Automatic positioning method and system for gate pull rod of hydropower station cable-stayed portal crane

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of gate pull rods, and discloses an automatic positioning method and system for a hydropower station cable-stayed portal crane gate pull rod, and the method comprises the steps: carrying out the image collection of a lower end pull rod through a visual camera, and obtaining first visual information; according to the first visual information, the position of the tilt-shift trolley is adjusted; after the position adjustment of the shaft moving trolley is completed, the positions of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform are adjusted, and the position of a pin shaft is determined; the pull rod is lowered, meanwhile, image collection is conducted on the gate pull rod of the hydropower station cable-stayed portal crane through a visual camera, and second visual information is obtained; according to the second visual information, performing hole alignment on the positions of the pull rods at the upper end and the lower end in the hole alignment process; the moving shaft placed on the shaft moving platform is pushed through the electric-hydraulic push rod, and shaft hole positioning is completed. Safe and rapid alignment can be achieved, the labor cost is saved, and the advantages of large fault tolerance, good economical efficiency and the like are achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of gate tie rods, and particularly to an automatic positioning method and system for the gate tie rods of a slant pull gantry crane in a hydropower station. Background Art

[0002] The gate slots of some hydropower stations are designed as inclined gate slots. To meet the requirements of lowering the gate, a gantry crane will be connected to the gate through a tie rod for operation. Especially for the deep-hole emergency gate with an inclined gate slot, multiple tie rods need to be configured to complete the lowering operation when the gate is lowered.

[0003] To cope with this working condition, a set of tie rod shift axle devices are equipped on the gantry crane when it leaves the factory, which are used to lock the connections between the tie rods and between the tie rod and the hanging shaft. However, during the use of the tie rod shift axle device, the operator needs to repeatedly adjust the position of the pin shaft many times to complete the alignment of the holes. The more the number of tie rod sections, the more times the above operation needs to be repeated. This traditional operation method not only increases the workload of the operator and has low efficiency, but also during the pin insertion process of the pin shaft, due to the resistance received by the shift axle device, the trolley frame may slide, resulting in many problems such as safety risks. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of the above existing problems, the present invention is proposed.

[0005] Therefore, the technical problem solved by the present invention is: the existing pin insertion method for gate tie rods has optimization problems such as high labor cost, high risk coefficient, and low efficiency.

[0006] To solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides the following technical solution: an automatic positioning method for the gate tie rods of a slant pull gantry crane in a hydropower station, including:

[0007] Collecting images of the lower tie rod through a vision camera to obtain the first vision information;

[0008] Adjusting the position of the shift axle trolley according to the first vision information;

[0009] After completing the position adjustment of the shift axle trolley, adjusting the positions of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform to determine the position of the pin shaft;

[0010] Lowering the tie rod, and at the same time collecting images of the gate tie rods of the slant pull gantry crane in the hydropower station through a vision camera to obtain the second vision information;

[0011] Aligning the positions of the upper and lower tie rods during the hole alignment process according to the second vision information;

[0012] Pushing the shift axle placed on the shift axle platform through an electro-hydraulic push rod to complete the shaft hole positioning.

[0013] As a preferred embodiment of the automatic positioning method for the gate tie rods of the inclined cable hoist in a hydropower station according to the present invention, wherein: the gate tie rods of the inclined cable hoist in the hydropower station are composed of multiple tie rods connected by inserting and removing pin shafts through the gate slot orifices;

[0014] The shifting trolley is used to perform the inserting and removing actions at each gate slot orifice to complete the connection and disassembly.

[0015] During the connection or disassembly process, the upper tie rod is lifted by the gantry crane, and the position of the lower tie rod is fixed. Taking the lower tie rod as the origin, a coordinate system is established. The direction parallel to the ground and along the direction of pin shaft alignment is defined as the X direction, the direction parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the pin shaft alignment direction is defined as the Y direction, and the direction perpendicular to the ground is defined as the Z direction.

[0016] As a preferred embodiment of the automatic positioning method for the gate tie rods of the inclined cable hoist in a hydropower station according to the present invention, wherein: the first visual information includes that the visual cameras arranged on the shifting trolley provide position coordinates for automatic positioning control.

[0017] The horizontally positioned visual camera for the tie rod along the Y direction calculates its position in the X direction in the reference coordinate system. The PLC slave station on the shifting trolley starts the automatic positioning control program and the fine motion control program to guide the shifting trolley to move along the X direction until the X-direction coordinate position of this camera is within a preset range near the origin.

[0018] As a preferred embodiment of the automatic positioning method for the gate tie rods of the inclined cable hoist in a hydropower station according to the present invention, wherein: the position adjustment of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform includes that the visual camera for tie rod alignment along the X direction calculates its positions in the Z and Y directions in the coordinate system. The PLC master station on the gantry crane guides the hydraulic lifting platform to move along the Z direction and guides the hydraulic lifting platform to move along the Y direction until the Z-direction coordinate position of this camera is within a preset range near the origin;

[0019] The PLC master station guides the multi-degree-of-freedom platform to move along the Y direction until the Y-direction coordinate position of this camera is within a preset range near the origin.

[0020] As a preferred embodiment of the automatic positioning method for the gate tie rods of the inclined cable hoist in a hydropower station according to the present invention, wherein: the position adjustment of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform further includes that after completing the shaft hole positioning task, the original upper tie rod moves down to serve as the new lower tie rod for the next alignment.

[0021] After completing the previous shaft hole positioning task, a real-time updated three-dimensional model is established using the horizontally positioned visual camera for the tie rod along the Y direction and the visual camera for tie rod alignment along the X direction to predict the alignment position, thereby predicting the position of the shifting trolley and moving the shifting trolley to the predicted position.

[0022] By identifying the three-dimensional features of the upper pull rod in the previous shaft hole positioning task, the feature mark of the original upper pull rod is obtained. According to the feature mark, the position offset and angle offset between the vertical center line of the original upper pull rod and the hole opening are obtained;

[0023] According to the position offset and the angle offset, predict the origin position and the X direction of the current shaft hole positioning task. According to the predicted origin position and X direction, adjust the position of the shaft shifting trolley and the positions of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform, and record the current position as the predicted position;

[0024] After the position of the new lower pull rod is fixed, through the first visual information, finely adjust the position of the shaft shifting trolley and the positions of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform for the actual origin and X direction; at the same time, calculate and update the feature mark according to the actual origin and X direction;

[0025] The feature mark includes analyzing the physical features of each pull rod three-dimensional model and matching the physical features with the marked content; wherein, the marked content is the position offset and angle offset between the vertical center line of the pull rod and the hole opening.

[0026] As a preferred scheme of the automatic positioning method for the gate pull rod of the hydropower station inclined pull gate machine described in the present invention, wherein: the second visual information includes a pull rod horizontal positioning visual camera arranged along the Y direction, which simultaneously collects the images of the upper and lower pull rods. The industrial control computer calculates the coordinate position of the virtual vertical center line of the upper pull rod in the X direction and transmits it to the PLC. The PLC starts the automatic positioning control program and the fine movement control program to guide the running of the trolley traveling mechanism of the gantry crane until it is automatically positioned within a preset range near the Z axis of the virtual vertical center line of the upper pull rod;

[0027] A pull rod hole-aligning visual camera arranged along the X direction, which simultaneously collects the images of the upper and lower pull rods. The industrial control computer calculates the coordinate position of the virtual vertical center line of the upper pull rod in the Y direction and transmits it to the PLC. The PLC starts the automatic positioning control program and the fine movement control program to guide the running of the trolley traveling mechanism of the gantry crane until it is automatically positioned within a preset range near the Z axis of the virtual vertical center line of the upper pull rod;

[0028] The virtual vertical center line includes determining the position and angle relationship between the vertical center line and the hole opening in the standard pull rod; under the hole opening position and angle obtained by the visual camera, according to the position and angle relationship between the vertical center line and the hole opening, a virtual line for the actual hole opening position and angle is built.

[0029] As a preferred embodiment of the automatic positioning method for the gate tie rods of the inclined cable hoist in a hydropower station according to the present invention, wherein: the alignment of the upper and lower tie rods during the hole alignment process includes constructing a two-dimensional hole alignment model of the upper and lower tie rods by using a tie rod hole alignment vision camera arranged along the X direction;

[0030] The two-dimensional hole alignment model includes constructing two-dimensional structural models of the upper and lower tie rod orifice openings respectively in the plane where the Y direction and the Z direction are located according to the images captured by the vision camera, and extracting the circular edge information of the orifice openings;

[0031] In the plane where the Y direction and the Z direction are located, displace the upper tie rod and update the two-dimensional hole alignment model in real time. When the contour area of the hole alignment result increases, it indicates a positive direction movement; otherwise, it is a negative direction movement;

[0032] If the hole alignment result is a complete circle without occlusion, confirm the hole alignment result; if the hole alignment result is not a complete circle and there is occlusion, continue to displace the upper tie rod until the contour area of the hole alignment result no longer increases or the hole alignment result is a complete circle;

[0033] The hole alignment result includes the hollow part after the upper and lower tie rod orifice openings overlap.

[0034] An automatic positioning system for the gate tie rods of the inclined cable hoist in a hydropower station adopting the method according to any one of the present invention, characterized in that:

[0035] The first control unit collects the image of the lower tie rod through the vision camera to obtain the first vision information; adjusts the position of the shift trolley according to the first vision information;

[0036] After the second control unit completes the position adjustment of the shift trolley, it adjusts the positions of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform to determine the pin shaft position; lowers the tie rod, and at the same time collects the image of the gate tie rod of the inclined cable hoist in the hydropower station through the vision camera to obtain the second vision information; aligns the positions of the upper and lower tie rods during the hole alignment process according to the second vision information;

[0037] The power unit pushes the shift placed on the shift platform through the electro-hydraulic push rod to complete the shaft hole positioning.

[0038] A computer device includes: a memory and a processor; the memory stores a computer program, wherein: when the processor executes the computer program, it implements the steps of the method according to any one of the present invention.

[0039] A computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program thereon, wherein: when the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the steps of the method according to any one of the present invention.

[0040] Advantages of the present invention: The automatic positioning method for the gate tie rod of the inclined cable-stayed gantry crane in a hydropower station provided by the present invention can achieve safe and rapid alignment, and the single installation operation time does not exceed 15 minutes. It saves labor costs, and only 1 to 2 people are required to complete the operation, and the operators mainly play a monitoring role, reducing the work burden of the operators. It has a large fault tolerance. The device has a simple and light structure, can be quickly installed and disassembled, and even if this device is not used, it does not affect the alignment operation in the traditional way. The increased technical cost is not high, and the economy is good. Description of the Drawings

[0041] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0042] Figure 1 It is the overall flowchart of an automatic positioning method for the gate tie rod of the inclined cable-stayed gantry crane in a hydropower station provided by the second embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 2 It is the network diagram in an automatic positioning method for the gate tie rod of the inclined cable-stayed gantry crane in a hydropower station provided by the second embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 3 It is the reference coordinate diagram of an automatic positioning method for the gate tie rod of the inclined cable-stayed gantry crane in a hydropower station provided by the second embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Embodiments

[0045] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features, and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the detailed embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings of the specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of them. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0046] Embodiment 1, which is an embodiment of the present invention, provides an automatic positioning method for the gate tie rod of the inclined cable-stayed gantry crane in a hydropower station. The structure of the gate of the inclined cable-stayed gantry crane in the hydropower station includes:

[0047] The lower tie rod is fixed through a locking device, and the tie rods are connected by pin shafts. After multiple tie rods, a water filling valve device on the gate is connected.

[0048] The gate tie rod of the slant-pulling gantry crane in a hydropower station is composed of multiple tie rods connected by pin shafts at the gate slot orifice; the shift-axis trolley is used to perform the actions of inserting and withdrawing the pin shafts at each gate slot orifice to complete the connection and disassembly.

[0049] Example 2, referring to Figures 1-3 , which is an embodiment of the present invention, provides an automatic positioning method for the gate tie rod of the slant-pulling gantry crane in a hydropower station, including:

[0050] The visual sensor installed on the shift-axis trolley collects relevant position information and transmits it to the PLC master station on the gantry crane body through wireless interconnection technology. The PLC master station performs automatic positioning control logic operations based on this position information, and then drives the gantry crane to operate, or transmits instructions to the PLC slave station of the shift-axis trolley to drive the shift-axis trolley to operate, completing the positioning and alignment operations. After reaching the hole alignment position, the tie rod pin shaft carried on the shift-axis trolley will be pushed into the tie rod hole by the electro-hydraulic push rod, thus completing the automation and unmanned control of the entire process.

[0051] The shift-axis trolley part. The visual cameras for tie rod positioning, the visual cameras for tie rod hole alignment, and the industrial computer for visual recognition; the PLC slave station for logic control; the fiber optic switch and firewall intelligent system, and the WIFI6 router for network communication; the frequency converter, motor, etc. for drive control.

[0052] The gantry crane body part. The PLC master station for logic control; the WIFI6 router for wireless network communication; the frequency converter, motor for drive control; and the human-machine interface (HMI), etc.

[0053] The shift-axis trolley and the gantry crane body are two independent mechanisms in terms of mechanical structure, and the data exchange between them cannot be carried out by wired means and can only be carried out by wireless transmission. The PLC slave station of the shift-axis trolley is connected to the PLC master station of the gantry crane through a wireless network to transmit data and receive commands. The wireless WIFI communication technology is used for multi-point interconnection between the gantry crane and the shift-axis trolley.

[0054] S1: Through the visual camera, the image of the lower tie rod is collected to obtain the first visual information; according to the first visual information, the position of the shift-axis trolley is adjusted.

[0055] Further, when the gantry crane reaches the orifice position and is ready to perform the tie rod hole alignment operation, the shift-axis trolley has been placed on the special track corresponding to the orifice. At this time, the pin shaft carried on the shift-axis device platform is already parallel to the X direction, and the pin shaft can be aligned with the tie rod hole by adjusting the shift-axis device platform that can move in multiple degrees of freedom subsequently.

[0056] After the system starts up, it will detect the communication status and working status of each node in the wired and wireless communication networks. At the same time, the vision analysis software in the industrial control computer will self-check the vision camera and the light source. If the self-check is abnormal, the system will stop running and issue a warning; if the self-check is normal, the vision camera will establish a coordinate system.

[0057] During the entire operation process of hole alignment, automatic positioning control is adopted. The vision camera arranged on the shifting trolley provides the position coordinates for the automatic positioning control. Since the upper pull rod is lifted by a gantry crane and is movable, while the position of the lower pull rod is fixed and immovable, it is necessary to establish a coordinate system with the lower pull rod as the origin. Define the direction parallel to the ground and along the pin hole alignment direction as the X direction, the direction parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the pin hole alignment direction as the Y direction, and the direction perpendicular to the ground as the Z direction (as Figure 3 shown). There is a vision camera for detecting the hole alignment of the pull rod arranged along the X direction on the shifting device platform, and a vision camera for detecting the horizontal positioning of the pull rod arranged along the Y direction on the shifting trolley. The vision camera for detecting the hole alignment of the pull rod arranged along the X direction collects the image of the hole of the lower pull rod, extracts its edge information, and establishes a reference coordinate system with the midpoint of its central axis as the coordinate origin. After the industrial control computer sends the coordinates to the PLC master station, the PLC will automatically plan the operation path according to the position relationship of the upper pull rod in the coordinates to achieve the purpose of automatic positioning.

[0058] The vision camera for detecting the horizontal positioning of the pull rod arranged along the Y direction calculates its position in the X direction in the reference coordinate system. The PLC master station on the gantry crane starts the automatic positioning control program and the fine motion control program to guide the shifting trolley to move along the X direction until the X-direction coordinate position of this camera is within a preset range near the origin.

[0059] S2: After completing the position adjustment of the shifting trolley, perform the position adjustment of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform to determine the position of the pin.

[0060] Furthermore, the position adjustment of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform includes that the vision camera for detecting the hole alignment of the pull rod arranged along the X direction calculates its positions in the Z and Y directions in the coordinate system. The PLC master station on the gantry crane guides the hydraulic lifting platform to move along the Z direction until the Z-direction coordinate position of this camera is within a preset range near the origin. Then, the PLC master station guides the multi-degree-of-freedom platform to move along the Y direction until the Y-direction coordinate position of this camera is within a preset range near the origin. At this time, the position adjustment of each mechanism of the shifting trolley is completed, ensuring that the two vision cameras and the shifting device overlap with the X axis or the Y axis.

[0061] The pull rod visual camera arranged in the X direction simultaneously collects the images of the upper and lower pull rods. The industrial control computer uses vision software to analyze whether the two images overlap, and the PLC judges whether the Y-direction coordinate of the midpoint of the central axis of the upper pull rod hole is positive. If any of the conditions is not met, the PLC master station will guide the hoisting and the movement of the trolley until the upper pull rod reaches the preset safe range, thus avoiding the collision between the upper pull rod and the lower pull rod when the upper pull rod moves in the X direction and ensuring that the upper pull rod is aligned with the lower pull rod in a lowered posture.

[0062] It should be noted that after completing the task of passing the pin through the shaft hole, the shaft moving trolley moves in the X direction away from the pull rod to the designated position, and the original upper pull rod moves down to serve as the new lower pull rod for the next alignment. After completing the previous shaft hole positioning task, a real-time updated three-dimensional model is established by using the visual camera for horizontal positioning of the pull rod arranged in the Y direction and the visual camera for alignment of the pull rod arranged in the X direction to predict the alignment position, so as to predict the position of the shaft moving trolley and move the shaft moving trolley to the predicted position.

[0063] By identifying the three-dimensional features of the upper pull rod in the previous shaft hole positioning task, the feature mark of the original upper pull rod is obtained, and based on the feature mark, the position offset and angle offset between the vertical center line of the original upper pull rod and the hole opening are obtained.

[0064] Based on the position offset and the angle offset, the origin position and the X direction of the current shaft hole positioning task are predicted. Based on the predicted origin position and X direction, the position of the shaft moving trolley, the position of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform are adjusted, and the current position is recorded as the predicted position.

[0065] After the position of the new lower pull rod is fixed, based on the first visual information, the position of the shaft moving trolley, the position of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform are finely adjusted for the actual origin and X direction; at the same time, based on the actual origin and X direction, the feature mark is calculated and updated.

[0066] The feature mark includes analyzing the physical features of each pull rod three-dimensional model and matching the physical features with the marked content; wherein, the marked content is the position offset and angle offset between the vertical center line of the pull rod and the hole opening.

[0067] It should be noted that after each hole alignment task is completed, by establishing a new 3D model and feature markers, the system can predict the accurate position and direction of the pull rod for the next hole alignment, thereby reducing unnecessary adjustment processes. The prediction model provides the system with new origin and X-direction coordinates as the basis for adjusting the positions of the trolley and the platform. In this way, the trolley, the hydraulic lifting platform, and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform can be adjusted in advance, which can greatly save time and only requires fine-tuning after the position of the pull rod is determined, avoiding the time loss of queuing for different operations.

[0068] Since the pull rod will shift to a new lower pull rod position after each operation, this design eliminates cumulative errors through 3D feature recognition and real-time fine-tuning, ensuring that each positioning task starts from an accurate reference point. Through the position prediction and position fine-tuning system, the trolley and the platform can quickly move to the predicted position and perform fine-tuning on this basis, thereby significantly reducing the adjustment time for each hole alignment task. This design minimizes the gap between the predicted position and the actual position, greatly improving the hole alignment efficiency.

[0069] It should also be mentioned that the pull rod may undergo slight deformation during long-term use, and this design can dynamically adapt to these changes through feature markers and real-time updates. By obtaining and updating the centerline offset and angle offset information of the pull rod in real time, it is ensured that the deformation will not affect the positioning accuracy. Using feature markers, the system updates and calibrates the position after each operation, ensuring a stable reference point, reducing cumulative errors and offsets. In addition, the real-time adjustment and automatic learning mechanism make the system more intelligent and able to adapt to different pull rod conditions. Traditional hole alignment operations often require manual repeated adjustments, while this design can automatically achieve precise fine-tuning according to 3D features and position offset data, reducing the dependence on manual operations and achieving fully automated positioning. Among them, in this scenario, the feature recognition algorithm needs to have high precision and robustness to process the features of the pull rod under different deformation conditions. A suitable choice is an algorithm that combines a convolutional neural network (CNN) with 3D point cloud processing, such as PointNet, which is used to extract 3D features from visual information, identify the specific physical features of the pull rod, and generate feature markers.

[0070] S3: Lower the pull rod, and at the same time, through a vision camera, collect images of the gate pull rod of the hydropower station inclined pull gate machine to obtain second visual information; according to the second visual information, perform hole alignment on the positions of the upper and lower pull rods during the hole alignment process.

[0071] Further, the pull rod horizontal alignment vision camera arranged in the Y direction simultaneously acquires the images of the upper and lower pull rods. The industrial control computer calculates the coordinate position of the vertical center line of the upper pull rod in the X direction and transmits it to the PLC. The PLC starts the automatic positioning control program and the fine motion control program to guide the operation of the trolley traveling mechanism of the gantry crane until it is automatically positioned within a preset range near the vertical center line of the upper pull rod on the Z axis. The pull rod hole alignment vision camera arranged in the X direction simultaneously acquires the images of the upper and lower pull rods. The industrial control computer calculates the coordinate position of the vertical center line of the upper pull rod in the Y direction and transmits it to the PLC. The PLC starts the automatic positioning control program and the fine motion control program to guide the operation of the trolley traveling mechanism of the gantry crane until it is automatically positioned within a preset range near the vertical center line of the upper pull rod on the Z axis.

[0072] The pull rod hole alignment vision camera arranged in the X direction simultaneously acquires the images of the upper and lower pull rods. The industrial control computer calculates the coordinate position of the virtual vertical center line of the upper pull rod in the Y direction and transmits it to the PLC. The PLC starts the automatic positioning control program and the fine motion control program to guide the operation of the trolley traveling mechanism of the gantry crane until it is automatically positioned within a preset range near the virtual vertical center line of the upper pull rod on the Z axis.

[0073] The virtual vertical center line includes determining the position and angle relationship between the vertical center line and the orifice in the standard pull rod; and building a virtual line for the actual orifice position and angle according to the position and angle relationship between the vertical center line and the orifice at the orifice position and angle obtained by the vision camera.

[0074] In practical applications, the pull rod may be deformed or displaced due to long-term use or uneven stress. The virtual vertical center line can be used as an "idealized" alignment line. Even if the pull rod is slightly bent or tilted, the system can still perform standardized positioning and hole alignment through the virtual line. In practical applications, the pull rod may be deformed or displaced due to long-term use or uneven stress. The virtual vertical center line can be used as an "idealized" alignment line. Even if the pull rod is slightly bent or tilted, the system can still perform standardized positioning and hole alignment through the virtual line.

[0075] The virtual center line establishes the position and angle relationship of a "standard pull rod" in the design, making each hole alignment operation have a consistent reference. This not only improves the stability of alignment but also avoids the cumulative error caused by the deformation of the pull rod or environmental influence in the system. With the virtual vertical center line, the system can quickly position by referring to the ideal hole alignment position without repeatedly fine-tuning and correcting the actual position of the pull rod, significantly improving the hole alignment efficiency.

[0076] Further, the hole alignment of the positions of the upper and lower pull rods during the hole alignment process includes constructing a two-dimensional hole alignment model of the upper and lower pull rods by using the pull rod hole alignment vision camera arranged in the X direction.

[0077] The two-dimensional hole alignment model includes constructing two-dimensional structure models of the upper and lower tie rod orifice openings respectively in the plane where the Y direction and the Z direction are located according to the images captured by the vision camera, and extracting the circular edge information of the orifice openings.

[0078] In the plane where the Y direction and the Z direction are located, displace the upper tie rod, and update the two-dimensional hole alignment model in real time. When the contour area of the hole alignment result increases, it indicates a positive direction movement; otherwise, it is a negative direction movement.

[0079] If the hole alignment result is a complete circle and there is no occlusion, confirm the hole alignment result; if the hole alignment result is not a complete circle and there is occlusion, continue to displace the upper tie rod until the contour area of the hole alignment result no longer increases or the hole alignment result is a complete circle. Ensure that the final obtained circular features and other features (radius, angle, area) meet the requirements of alignment. The hole alignment result includes the hollow part after the upper and lower tie rod orifice openings overlap.

[0080] It should be noted that during the hole alignment process, a slight offset may cause the orifice openings not to be completely aligned. By analyzing the change in the overlapping contour area, the system can timely detect and correct these slight offsets, ensuring that each hole alignment operation reaches the optimal accuracy. By continuously monitoring the increasing or decreasing trend of the contour area, the system can quickly determine whether the current moving direction is correct. When the moving direction is consistent with the target alignment direction, the contour area will increase, otherwise it will decrease. This real-time feedback mechanism enables the system to continuously adjust the position of the upper tie rod within a small range until the ideal alignment state is reached.

[0081] By precisely controlling the position of the upper tie rod, ensure the best alignment state during the movement in the X direction. Compared with simply relying on mechanical alignment, the fine-tuning process based on visual feedback is more accurate and stable, effectively eliminating small deviations. Since the system can judge in real time whether the moving direction is correct, it avoids the traditional adjustment process of repeated probing, shortens the hole alignment time, and greatly improves the overall work efficiency. In different environments (such as some tie rods have slight deformation or inclination), the system can automatically adjust according to the contour change, has strong adaptability, and ensures accurate hole alignment in complex environments.

[0082] S4: Push the pin shaft placed on the shift axis platform through the electro-hydraulic push rod to complete the shaft hole positioning.

[0083] On the other hand, this embodiment also provides an automatic positioning system for the gate tie rod of the hydropower station stay cable gate, which includes:

[0084] The first control unit collects the images of the lower tie rod through the vision camera to obtain the first visual information; according to the first visual information, adjust the position of the shift axis trolley.

[0085] After the second control unit completes the position adjustment of the shift trolley, it performs the position adjustment of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform, and determines the pin shaft position; lowers the tie rod, and at the same time, through a vision camera, collects images of the gate tie rod of the hydropower station stay cable hoist to obtain the second vision information; according to the second vision information, aligns the positions of the upper and lower tie rods during the hole alignment process.

[0086] The power unit uses an electro-hydraulic push rod to push the shift placed on the shift platform to complete the shaft hole positioning.

[0087] If the above functions are implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a part of this technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of the present invention. The foregoing storage medium includes: various media such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memories (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memories (RAM, Random Access Memory), magnetic disks, or optical discs that can store program codes.

[0088] The logic and / or steps represented in the flowchart or described in other ways herein, for example, can be considered as a definite sequence list of executable instructions for implementing logical functions, and can be specifically implemented in any computer-readable medium for use by an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device (such as a computer-based system, a system including a processor, or other systems that can fetch instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions), or used in combination with these instruction execution systems, apparatuses, or devices. For the purposes of this specification, a "computer-readable medium" can be any device that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transmit a program for use by or in combination with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0089] More specific examples (nonexhaustive list) of computer-readable media include the following: an electrical connection (electronic device) having one or more wirings, a portable computer diskette (magnetic device), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber device, and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM). Additionally, the computer-readable media can even be paper or other suitable media on which the program can be printed, since the program can be obtained electronically, for example, by optically scanning the paper or other media, followed by editing, interpretation, or otherwise processing it as appropriate, and then storing it in a computer memory.

[0090] It should be understood that the various parts of the present invention can be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. In the above embodiments, multiple steps or methods can be implemented by software or firmware stored in a memory and executed by a suitable instruction execution system. For example, if implemented by hardware, as in another embodiment, any one or a combination of the following techniques well known in the art can be used: discrete logic circuits having logic gate circuits for implementing logical functions on data signals, application specific integrated circuits having appropriate combinational logic gate circuits, programmable gate arrays (PGAs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), etc.

[0091] Embodiment 2, an embodiment of the present invention, provides an automatic positioning method for the gate tie rod of a hydropower station cable-stayed gate machine. In order to verify the beneficial effects of the present invention, scientific demonstration is carried out through economic benefit calculation and simulation experiments.

[0092] The test system includes a shift-axis trolley, a hydraulic lifting platform, a multi-degree-of-freedom platform, a gantry crane, and various sensing devices and control devices. The key points of the experiment are to conduct multiple measurements and data analyses on the positioning accuracy of the shift-axis trolley, the height adjustment accuracy of the hydraulic platform, and the final hole alignment effect.

[0093] Before the test, the initialization configuration of the system was carried out to ensure the linkage of each subsystem. The shift-axis trolley was installed with a visual camera for the tie rod to be in place and a visual camera for the tie rod to align with the hole, which were respectively used for detecting the horizontal and vertical positions. The PLC master station on the gantry crane body was responsible for collecting the data transmitted back by the visual cameras to control the movement of the shift-axis trolley and the platform.

[0094] Step 1: Initialize the system

[0095] After the system is powered on, it first detects the wired and wireless communication nodes, and performs self-checks on the camera and light source through vision analysis software. After completing the self-check and establishing the coordinate system, the system sets the direction parallel to the pin axis and hole as the X direction, the direction parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the pin axis and hole as the Y direction, and the direction perpendicular to the ground as the Z direction. The establishment of the reference coordinate system ensures a unified standard for subsequent position detection.

[0096] Step 2: Initial positioning of the shaft-shifting trolley

[0097] Under the guidance of the PLC master station, the shaft-shifting trolley obtains the first visual information through the visual camera for the pull rod in-position, and determines its position in the reference coordinate system. The trolley precisely aligns with the pull rod hole opening along the special track for the next operation. According to the visual feedback, when the trolley reaches the preset position in the X direction, the system automatically adjusts the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform to align the pull rod with the hole opening in the Z direction.

[0098] Step 3: Automatic positioning and fine-tuning

[0099] To ensure the hole alignment accuracy, the system adopts an automatic positioning control program and a micro-motion control program. During each fine-tuning process, the visual camera for the horizontal in-position of the pull rod monitors the center position of the hole opening in real time. When the deviation is outside the preset range, the trolley and the platform automatically move slightly in the specified direction. By using this method of multiple positionings and gradual optimizations, the hole openings of the upper and lower pull rods reach the hole alignment accuracy standard in the X, Y, and Z directions.

[0100] Step 4: Establishment and alignment of the virtual center line

[0101] To cope with the deformation of the pull rod during use, the system establishes a virtual vertical center line through the visual camera to simulate the ideal alignment standard. Using the virtual line as a reference, the system continuously adjusts the position of the upper pull rod until a complete circular hole opening overlapping area is formed, and finally performs the hole alignment when there is no occlusion.

[0102] Step 5: Pushing by the electro-hydraulic push rod and final positioning When the hole openings of the upper and lower pull rods completely overlap, the system starts the electro-hydraulic push rod to push the shaft-shifting platform upward to achieve the final insertion of the pull rod. The push rod uses a closed-loop control system to detect the magnitude of the thrust and continuously adjusts to ensure the safe entry of the pull rod into the hole.

[0103] The experiment was carried out five times under different working conditions, and the accuracy data, hole alignment time, and final position error of the shaft-shifting trolley, hydraulic platform, multi-degree-of-freedom platform, etc. during positioning and fine-tuning were recorded to comprehensively evaluate the system performance, as shown in Table 1.

[0104] Table 1 Experimental data record

[0105]

[0106] It can be seen from the test data that this automatic positioning method exhibits excellent hole alignment accuracy and efficiency under different experimental conditions, reflecting its remarkable innovation and advantages.

[0107] The test data shows that the average error of the shift trolley after initial positioning is 5.0 mm, indicating that the system can effectively align the trolley to the initial position. Through the synergistic effect of the vision camera and PLC control, the automatic fine-tuning further improves the positioning accuracy. After the fine-tuning is completed, the positioning error is only 0.22 mm, meeting the preset accuracy standard. Compared with the traditional manual debugging, this system can quickly adjust the hole position within a short time, significantly shortening the positioning time.

[0108] The test shows that the application of the virtual center line effectively solves the deformation problem of the pull rod during long-term use. Through the ideal alignment standard provided by the virtual center line, the system can intelligently compensate for the offset of the pull rod. The average compensation rate in the test is 98.6%, almost completely eliminating the influence of deformation. This technology ensures the consistency and standardization of the hole alignment operation, greatly improving the adaptability of the system compared with traditional means.

[0109] Through the closed-loop control system of the PLC master station and the electro-hydraulic push rod, the fine-tuning process in the test only takes about 13.7 seconds, and the average time to complete the entire hole alignment task is about 35.9 seconds, far lower than the time required for manual adjustment. The traditional method usually relies on multiple manual adjustments and measurements, while the automatic fine-tuning mechanism of the present invention significantly improves the hole alignment efficiency, reducing the overall operation time by about 40%. In practical applications, especially in the continuous operation of hydropower stations, this fast and accurate fine-tuning is extremely helpful for high-frequency hole alignment tasks.

[0110] According to the test results, the final hole alignment accuracy is maintained within the range of 0.05 mm to 0.06 mm, indicating that the system can complete the positioning task with extremely high stability. Traditional hole alignment technologies usually have difficulty achieving such fine accuracy, especially in the case where the pull rod may deform. The system further reduces the offset error through feature marking and real-time updates. By comparing with traditional hole alignment equipment, it can be found that the automatic positioning method of the present invention ensures high precision and reliability while achieving full automation.

[0111] In summary, the experimental data verifies the significant advantages of this automatic positioning method in practical applications, indicating its innovation and practical value in terms of hole alignment accuracy, efficiency, and automatic control. Through the unique virtual center line technology, precise visual feedback, and PLC control strategy, the present invention provides an effective and reliable solution for positioning the pull rod of the hydropower station gate.

[0112] It should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention rather than to limit them. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the technical solutions of the present invention can be modified or equivalently replaced without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the present invention, and all of them should be covered by the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic positioning method for the gate tie rod of a cable-stayed gate machine in a hydropower station, characterized in that, Including: Collecting images of the lower tie rod through a vision camera to obtain the first visual information; Adjusting the position of the shift trolley according to the first visual information; After completing the position adjustment of the shift trolley, adjusting the positions of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform to determine the position of the pin shaft; Lowering the tie rod, and at the same time collecting images of the gate tie rod of the hydropower station stay cable hoist through a vision camera to obtain the second visual information; Aligning the positions of the upper and lower tie rods during the hole alignment process according to the second visual information; Pushing the shift on the shift platform through an electro-hydraulic push rod to complete the shaft hole positioning.

2. The automatic positioning method of the gate tie rod of the inclined cable-stayed gate machine of a hydropower station according to claim 1, wherein: The gate tie rod of the hydropower station stay cable hoist is composed of multiple tie rods connected by inserting and withdrawing pin shafts at the orifice of the gate slot; Using the shift trolley to perform the inserting and withdrawing actions at each gate slot orifice to complete the connection and disassembly; During the connection or disassembly process, the upper tie rod is hoisted by a gantry crane, the position of the lower tie rod is fixed, a coordinate system is established with the lower tie rod as the origin, the direction parallel to the ground and along the pin shaft alignment direction is defined as the X direction, the direction parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the pin shaft alignment direction is defined as the Y direction, and the direction perpendicular to the ground is defined as the Z direction.

3. The automatic positioning method of the gate tie rod of the inclined pull gate machine of a hydropower station according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first visual information includes that the vision camera arranged on the shift trolley provides position coordinates for automatic positioning control; The tie rod horizontal positioning vision camera arranged along the Y direction calculates its own position in the X direction in the reference coordinate system, and the PLC master station on the gantry crane starts the automatic positioning control program and the fine motion control program to guide the shift trolley to move along the X direction until the X direction coordinate position of this camera is within the preset range near the origin.

4. The automatic positioning method of the gate tie rod of the hydropower station stay cable gate machine according to claim 3, characterized in that: The position adjustment of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform includes that the tie rod alignment vision camera arranged along the X direction calculates its own positions in the Z and Y directions in the coordinate system, and the PLC master station on the gantry crane guides the hydraulic lifting platform to move along the Z direction until the Z direction coordinate position of this camera is within the preset range near the origin; The PLC master station guides the multi-degree-of-freedom platform to move along the Y direction until the Y direction coordinate position of this camera is within the preset range near the origin.

5. The automatic positioning method of the gate tie rod of the hydropower station stay cable gate machine according to claim 4, characterized in that: The position adjustment of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform also includes that after completing the shaft hole positioning task, the original upper tie rod moves down and serves as the new lower tie rod for the next hole alignment; After completing the previous shaft hole positioning task, using the tie rod horizontal positioning vision camera arranged along the Y direction and the tie rod alignment vision camera arranged along the X direction to establish a real-time updated three-dimensional model, predicting the hole alignment position, thereby predicting the position of the shift trolley, and moving the shift trolley to the predicted position; By identifying the three-dimensional features of the upper tie rod in the previous shaft hole positioning task, obtaining the feature mark of the original upper tie rod, and according to the feature mark, obtaining the position offset and angle offset between the vertical center line of the original upper tie rod and the orifice; According to the position offset and the angle offset, predicting the origin position and the X direction of the current shaft hole positioning task, and according to the predicted origin position and the X direction, performing the position adjustment of the shift trolley and the position adjustment of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform, and recording the current position as the predicted position; After the position of the new lower pull rod is fixed, the position of the shift trolley, the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform is finely adjusted for the actual origin and the X direction through the first visual information; At the same time, calculate and update the feature marker according to the actual origin and the X direction; The feature marker includes analyzing the physical characteristics of each pull rod three-dimensional model and matching the physical characteristics with the marker content; wherein, the marker content is the position offset and angle offset between the vertical center line of the pull rod and the orifice.

6. The automatic positioning method of the gate tie rod of the hydropower station stay cable gate machine according to claim 5, characterized in that: The second visual information includes a visual camera for horizontally positioning the pull rod arranged along the Y direction, which simultaneously collects the upper and lower pull rod images. The industrial control computer calculates the coordinate position of the virtual vertical center line of the upper pull rod in the X direction and transmits it to the PLC. The PLC starts the automatic positioning control program and the fine movement control program to guide the operation of the trolley traveling mechanism of the gantry crane until it is automatically positioned within a preset range near the Z axis of the virtual vertical center line of the upper pull rod; A visual camera for aligning the holes of the pull rod arranged along the X direction, which simultaneously collects the upper and lower pull rod images. The industrial control computer calculates the coordinate position of the virtual vertical center line of the upper pull rod in the Y direction and transmits it to the PLC. The PLC starts the automatic positioning control program and the fine movement control program to guide the operation of the trolley traveling mechanism of the gantry crane until it is automatically positioned within a preset range near the Z axis of the virtual vertical center line of the upper pull rod; The virtual vertical center line includes determining the position and angle relationship between the vertical center line and the orifice in the standard pull rod; under the position and angle of the orifice obtained by the visual camera, a virtual line for the actual orifice position and angle is built according to the position and angle relationship between the vertical center line and the orifice.

7. The automatic positioning method of the gate tie rod of the inclined cable-stayed gate machine of a hydropower station according to claim 6, characterized in that: During the hole alignment process, the positions of the upper and lower pull rods for hole alignment include constructing a two-dimensional hole alignment model of the upper and lower pull rods by using a visual camera for aligning the holes of the pull rod arranged along the X direction; The two-dimensional hole alignment model includes respectively constructing two-dimensional structural models of the orifices of the upper and lower pull rods in the plane where the Y direction and the Z direction are located according to the images taken by the visual camera, and extracting the circular edge information of the orifices; In the plane where the Y direction and the Z direction are located, displace the upper pull rod and update the two-dimensional hole alignment model in real time. When the contour area of the hole alignment result increases, it indicates a positive direction movement; otherwise, it is a negative direction movement; If the hole alignment result is a complete circle and there is no occlusion, confirm the hole alignment result; if the hole alignment result is not a complete circle and there is occlusion, continue to displace the upper pull rod until the contour area of the hole alignment result no longer increases or the hole alignment result is a complete circle; The hole alignment result includes the hollow part after the orifices of the upper and lower pull rods overlap.

8. An automatic positioning system for the gate pull rod of a hydropower station inclined pull gate machine adopting the method according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that: A first control unit collects the image of the lower pull rod through a visual camera to obtain the first visual information; adjusts the position of the shift trolley according to the first visual information; After the second control unit completes the position adjustment of the shift trolley, it performs the position adjustment of the hydraulic lifting platform and the multi-degree-of-freedom platform, and determines the pin shaft position; lowers the tie rod, and at the same time, through the vision camera, collects images of the gate tie rod of the hydropower station stay cable hoist to obtain the second visual information; according to the second visual information, aligns the positions of the upper and lower tie rods during the hole alignment process. The power unit uses an electro-hydraulic push rod to push the shift placed on the shift platform to complete the shaft hole positioning.

9. A computer device, comprising: A memory and a processor; the memory stores a computer program, characterized in that: when the processor executes the computer program, it implements the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1-7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1-7.

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