plug head to move along its axis direction to perform the gun insertion operation. Since the charging plug head has swinging flexibility, even if there are deviations in the initial insertion angle or posture, the charging plug head will automatically move along the direction with less resistance during the insertion process, so as to passively adjust the insertion posture and angle adaptively, and finally achieve the accurate docking of the charging plug head and the vehicle charging interface. After the gun insertion action is completed, the charging unit is started to charge the electric vehicle. After the charging is completed, the gun removal operation is completed through the multi-axis motion module. The electric vehicle immediately closes the charging port cover. Finally, the automatic charging robot returns to its initial position and resumes its initial state through the walking module. It should be noted that the above work process takes the electric vehicle having the function of automatically opening and closing the charging cover as an example. The electric vehicle preferably has the functions of automatically opening the charging cover and automatically closing the charging cover, otherwise the best effect of the present invention cannot be exerted.

[0022] Advantages of the present invention: (1) The low-cost automatic charging solution provided by the present invention perfectly meets the automatic charging requirements of vehicles with autonomous driving and automatic parking functions, especially solves the vehicle charging requirements in the scenario where the driver and passengers have got off the vehicle in advance before the vehicle automatically drives into the parking space. In addition, the automatic charging solution provided by the present invention can also solve the requirements of the vehicle owner for remotely starting charging temporarily, making an appointment to charge during the late-night low-peak electricity period, and automatically charging when the battery level is low according to the threshold set by the vehicle owner; (2) The design of the flexible component in the present invention enables the charging plug head inserted into the vehicle charging interface to have swinging flexibility. Therefore, even if the initial insertion accuracy is not high enough, due to the swinging flexibility of the charging plug head, the charging plug head will move along the direction with less resistance during the insertion process, so as to passively adjust the insertion posture and angle adaptively, and finally achieve the accurate docking of the charging plug head and the vehicle charging interface. The design of the flexible component greatly reduces the requirement for the initial insertion accuracy of the present invention. Therefore, only a multi-axis motion module with lower accuracy and a low-cost two-dimensional camera can be used to replace the high-precision six-axis robotic arm and the high-precision 3D vision module, greatly reducing the implementation cost of automatic charging; (3) The setting of the guiding part can further reduce the accuracy requirements for the multi-axis motion module and the vision module, and since a larger alignment error is allowed, the reliability and stability of automatic gun insertion can be greatly improved, and at the same time, the hardware cost can be further reduced; (4) The setting of the pin telescopic component can further improve the success rate and smoothness of automatic gun insertion under low alignment accuracy, and avoid the situation where the male pin and the female pin interfere with each other, resulting in the hindrance of the passive adjustment of the insertion angle of the charging plug head. (5) The insertion length of the charging plug head after being fully inserted into the vehicle charging interface is shorter than that of the standard charging gun after being fully inserted into the vehicle charging interface. This setting shortens the docking length in the case of misaligned insertion angles, and uses the fact that the positioning end face of the gun will automatically fit with the surface end face of the vehicle charging interface under the action of the gun insertion force to achieve secondary alignment of the insertion angle, so that the process of passive adjustment and alignment of the gun insertion angle is shorter, smoother, and has a higher success rate. (6) The setting of the rigid-flexible state switching component solves the problem of restraining and restoring the flexibility of the flexible component at different stages during the automatic charging process of the automatic charging robot.

[0023] It should be noted that the beneficial effects of the present invention are not limited to the above description. The beneficial effects can be understood in combination with specific technical solutions and preferred embodiments, and the technical effects and beneficial effects of a certain specific technical solution or preferred embodiment are also described interspersed in the content of the present invention and the following embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot of the present invention, showing the state after the gun insertion swing arm rotates and opens.

[0025] Figure 2 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot of the present invention, showing the state after the gun insertion swing arm rotates and retracts.

[0026] Figure 3 shows an exploded three-dimensional schematic diagram of the structure of the gun insertion swing arm.

[0027] Figure 4 shows a side view schematic diagram of the gun insertion swing arm.

[0028] Figure 5 shows a three-dimensional structure schematic diagram of the gun insertion swing arm, in which the male pin of the pin telescopic component is in a state of not being pushed out.

[0029] Figure 6 shows a three-dimensional structure schematic diagram of the gun insertion swing arm, in which the male pin of the pin telescopic component is in a state of being pushed out.

[0030] Figure 7Shows a schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of the gun insertion swing arm, in which the male plug of the plug telescopic assembly is in a state of not being pushed out.

[0031] Figure 8 Shows a schematic cross-sectional structure diagram of the gun insertion swing arm, in which the male plug of the plug telescopic assembly is in a state of being pushed out.

[0032] Figure 9 Shows a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot according to the present invention, in which a schematic diagram showing the swing flexibility of the gun insertion swing arm is shown.

[0033] Figure 10 Shows a schematic diagram when the ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot according to the present invention performs an automatic charging operation for an electric vehicle.

[0034] Figure 11 Shows a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the first swing arm part.

[0035] Figure 12 Shows a three-dimensional schematic diagram of another view of the first swing arm part.

[0036] Figure 13 Shows a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the spring assembly.

[0037] Figure 14 Shows a schematic diagram of a national standard AC charging gun and an electric vehicle charging interface, where Figure 14 (a) is a schematic diagram of a national standard ordinary AC charging gun, Figure 14 (b) is a schematic diagram of a national standard electric vehicle charging interface.

[0038] Explanation of the reference numerals in the drawings: 1 - Base; 2 - Telescopic sleeve; 3 - Telescopic arm; 301 - Swing arm storage space; 4 - Second swing arm part; 5 - Swing gap; 6 - First swing arm part; 601 - Front cavity; 602 - Linear bearing mounting hole; 603 - Pin hole; 6031 - Pin guiding conical surface; 604 - Wire passing through hole; 605 - Head threaded hole; 606 - Pin telescopic push rod mounting hole; 607 - First spring activity cavity; 608 - First spring mounting hole; 7 - Vision acquisition unit; 8 - Charging plug head; 801 - Guiding conical surface; 802 - Plug mating surface; 803 - Plug gun positioning end face; 804 - Pin through hole; 9 - Traveling wheel set; 10 - Power supply cable; 11 - Power taking plug; 12 - Rotating swing shaft; 13 - Low beam light source; 14 - High beam light source; 16 - Pin male head; 18 - Guide pin; 19 - Linear bearing; 20 - Pin telescopic push rod; 2001 - Push rod telescopic part; 21 - Helical spring assembly; 2101 - First flange; 2102 - Spring center through hole; 2103 - Second flange; 2104 - First flange mounting hole; 2105 - Second flange mounting hole; 2106 - Spring body; 22 - Pin telescopic push rod; 2201 - Telescopic pin; 23 - Pin support; 25 - Electric vehicle; 26 - Vehicle charging interface; 2601 - AC jack edge; 2602 - AC cylindrical surface jack; 2603 - Pin female head; 2604 - Surface end face; 28 - DC charging interface; 30 - AC gun head cylindrical surface. Detailed implementation manners

[0039] The following will further elaborate and describe the present invention in detail in combination with the embodiments, implementation manners and drawings of the present invention. It should be noted that the described embodiments or implementation manners are only a part of the embodiments or implementation manners of the present invention, rather than all of them. The drawings are only a schematic diagram for convenience of illustration, rather than a complete limitation of the implementation manners of the present invention. Based on the embodiments or implementation manners in the present invention, all other embodiments or implementation manners obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0040] The following description of the embodiments or implementation manners of the present invention is actually only illustrative and in no way limits the present invention and its application or use.

[0041] As Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 10As shown in the figure, a ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot includes a charging plug head 8, a multi-axis motion module, a flexible component, a vision module, a walking module, a charging unit, a control processing unit, a communication module, and a power supply module. The charging plug head 8 is used to dock with the vehicle charging interface 26. The multi-axis motion module enables the charging plug head 8 to have multi-axis motion capabilities. The flexible component is elastic, enabling the charging plug head 8 to have swinging flexibility when subjected to external forces, and the flexible component can spontaneously return to its initial state when the external force is removed. The vision module is used for positioning and guiding. When performing the automatic gun insertion action, the vision module guides the charging plug head 8 to align with the vehicle charging interface 26. The walking module is used to enable the automatic charging robot to move along the ground. The charging unit is used to realize the function of charging the vehicle. The control processing unit is used to provide processing and control capabilities for the actions and functions of the automatic charging robot. The communication module is used to provide the ability for communication information transmission and interaction for the automatic charging robot. The power supply module is used to supply power to the automatic charging robot.

[0042] 〈Embodiment of the multi-axis motion module〉 As Figure 1 、 Figure 2 shown in the figure, it is the first preferred embodiment of the multi-axis motion module described in the present invention. In this embodiment, the automatic charging robot further includes a base 1, and the multi-axis motion module is installed on the base 1. Preferably, the multi-axis motion module includes a horizontal rotation axis A, a telescopic axis Z, and a rotation swing axis B. The key components constituting the multi-axis motion module include a horizontal rotation drive module, a telescopic sleeve 2, a telescopic arm 3, a first telescopic drive module, a gun insertion swing arm, and a swing arm rotation drive module. Among them, the horizontal rotation drive module is installed between the base 1 and the telescopic sleeve 2 and is used to provide rotational power for the horizontal rotation axis A. The first telescopic drive module is installed between the telescopic sleeve 2 and the telescopic arm 3 and can drive the telescopic arm 3 to telescope relative to the telescopic sleeve 2, and this telescopic direction is the telescopic axis Z described above. The gun insertion swing arm is installed at the upper end of the telescopic arm 3, and the rotation axis between the two is the rotation swing axis B described above. The gun insertion swing arm can be driven by the swing axis rotation drive module to swing and rotate around the rotation swing axis B. Preferably, a swing arm storage space 301 is further provided on the telescopic arm 3. When the gun insertion swing arm is not working, it can be rotated and retracted into the swing arm storage space 301 to reduce its occupation of the external space. The state when the gun insertion swing arm is retracted into the swing arm storage space 301 is as Figure 2 shown in the figure.

[0043] In the first preferred embodiment of the multi-axis motion module described above, the multi-axis motion module is a three-axis motion system, and the walking module can generally achieve translation along the horizontal plane and rotation around the vertical direction. Essentially, the walking module provides two translational degrees of freedom and one rotational degree of freedom, and this rotational degree of freedom is the same as the horizontal rotation axis A of the multi-axis motion module. Therefore, in this embodiment, the total number of controllable degrees of freedom of the automatic charging robot for the charging plug head 8 is 5. Generally speaking, six degrees of freedom are required to complete an accurate spatial motion. In this case, the reason why the automatic charging robot can complete the automatic gun insertion action is that the flexible component provides redundant degrees of freedom. However, the degrees of freedom provided by the flexible component cannot be actively controlled. During the gun insertion process, the flexible component deforms passively due to the force applied, so as to meet the requirements of the gun insertion action for degrees of freedom. Therefore, the automatic charging robot in this embodiment is actually an underactuated system. Underactuated systems are a relatively cutting-edge research in the field of robotics, and their characteristic is that the number of controllable degrees of freedom is less than the number of degrees of freedom of the system. In an underactuated system, it is possible to control a part of the degrees of freedom to achieve actions or functions that require more degrees of freedom, so the system cost and control difficulty can be greatly reduced. The above embodiment of the present invention is actually a clever research and application of the underactuated system, mainly utilizing the passive compliance of the flexible component to achieve the gun insertion action with high-precision requirements under low control accuracy.

[0044] Preferably, the second preferred embodiment of the multi-axis motion module is that the multi-axis motion module is a robotic arm. It should be noted that the present invention does not limit the type, number of axes, types of each axis, and form of the robotic arm. Based on the present invention, simply changing the type, number of axes, types of each axis, form, etc. of the robotic arm should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0045] 〈Embodiment of the charging plug head〉 As Figures 1 - 10 shown, preferably, the charging plug head 8 is used to dock with the vehicle charging interface 26, and the settings of its form, size, number of openings, opening positions, diameters of each hole, etc. need to match the vehicle charging interface 26. Taking the national standard of electric vehicle charging interfaces as an example, there are mainly two types: AC charging interfaces and DC charging interfaces. Among them, the AC charging interface has 7 holes and a slightly smaller size, and the DC charging interface has 9 holes and a larger size than the AC charging interface. In Figures 1 - 9 the figure, the form and size of the charging plug head 8 are drawn taking the matching with the AC charging interface as an example.

[0046] Preferably, the charging plug head 8 includes a guiding portion. When the charging plug head 8 is inserted into the vehicle charging interface 26, the guiding portion can provide insertion guidance. Preferably, the guiding portion is a guiding conical surface 801. The feature of the guiding conical surface 801 is that in the direction of the charging plug head 8 towards the charging gun, the cross-section of the charging plug head 8 presents a conical structure feature that gradually becomes thinner from thick. This conical structure feature allows a certain alignment error to exist between the charging plug head 8 and the vehicle charging interface 26 when the automatic charging robot performs the automatic charging gun insertion action. For better understanding, as Figure 14 shown, taking the Chinese national standard charging gun as an example, whether it is an AC charging gun or a DC charging gun, the gun head part is a cylindrical surface with a constant cross-section. For example Figure 14 (a) is a Chinese national standard AC charging gun. It can be seen in the figure that the cylindrical surface 30 of the AC gun head is a cylindrical surface with a constant cross-section, compared with Figure 6 the charging plug head 8 in it, the cross-sectional dimension of the cylindrical surface 30 of the AC gun head is the same as that of Figure 6 the plug mating surface 802 in it. The guiding conical surface 801 is actually equivalent to a conical surface formed by cutting off a part of the material along the circumferential direction at the head position of the cylindrical surface 30 of the AC gun head. The cut-off part is as shown by the dotted line in the Figure 7 partial enlarged view. The width value of the cut-off part in the view looking directly at the left end face of the charging plug head 8 is d, which is called the guidable width. Figure 14 (b) is a schematic diagram of two charging interfaces of a Chinese national standard electric vehicle. The smaller one on the left is the AC charging interface, and the larger one on the right is the DC charging interface 28. Still taking the national standard AC charging gun and the AC charging interface as an example, for the convenience of users to manually insert and remove the gun, when designing the charging interface, at the entrance position of the charging interface, the cross-sectional dimension of the AC cylindrical surface socket 2602 is slightly larger than that of the cylindrical surface 30 of the AC gun head. That is to say, there will be a certain mating gap between the two, and its value is represented by the letter g. However, this mating gap g is relatively small, usually less than 1 mm. If a low-precision vision guidance and a low-precision multi-axis motion actuator are used for automatic gun insertion and removal, the success rate of gun insertion will be relatively low because the maximum allowable error cannot exceed this mating gap g. But if a guiding conical surface 801 is provided on the charging plug head 8, combined with the swing flexibility of the charging plug head 8, it can be known that the maximum allowable error is Figure 7The sum of the adjustable guiding width d and the above-mentioned mating clearance g, and the size of the adjustable guiding width d can be adjusted according to the actual situation. The principle that the guiding conical surface 801 can increase the maximum allowable error of the plug-in gun is that when there is a plug-in gun execution error and the guiding conical surface 801 can still enter the AC cylindrical surface socket 2602 under this error, one side of the guiding conical surface 801 will first contact the edge 2601 of the AC socket. Since the charging plug head 8 will be pushed into the AC cylindrical surface socket 2602 under the action of the plug-in gun driving force at this time, the side of the guiding conical surface 801 in contact with the edge 2601 of the AC socket will receive a reaction force from the edge 2601 of the AC socket. Also, because the charging plug head 8 has swing flexibility, under the push of this reaction force, the charging plug head 8 will be pushed to the side of the guiding conical surface 801 that is not in contact with the edge 2601 of the AC socket, so that the charging plug head 8 passively adjusts its insertion posture and angle and gradually aligns with the vehicle charging interface, and finally realizes the accurate docking of the charging plug head 8 and the vehicle charging interface. The above process actually reflects the passive compliance of the charging plug head 8 based on the flexible component. According to the analysis of the above process, the maximum allowable plug-in gun execution error is the plug-in gun execution error in the limit state where the head of the guiding conical surface 801 can just still enter the AC cylindrical surface socket 2602, that is Figure 7 the value obtained after adding the adjustable guiding width d in it and the mating clearance g described above. When the actual plug-in gun error exceeds this value, the guiding conical surface 801 will not be able to enter the AC cylindrical surface socket 2602 and no guiding can be carried out anymore.

[0047] To sum up, the setting of the guiding conical surface 801 increases the maximum allowable error of the plug-in gun from the original mating clearance g to the sum of the mating clearance g and the adjustable guiding width d, and the adjustable guiding width d can be set much larger than the mating clearance g. The significant increase in the allowable error can further reduce the accuracy requirements for the multi-axis motion module and the vision module. And because a larger alignment error is allowed, the reliability and stability of the automatic plug-in gun can be greatly improved, and at the same time, the hardware cost can be further reduced. The technical effect of setting the guiding conical surface 801 has been verified in the actual implementation process of the applicant's implementation of the present invention.

[0048] In addition, if the charging plug head 8 and the guiding conical surface 801 need to match the Chinese national standard DC charging interface, only corresponding adjustments need to be made according to the shape and size of the national standard DC charging interface. For other countries or regions, if electric vehicles implement different charging interface standards, the charging plug head 8 and the guiding conical surface 801 only need to be adjusted accordingly according to the shape and size of their charging interfaces. It should be noted that the present invention does not limit the interface standard implemented by the charging plug head 8. It can implement the Chinese national standard AC or DC interface, or the European standard charging interface, the American standard charging interface, or other charging interface standards implemented in other countries and regions. Based on the present invention, simply changing the electric vehicle charging interface standard implemented by the charging plug head 8 should fall within the protection scope of the present invention. In addition, the appearance shape of the guiding conical surface 801 shown in the drawings of the present invention is only for illustration and does not limit the specific size and specific shape of the guiding conical surface. Based on the present invention, simply changing the size and shape of the guiding conical surface to achieve the same or similar guiding effects should also fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0049] 〈Embodiment of the walking module〉 Preferably, the walking module adopts a wheel drive method, and the walking driving force is provided by a walking wheel set 9 installed below the base 1.

[0050] Preferably, the walking power mechanism of the walking module is a Mecanum wheel set. The advantage of the Mecanum wheel set is that it can easily achieve translation in all directions and turning in place.

[0051] Preferably, the walking power mechanism of the walking module is a differential wheel set, and the differential wheel set is composed of four power wheels that can rotate forward and backward independently and are installed in parallel. In addition to moving forward and backward, the differential wheel set can also achieve turning through the differential of the left and right wheels, and achieve turning in place by the way that the rotation directions of the left and right wheels are opposite but the speeds are the same.

[0052] Preferably, the walking power mechanism of the walking module is a steering wheel set. The advantage of the steering wheel set is that it can arbitrarily switch the traveling direction through the rudder, and can also achieve the functions of turning and turning in place.

[0053] It should be noted that the function of the walking module is to enable the automatic charging robot described in the present invention to have the ability to travel along the ground. There are very many solutions for the ground traveling mechanism in the prior art. The present invention does not limit the type, shape, and specific structure of the walking module. Based on the present invention, simply changing the type, shape, and specific structure of the walking module should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0054] 〈Embodiment of the flexible component〉 In the present invention, the flexible component needs to have elasticity, and its function is to enable the charging plug head 8 to have swinging flexibility under the action of an external force. When the external force is withdrawn, the flexible component needs to be able to spontaneously return to its initial state when not under the external force. In fact, the deeper reason for setting the flexible component in the present invention is to endow the charging plug head 8 with passive compliance, or passive compliance characteristics, which means that the flexible component adjusts or corrects the mating action between the charging plug head 8 and the vehicle charging interface 26 by means of the contact external force. During this process, the flexible component absorbs the execution error through elastic deformation, so as to complete the plugging and unplugging gun actions with high spatial execution accuracy requirements under low control precision and without relying on closed-loop feedback. Of course, the flexible component can also be analyzed from the perspective of an underactuated system. The elasticity and flexibility of the flexible component endow the charging plug head 8 with more physical degrees of freedom. Although these degrees of freedom are not controllable, during the process of inserting into the vehicle charging interface 26, due to the reaction force of the vehicle charging interface 26, the charging plug head 8 will travel along the direction with less resistance, so as to absorb the gun insertion alignment error in a flexible underactuated adaptive manner, and finally achieve the accurate insertion of the charging plug head 8. The above is the fundamental reason for introducing the flexible component in the present invention.

[0055] As Figures 1 - 9 shown, preferably, the implementation manner of the first preferred position of the flexible component is as follows: the multi-axis motion module includes a gun insertion swing arm, a rotary swing shaft 12 is provided at the tail of the gun insertion swing arm, the charging plug head 8 is provided at the head of the gun insertion swing arm, and the flexible component is provided between the charging plug head 8 and the rotary swing shaft 12 of the gun insertion swing arm. Preferably, the gun insertion swing arm includes a first swing arm portion 6 and a second swing arm portion 4, the first swing arm portion 6 is located at one end of the head of the gun insertion swing arm, and the second swing arm portion 4 is located at one end of the tail of the gun insertion swing arm. Preferably, one end of the flexible component is connected to the first swing arm portion 6, and the other end is connected to the second swing arm portion 4. In the implementation manner of the first preferred position of the flexible component, the flexible component is closer to the charging plug head 8. Therefore, relatively speaking, the flexibility given by the flexible component to the charging plug head 8 is more direct and controllable, and it is also better to adjust and optimize the flexibility characteristic parameters of the flexible component. The flexibility characteristic parameters include radial and axial elastic parameters, deflection parameters, stiffness parameters, etc. In the present invention, the functions and effects of the flexible component under different flexibility characteristic parameters are different, and parameter adjustment and optimization are required during actual implementation.

[0056] Preferably, the implementation manner of the second preferred position of the flexible component is as follows: The automatic charging robot further includes a base 1, the multi-axis motion module is installed on the base 1, the walking module is arranged at the bottom of the base 1, and the flexible component is arranged on the multi-axis motion module. When the axes of the multi-axis motion module do not perform active motion, the flexible component enables the charging plug head to still have swinging flexibility. Preferably, the flexible component is arranged on the arm of a certain motion axis of the multi-axis motion module.

[0057] It should be noted that the present invention does not limit the deployment position and deployment quantity of the flexible component. Based on the present invention, simply changing the deployment position and deployment quantity of the flexible component, such as arranging the flexible component on the base 1 or other structural members, or deploying the flexible component at multiple positions, shall all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0058] Preferably, the first preferred embodiment of the flexible component is a spring component. The spring used in the spring component can be various types of springs, including helical springs, leaf springs, rod springs, leaf springs, other special-shaped springs, etc. In the drawings of the present invention Figure 3 , Figure 7 , Figure 8 , Figure 13 the shown spring component is a helical spring component 21. One end of the helical spring component 21 is connected to the first swing arm portion 6, and the other end is connected to the second swing arm portion 4. During actual implementation, the flexible characteristic parameters of the helical spring component 21 can be adjusted and optimized by selecting different specifications and characteristics of helical springs. It should be noted that the present invention does not limit the type, shape, and specification of the spring component. Based on the present invention, simply changing the type, shape, and specification of the spring component shall all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0059] Preferably, the second preferred embodiment of the flexible component is an elastic structural member composed of an elastic material. An elastic structural member is connected between the charging plug head 8 of the gun-swinging arm and the rotating swing shaft 12. Preferably, the elastic structural member is made of a soft elastic material. Preferably, the soft elastic material is rubber, silica gel, other high molecular elastic materials, or composite elastic materials and other similar flexible materials. It should be noted that the present invention does not limit the material, shape, specific structure, and topological configuration of the elastic structural member. Based on the present invention, simply changing the material, shape, specific structure, and topological configuration of the elastic structural member shall all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0060] Preferably, the third preferred embodiment of the flexible component is a combined flexible structure, which is formed by combining any two or three of a spring assembly, an elastic structural member, and a rigid structural member, and the flexibility is obtained by optimizing the structure and configuration. It should be noted that the present invention does not limit the specific combination method of the combined flexible structure, the materials, forms, specific structures, and topological configurations of each component. On the basis of the present invention, simply changing the specific combination method of the combined flexible structure, the materials, forms, specific structures, and topological configurations of each component shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0061] 〈Implementation Modes of the Gun Insertion Swing Arm〉 As Figures 3 - 12 shown, preferably, the first swing arm portion 6 and the second swing arm portion 4 of the gun insertion swing arm are connected by a helical spring assembly 21.

[0062] As Figure 11 、 Figure 12 shown, preferably, the first swing arm portion 6 includes a front cavity 601, a linear bearing mounting hole 602, a pin hole 603, a wire passing through hole 604, a head threaded hole 605, a pin telescopic push rod mounting hole 606, a first spring activity cavity 607, and a first spring mounting hole 608. The second swing arm portion 4 includes a second spring activity cavity 401. Preferably, the wire passing through hole 604 provides a passing space for cables related to charging, power supply, and control signals. Preferably, the head threaded hole 605 can be used to mount and fix the charging plug head 8 and the vision module.

[0063] As Figure 3 、 Figure 7 、 Figure 8 、 Figure 13 shown, preferably, the helical spring assembly 21 includes a spring body 2106, a first flange 2101, a second flange 2103, a first flange mounting hole 2104, a second flange mounting hole 2105, and a spring center through hole 2102. Preferably, the first flange 2101 is connected to the first spring mounting hole 608 of the first swing arm portion 6 through the first flange mounting hole 2104, and the second flange 2103 is connected to the second spring mounting hole on the second swing arm portion 4 through the second flange mounting hole 2105. The second spring mounting hole on the second swing arm portion 4 is arranged similarly to the first spring mounting hole 608 on the first swing arm portion 6 and is not drawn again in the drawings. The first spring activity cavity 607 and the second spring activity cavity 401 are used to have a certain activity space when the helical spring assembly 21 undergoes radial swing deformation. The advantage of selecting a helical spring for the spring assembly is that it is very commonly used, has a complete range of specifications, and has a spring center through hole 2102, and the spring center through hole 2102 can just be used to provide a passing space for cables related to charging, power supply, and control signals.

[0064] As Figures 1 - 9 shown, preferably, a swing gap 5 is provided between the first swing arm portion 6 and the second swing arm portion 4. The swing gap 5 is used to prevent interference and mutual extrusion between the first swing arm portion 6 and the second swing arm portion 4 when the flexible component undergoes radial swing deformation. Figure 9 shows the spatial position state between the first swing arm portion 6 and the second swing arm portion 4 after the flexible component undergoes radial swing deformation. There is a spatial angle α between their central axes. It should be noted that α here is a spatial angle, not a planar angle, and their central axes may not necessarily intersect. According to Figure 9 it can be seen that it is necessary to set the swing gap 5. Otherwise, the interference and mutual extrusion between the first swing arm portion 6 and the second swing arm portion 4 will hinder the radial swing deformation of the flexible component, thereby affecting the swing flexibility of the charging plug swing arm. The width of the swing gap 5 can be set according to actual needs. If dust prevention and aesthetics are considered, the swing gap 5 can also be wrapped with a soft material.

[0065] 〈Implementation Modes of the Rigid-Flexible State Switching Component〉 Furthermore, the automatic charging robot further includes a rigid-flexible state switching component. The flexible component adopts a two-end installation method. The two structural members for installing the flexible component are respectively called the first installation end and the second installation end. The rigid-flexible state switching component is used to constrain the flexibility of the flexible component when the charging plug head 8 does not require swing flexibility, so as to form a rigid connection between the first installation end and the second installation end. When the charging plug head 8 requires swing flexibility, the rigid-flexible state switching component releases the constraint on the flexibility of the flexible component, so that the flexible component resumes its flexibility.

[0066] As Figures 3 - 8As shown, preferably, the first mounting end is the first swing arm portion 6, and the second mounting end is the second swing arm portion 4. Preferably, the rigid-flexible state switching component is a pin telescopic module, and the pin telescopic module includes a telescopic pin 2201 and a pin hole 603. Preferably, the telescopic pin 2201 is a pin-shaped telescopic structure on the pin telescopic push rod 22. Preferably, the telescopic pin 2201 is disposed on the second swing arm portion 4, the pin hole 603 is disposed on the first swing arm portion 6, and the positions of the telescopic pin 2201 and the pin hole 603 correspond to each other. When the charging plug head 8 does not need to swing flexibly, the pin telescopic module drives the telescopic pin 2201 to insert into the pin hole 603. When the charging plug head 603 needs to restore the swing flexibility, the pin telescopic module drives the telescopic pin 2201 to be pulled out from the pin hole 603. Preferably, the number of the pin telescopic modules is one or more.

[0067] In addition, due to the action of gravity or slight plastic deformation of the flexible component itself, when the plug gun swing arm and the charging plug head 8 are not subjected to external forces, the first swing arm portion 6 and the second swing arm portion 4 may not be completely coaxially aligned according to their initial states, which may cause the telescopic pin 2201 and the pin hole 603 not to be completely aligned. Preferably, a pin guiding conical surface 6031 is provided at the entrance position of the pin hole 603. The pin guiding conical surface 6031 is used to guide when there is an alignment error between the telescopic pin 2201 and the pin hole 603, ensuring that the telescopic pin 2201 can be inserted into the pin hole 603.

[0068] The purpose of setting the rigid-flexible state switching component is to solve the following problems: when the automatic charging robot is walking and when the charging plug head 8 is aligned with the vehicle charging interface 26, if the flexibility of the flexible component is not restricted, then both the vision module and the charging plug head 8 will vibrate more or less due to walking or multi-axis movement, thus affecting the image acquisition of the vision module and the alignment of the charging plug head 8 with the vehicle charging interface 26. Therefore, at this time, it is necessary to restrict the flexibility of the flexible component. When the charging plug head 8 has been initially inserted into the vehicle charging interface 26, at this time, the charging plug head 8 needs to have swing flexibility to realize the adaptive passive adjustment of the insertion posture and angle, and then it is necessary to restore the flexibility of the flexible component.

[0069] 〈Implementation Modes of the Pin Telescopic Component〉 As Figures 3 - 14As shown, further, the automatic charging robot further includes a pin telescopic assembly and a gun insertion positioning end face 803. The pin telescopic assembly includes a pin telescopic driving module and a male pin 16. The vehicle charging interface 26 includes a surface end face 2604 and a female pin 2603. Preferably, after the charging plug head 8 is completely inserted into the vehicle charging interface 26, its insertion length is shorter than the insertion length after a standard charging gun as shown in Figure 14 (a) is completely inserted into the vehicle charging interface 26. When the charging plug head 8 is completely inserted into the vehicle charging port 26, the gun insertion positioning end face 803 is in contact with the surface end face 2604 of the vehicle charging interface 26. The pin telescopic assembly can push the male pin 16 into the female pin 2603 of the vehicle charging interface 26 to form a contact fit between the male pin 16 and the female pin 2603. The setting of the pin telescopic assembly can further improve the success rate and smoothness of automatic gun insertion under low alignment accuracy. Because if the male pin 16 is inserted into the vehicle charging interface 26 together with the charging plug head 8 at the beginning, when the charging plug head 8 adaptively and passively adjusts its insertion posture and angle under the action of swing flexibility, if the deviation angle is too large, the male pin 16 may interfere with the female pin 2603, resulting in the obstruction of the angle adjustment of the charging plug head 8 and the risk of being stuck. However, the setting of the pin telescopic assembly can completely avoid this problem because the male pin 16 is pushed into the female pin 2603 after the charging plug head 8 is completely inserted into the vehicle charging port 26, and the above interference phenomenon will not occur. The reason for making the insertion length of the charging plug head 8 after being completely inserted into the vehicle charging interface 26 shorter than the insertion length after a standard charging gun is completely inserted into the vehicle charging interface 26 is to shorten the docking length when the insertion angle is not aligned, and use the fact that the gun insertion positioning end face 803 will automatically contact the surface end face 2604 of the vehicle charging interface 26 under the action of the gun insertion force to achieve secondary alignment of the insertion angle, so that the process of passive adjustment and alignment of the gun insertion angle is shorter, smoother, and has a higher success rate. The technical effect of this setting has also been verified in the actual implementation of the present invention by the applicant.

[0070] Such as Figure 3 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 7 、 Figure 8 、 Figure 11 、 Figure 12As shown, preferably, the pin telescopic driving module includes a pin telescopic push rod 20, a guide pin 18, a linear bearing 19, and a pin support 23. The pin telescopic push rod 20 is installed in the pin telescopic push rod mounting hole 606. The guide pin 18 is installed on the pin support 23. The linear bearing 19 is installed in the linear bearing mounting hole 602. The linear bearing 19 cooperates with the guide pin 18 to provide guidance for the guide pin 18 through a sliding pair, and further provide guidance for the movement of the pin support 23. The push rod telescopic part 2001 of the pin telescopic push rod 20 is connected to the pin support 23. The male pin 16 is installed on the pin support 23. Under the telescopic drive of the pin telescopic push rod 20, the male pin 16 can extend or retract from the pin through hole 804 of the charging plug head 8. Preferably, the active space of the pin telescopic driving module is mainly located in the front cavity 601.

[0071] 〈Visual Module Embodiment〉 As Figure 3 , Figure 5 , Figure 6 As shown, preferably, the visual module includes a visual acquisition unit 7. The visual acquisition unit 7 is arranged near the charging plug head 8, and the direction of its visual acquisition is the same as the direction of inserting the gun of the charging plug head 8.

[0072] Preferably, the visual acquisition unit 7 is a two-dimensional camera. Preferably, the two-dimensional camera is a visible light camera. Preferably, the two-dimensional camera is an infrared light camera. The two-dimensional camera is a relatively economical and low-cost visual acquisition hardware, so it is also the most recommended embodiment of the visual acquisition unit in the present invention.

[0073] Preferably, the visual acquisition unit 7 can also be other types of cameras or visual acquisition modules. The light targeted by visual acquisition can be visible light or invisible light. The source of the collected light can be an active light source or a passive light source. An active light source means that the visual module actively emits light and then the visual module collects the light reflected from the target object. A passive light source means that the visual module passively collects the ambient light or natural light reflected by the target object.

[0074] Preferably, the visual acquisition unit 7 is a TOF three-dimensional visual module based on time-of-flight of light. The TOF three-dimensional visual module is an active light source type three-dimensional visual solution, which determines the distance between the TOF sensor and the object to be measured by calculating the time difference between the emission and reception of light pulses.

[0075] Preferably, the visual acquisition unit 7 is a structured light three-dimensional vision module. The structured light three-dimensional vision module is also an active light source type three-dimensional vision solution. By projecting light with certain structural features, such as dot matrix light, line light, and surface light, onto the object to be measured, and then collecting images with a dedicated camera, the three-dimensional coordinate information of the object is calculated in combination with the system geometric relationship.

[0076] Preferably, the visual acquisition unit 7 is a binocular or multi-camera. The binocular or multi-camera is based on the principle of parallax. By using two or more cameras to capture images of the object to be measured from different positions, the three-dimensional coordinate information of the object is calculated by calculating the parallax between the images collected by each camera.

[0077] The TOF three-dimensional vision module, the structured light three-dimensional vision module, and the binocular or multi-camera all involve relatively complex hardware or algorithms, and the comprehensive cost is relatively high. They do not have a cost advantage compared to the two-dimensional camera, but the accuracy can be relatively high.

[0078] The present invention does not limit the type, form, quantity, specification of the visual acquisition unit, nor the type of light collected, nor the active light source or passive light source. Based on the present invention, simply changing the above characteristics of the visual acquisition unit shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0079] 〈Supplementary Light Source Embodiment〉 Furthermore, when the visual acquisition unit 7 is an ordinary two-dimensional camera or a binocular camera, the automatic charging robot further includes a supplementary light source, which is used to provide supplementary light for the operation of the visual module when the ambient light is relatively dim. In this way, automatic charging services can be provided for electric vehicles day and night. Preferably, as Figure 5 、 Figure 6 shown, the supplementary light source includes a high beam light source 14 and a low beam light source 13. The high beam light source 14 has a higher brightness and a larger irradiation range, and is used for supplementary lighting at a slightly longer distance. The low beam light source 13 has a lower brightness and a smaller irradiation range, and is used for supplementary lighting at a short distance. In actual implementation, the visual module judges the distance between the automatic charging robot and the vehicle charging interface 26. When the distance is far, the high beam light source 14 is used for supplementary lighting. When the distance is close, the high beam light source 14 is turned off, and only the low beam light source 13 is used for supplementary lighting. The advantage of doing this is that it can prevent the problem that the light source is not bright enough at a long distance and affects visual acquisition, and it can also prevent overexposure caused by too strong light at a short distance.

[0080] 〈Communication Module Embodiment〉 The communication module is used to provide the automatic charging robot with the ability to transmit and interact communication information. In terms of the selection of communication methods, if a wireless communication method is adopted, common mobile communication networks can be used for long-distance and large-range communication, such as 5G communication, 4G communication, 3G communication, etc. For short-distance and small-range communication, communication methods such as Wifi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and transparent transmission can be used. And for the wired communication method, an Ethernet cable is usually adopted. Preferably, Bluetooth communication can be used for the communication between the automatic charging robot and the vehicle to be charged, and for the communication between the automatic charging robot and the user's mobile phone, a mobile communication network or Bluetooth can be used. Preferably, if the automatic charging robot is uniformly managed by a background server, the communication between the automatic charging robot and the background server can adopt wireless communication methods such as mobile communication networks and WiFi, or a wired communication method.

[0081] The present invention does not limit the type, specification, and selected communication method of the communication module. Based on the present invention, simply changing the type, specification, or selected communication method of the communication module shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0082] 〈Implementation Modes of Charging Unit〉 The charging unit is used to realize the function of charging the vehicle. The common types of the charging unit are mainly divided into two categories. One is the AC charging unit, and the other is the DC charging unit. Taking the national standard for electric vehicle charging in China as an example, the AC charging unit directly delivers 220V alternating current to the on-board charger inside the vehicle, and the on-board charger converts the 220V alternating current into direct current that can directly charge the vehicle battery to realize the charging function; the DC charging unit can convert 380V alternating current or direct current at a certain voltage into direct current that matches the voltage and current requirements of the vehicle battery through a power module conversion unit, and then deliver it to the vehicle battery to realize the charging function. The present invention does not limit the type, specification, and selected input and output electrical energy types and input and output methods of the charging unit. Based on the present invention, simply changing the type, specification, or selected input and output electrical energy types and input and output methods of the charging unit shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0083] 〈Implementation Modes of Control and Processing Unit〉 The control and processing unit should at least have the capabilities of data analysis, processing, and control. It can be a general-purpose chip, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller unit (MCU), etc., or a dedicated processing and control chip, or a circuit board module with the above chips as the main control chip. Programs or software for implementing corresponding functions are usually loaded on the control and processing unit. The control and processing unit can be a single integrated control processor or composed of multiple control processors. The present invention does not limit the type, form, deployment method, and composition architecture of the control and processing unit. Based on the present invention, simply changing the type, form, deployment method, and composition architecture of the control and processing unit, etc., should all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0084] Preferably, the multi-axis motion module, vision module, walking module, charging unit, and communication module are all directly or indirectly connected to the control and processing unit.

[0085] In addition, the walking, actions, and function realization of the automatic charging robot of the present invention require the participation of some feedback sensors, such as limit sensors, position sensors, contact sensors, microswitches, etc., for feedback on the position or state of the automatic charging robot, a certain action execution device or component under certain working conditions. The setting of the feedback sensors belongs to the conventional operation in the field of automatic control and is usually set as needed. That is, corresponding feedback sensors are set wherever a certain feedback signal is required. Therefore, the specific setting details of the feedback sensors are not elaborated here. Preferably, the feedback sensors are connected to the control and processing unit directly or indirectly.

[0086] 〈Implementation Modes of the Power Supply Module〉 The power supply module is used to supply power to the automatic charging robot. The power supply method can be directly taking power from the power supply network in a wired manner, or self-supplying power with a battery, or taking power through electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic resonance wireless power taking methods. The power supply module can supply power through a single one of the above power supply methods or through a combination of several of them. The power supply of the power supply module can be divided into two parts. One part is to provide electrical energy for the driving, actions, and basic operation of the automatic charging robot itself, and the other part is to supply power to the charging unit. The power supply sources of these two parts can be the same or different. The power source of the power supply module can be alternating current or direct current. The present invention does not limit the power supply type, power supply method, and power source of the power supply module. Based on the present invention, simply changing the power supply type, power supply method, and power source of the power supply module should all fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0087] Preferably, as Figure 1As shown, the power supply module adopts a wired power supply method and directly obtains power from the AC power supply network through the power supply cable 10. Preferably, the power supply cable 10 is connected to the AC power supply network through the power take-off plug 11.

[0088] 〈Implementation Mode of Charging Workflow〉 As Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 9 , Figure 10 shown, taking the first preferred embodiment of the multi-axis motion module as an example, the general workflow for realizing automatic charging by using the automatic charging robot is as follows: The automatic charging robot is deployed beside the parking space. When the electric vehicle 25 in the parking space has an automatic charging requirement, the automatic charging robot walks to beside the vehicle charging interface 26 through the walking module under the guidance of the vision module. The electric vehicle 25 automatically opens the charging port lid or opens the charging port lid under the control instruction of the automatic charging robot. Then, under the guidance of the vision module, the multi-axis motion module first drives the charging plug head 8 to align with the vehicle charging interface 26, and then drives the charging plug head 8 to move along its axis direction to perform the gun insertion operation. Since the charging plug head 8 has swing flexibility, even if there is a deviation in the initial insertion angle or posture, the charging plug head 8 will automatically move along the direction with less resistance during the insertion process, so as to passively adjust the insertion posture and angle adaptively, and finally achieve the accurate docking of the charging plug head 8 and the vehicle charging interface 26. After the gun insertion action is completed, the charging unit is started to charge the electric vehicle 25. After the charging is completed, the gun removal operation is completed through the multi-axis motion module. The electric vehicle 25 immediately closes the charging port lid. Finally, the automatic charging robot returns to its initial position and resumes its initial state through the walking module.

Claims

1. A ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot, characterized in that, It includes a charging plug head, a multi-axis motion module, a flexible component, a vision module, a walking module, a charging unit, a control processing unit, a communication module, and a power supply module. The charging plug head is used to dock with the vehicle charging interface. The multi-axis motion module enables the charging plug head to have multi-axis motion capabilities. The flexible component is elastic, enabling the charging plug head to have swinging flexibility when subjected to external forces. When the external force is withdrawn, the flexible component can spontaneously return to its initial state when not subjected to external forces. The vision module is used for positioning and guiding. When performing the automatic gun insertion action, the vision module guides the charging plug head to align with the vehicle charging interface. The walking module is used to enable the automatic charging robot to move along the ground. The charging unit is used to achieve the function of charging the vehicle. The control processing unit is used to provide processing and control capabilities for the actions and functions of the automatic charging robot. The communication module is used to provide the ability for communication information transmission and interaction for the automatic charging robot. The power supply module is used to supply power to the automatic charging robot.

2. The ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot according to claim 1, wherein, The multi-axis motion module includes a gun insertion swing arm. A rotary swing shaft is provided at the tail of the gun insertion swing arm. The charging plug head is provided at the head of the gun insertion swing arm. The flexible component is provided between the charging plug head and the rotary swing shaft of the gun insertion swing arm.

3. The mobile flexible automatic charging robot on the ground according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flexible component is a spring assembly.

4. The mobile flexible automatic charging robot on the ground according to claim 1, wherein The flexible component is an elastic structural member composed of elastic materials.

5. The ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot according to claim 4, characterized in that, The elastic structural member is made of soft elastic materials.

6. The mobile flexible automatic charging robot on the ground according to claim 1, characterized in that The flexible component is a combined flexible structure.

7. The ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The automatic charging robot further includes a base. The multi-axis motion module is installed on the base. The walking module is provided at the bottom of the base. The flexible component is provided on the multi-axis motion module. When the axes of the multi-axis motion module do not perform active movements, the flexible component enables the charging plug head to still have the flexibility to swing when subjected to external forces.

8. The mobile flexible automatic charging robot for the ground according to claim 7, wherein The flexible component is provided on the arm of a certain motion axis of the multi-axis motion module.

9. The ground moving flexible automatic charging robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The charging plug head includes a guiding portion. When the charging plug head is inserted into the vehicle charging interface, the guiding portion can provide insertion guidance.

10. The mobile flexible automatic charging robot for the ground according to claim 9, characterized in that The guiding portion is a guiding conical surface. The feature of the guiding conical surface is that in the direction of the charging plug head towards the gun insertion direction, the cross-section of the charging plug head presents a conical surface structure feature that gradually becomes thinner. This conical surface structure feature allows there to be a certain alignment error between the charging plug head and the vehicle charging interface when the automatic charging robot performs the automatic charging gun insertion action.

11. The mobile flexible automatic charging robot on the ground according to claim 1, wherein, It also includes a pin telescopic component and a charging gun positioning end face. The pin telescopic component includes a pin telescopic driving module and a male pin. The vehicle charging interface includes a surface end face and a female pin. After the charging plug head is fully inserted into the vehicle charging interface, its insertion length is shorter than that of a standard charging gun after being fully inserted into the vehicle charging interface. When the charging plug head is fully inserted into the vehicle charging port, the charging gun positioning end face fits with the surface end face of the vehicle charging interface. The pin telescopic component can push the male pin into the female pin of the vehicle charging interface to form a contact fit between the male pin and the female pin.

12. The mobile flexible automatic charging robot on the ground according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vision module includes a vision acquisition unit. The vision acquisition unit is arranged near the charging plug head, and the direction of its vision acquisition is consistent with the direction of the charging gun of the charging plug head.

13. The mobile flexible automatic charging robot for the ground according to claim 1, wherein, It also includes a supplementary light source, which is used to provide supplementary light for the operation of the vision module when the ambient light is relatively dim.

14. The mobile flexible automatic charging robot on the ground according to claim 1, characterized in that, The traveling power mechanism of the traveling module is a Mecanum wheel set.

15. The floor - moving flexible automatic charging robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The traveling power mechanism of the traveling module is a differential wheel set, and the differential wheel set is composed of four power wheels that can rotate forward and backward independently and are installed in parallel.

16. The ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot according to claim 1, characterized in that The traveling power mechanism of the traveling module is a steering wheel set.

17. The ground mobile flexible automatic charging robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a rigid-flexible state switching component. The flexible component adopts a two-end installation method. The two structural members for installing the flexible component are respectively called the first installation end and the second installation end. The rigid-flexible state switching component is used to constrain the flexibility of the flexible component when the charging plug head does not need to swing flexibly, so as to form a rigid connection between the first installation end and the second installation end. When the charging plug head needs to swing flexibly, the rigid-flexible state switching component releases the constraint on the flexibility of the flexible component, so that the flexible component restores its flexibility.

18. The floor moving flexible automatic charging robot according to claim 17, wherein The rigid-flexible state switching component is a pin telescopic module. The pin telescopic module includes a telescopic pin and a pin hole. One of the telescopic pin and the pin hole is arranged on the first installation end, and the other is arranged on the second installation end, and the positions of the telescopic pin and the pin hole correspond to each other. When the charging plug head does not need to swing flexibly, the pin telescopic module drives the telescopic pin to insert into the pin hole. When the charging plug head needs to restore the swinging flexibility, the pin telescopic module drives the telescopic pin to pull out from the pin hole.

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