A deformable amphibious robot and its control method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a deformable land-air amphibious robot, comprising a fuselage, a deformation mechanism, a combined land-air power unit, an environmental sensor, and a controller. The deformation mechanism is mounted on the fuselage, the combined land-air power unit is mounted on the deformation mechanism, the controller communicates and controls a crossbar servo, a longitudinal servo, and the combined land-air power unit, and the environmental sensor is mounted on the fuselage. The present invention proposes a multimodally deformable land-air amphibious robot that integrates a rotor power unit and a wheel-driven power unit. Compared to existing cage-type and wheeled land-air amphibious robots, the present invention has the advantages of a compact structure, low weight, long endurance, and high mission efficiency. The present invention features a deformation mechanism with two degrees of freedom (DOF) tilting, which reduces deformation resistance during air-to-ground switching through coordinated tilting. It can also adjust its height and width during flight and ground movement through coordinated tilting, resulting in improved obstacle clearance, flight stability, and a gimbal detection field of view.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and robots, and in particular to a deformable land and air amphibious robot and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Existing amphibious robots mainly have two configurations: cage type and wheeled type. Among them, wheeled amphibious robots are mainly divided into two-wheeled self-balancing type, crawler type and four-wheeled vehicle type.

[0003] Cage-type land-air amphibious robots usually have a cage that is larger than the rotorcraft installed on the outside of the rotorcraft. When driving on the ground, the rotor power device is used to adjust the aircraft angle to provide a horizontal component of force to make the cage roll on the ground. When flying in the air, the rotor power device is used to provide power. Cage-type land-air amphibious robots have good protection performance and fast switching. However, since cage-type land-air amphibious robots are powered by the rotor power device when driving on the ground, they have disadvantages such as loud noise, poor stability, low efficiency, and short battery life when driving on the ground. The cage that wraps the rotorcraft is large and inconvenient to store and transport. In addition, the cage occupies a large proportion of the weight, and the flight load capacity is poor and the battery life is short.

[0004] The two-wheeled self-balancing land and air amphibious robot consists of a rotor drone and two external follower wheels. When driving on the ground, the rotor power device adjusts the angle of the aircraft to provide a horizontal component of force to make the wheels roll on the ground. When flying in the air, the rotor power device provides power. The two-wheeled self-balancing land and air amphibious robot has the same disadvantages as the cage robot, such as short battery life, high noise, and large turning radius.

[0005] Traditional tracked amphibious robots are composed of a rotorcraft and a tracked chassis. They are driven by tracks while traveling on the ground and can turn on the spot. However, the tracked structure is heavy, resulting in short battery life, poor load capacity, and slow ground travel speed.

[0006] Traditional four-wheeled amphibious vehicles are composed of a rotary-wing UAV and a trolley chassis, with two independent power units: the wheel-driven power unit on the trolley chassis provides power for ground travel, and the rotor power unit provides power for aerial flight. Traditional four-wheeled amphibious vehicles combine a simple trolley chassis with a rotary-wing UAV. The two motion structures account for a significant portion of the vehicle's weight, and the flight and ground motion mechanisms are separated into separate modules. This often requires sacrificing flight endurance to improve ground maneuverability. This leads to problems such as poor structural integration, low payload capacity, and short flight endurance. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In response to the shortcomings of several existing mainstream configuration schemes of land-air amphibious robots, the present invention designs a deformable land-air amphibious robot and its control method, which mainly solves the technical problems of existing schemes such as high noise, poor stability, low efficiency, short endurance, poor load capacity and poor passability when traveling on the ground.

[0008] The present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0009] A deformable land-air amphibious robot comprises a fuselage, a deformation mechanism, a land-air combined power device and a controller, wherein the deformation mechanism is mounted on the fuselage, and the land-air combined power device is mounted on the deformation mechanism, the deformation mechanism comprising a central support, a crossbar, a longitudinal rod, a crossbar servo, a longitudinal rod servo, a servo U-shaped support, a crossbar connector and a longitudinal rod connector, the deformation mechanism is connected to the fuselage through the central support, crossbar servos are fixedly mounted on both ends of the central support, the output end of the crossbar servo is connected to the crossbar through the servo U-shaped support and the crossbar connector, the crossbar is connected to the longitudinal rod servo through the crossbar connector and the servo U-shaped support, the output end of the longitudinal rod servo is connected to the longitudinal rod through the servo U-shaped support and the longitudinal rod connector, the longitudinal rod is mounted parallel to the fuselage, and the controller communicates and controls the crossbar servo, the longitudinal rod servo and the land-air combined power device.

[0010] Preferably, environmental sensors are also included, including lidar, binocular camera, GNSS satellite receiver, optoelectronic pod and other sensors, and the environmental sensors are installed at different positions on the fuselage.

[0011] Preferably, the land-air combined power unit is installed at both ends of the longitudinal rod.

[0012] Preferably, the land-air combined power unit includes a rotor power unit and a wheel-driven power unit. The rotor power unit provides power for the deformable land-air amphibious robot to fly in the air, and the wheel-driven power unit provides power for the deformable land-air amphibious robot to move on the ground.

[0013] Preferably, the rotor power device includes a rotor motor and a propeller, the wheel-driven power device includes a wheel-drive motor and a wheel, the two ends of the longitudinal rod are connected to a power mounting bracket, the center of the power mounting bracket is fixedly connected to the wheel-drive motor, the output end of the wheel-drive motor is fixedly connected to the wheel, the two sides of the power mounting bracket are fixedly connected to the rotor motor, the output end of the rotor motor is fixedly connected to the propeller, and the controller is connected to control the rotation of the wheel-drive motor and the rotor motor.

[0014] Preferably, the longitudinal rod connecting piece is fixedly connected to the center of the longitudinal rod.

[0015] A method for controlling a deformable land-air amphibious robot, the method comprising the following steps:

[0016] S1. First, the controller is started. The controller sends an initialization control signal to the two sets of deformation mechanisms, controlling the two sets of deformation mechanisms to rotate to the initial angle with the horizontal plane of the body, so as to achieve the flying form in the air. This completes the initialization and prepares for the next action.

[0017] S2. After initialization is completed, the controller receives external control commands and, based on the received control commands, maintains the current aerial flight form or controls the deformation mechanism to perform corresponding ground-to-air or air-to-ground switching actions. When the deformable land-air amphibious robot switches from the aerial flight state to the ground driving state, the two crossbars first form a V shape, then the robot lands on the ground, the fuselage and the footrest touch the ground, and the longitudinal rod servo rotates the land-air combined power unit from a horizontal state to a vertical state. The crossbar servo then drives the crossbar to rotate, so that the wheels touch the ground and the fuselage is raised. After the fuselage leaves the ground, the robot switches to the ground driving mode and can perform ground driving actions according to the control commands in the current mode. When the deformable land-air amphibious robot switches from the ground driving state to the aerial flight state, the crossbar servo and the longitudinal rod servo first rotate in coordination to lower the fuselage. After the fuselage and the footrest touch the ground, the crossbar servo continues to raise the crossbar. At the same time, the longitudinal rod servo rotates in coordination to rotate the land-air combined power unit from a vertical state to a horizontal state, switching to the aerial flight mode and can perform aerial flight actions according to the control commands in the current mode.

[0018] S3. In the air flying state or ground driving state, the deformation mechanism can be controlled to perform air deformation or ground deformation action according to the air deformation or ground deformation instruction given by the control instruction in the current mode, and continue to perform the flight or driving task after the deformation is completed.

[0019] Preferably, in step S3, when performing an aerial deformation action, the land-air combined power device is always kept parallel to the horizontal plane, and when performing a ground deformation action, the land-air combined power device is always kept perpendicular to the horizontal plane.

[0020] Preferably, when in ground driving state, the land-air combined power unit can adopt diagonal two-wheel or four-wheel differential drive for driving and steering.

[0021] Preferably, when flying in the air, the land-air combined power unit can use coaxial double propellers or single-axis single propeller to drive flight.

[0022] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: (1) a combined power drive device integrating rotor power and wheel drive power is proposed, which can be multi-modally deformed (air, ground, air-to-ground, ground-to-air) and has the advantages of compact structure, low weight, long endurance and high mission efficiency compared with existing cage-type and wheel-type air-to-ground amphibious robots; (2) a dual-degree-of-freedom tilting mechanism is proposed, which can reduce deformation resistance during air-to-ground switching and adjust its own height / width dimensions during flight / ground movement, and has better obstacle space passing ability, flight stability and gimbal detection field of view; (3) an independent dual-wheel differential drive mechanism is adopted to avoid the use of rotor power device for driving, significantly reduce noise, improve endurance, have the ability to turn in place while reducing cost, weight and control complexity; (4) a design of a foldable arm structure and a detachable wheel structure is proposed, which is convenient for storage, storage and transportation; (5) a control method integrating air flight, ground movement and multi-modal deformation operation is proposed, which has adaptive switching and amphibious scheduling capabilities and better flight stability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the aerial flight mode of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 It is a structural schematic diagram of the ground driving mode of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of the deformation mechanism of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a modified form of the aerial flight mode of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a modified form of the ground driving mode of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the process of converting from air mode to ground mode of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the process of converting from ground mode to air mode according to the present invention;

[0030] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the present invention in a folded state;

[0031] Figure 9 It is a schematic diagram of the present invention in a disassembled state;

[0032] Figure 10 It is a schematic diagram of the control mode of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of the control device of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 12 It is a schematic diagram of the control process of the present invention;

[0035] In the figure: 11. Fuselage, 12. Transformation mechanism, 1201. Longitudinal rod, 1202. Longitudinal rod connector, 1203. Longitudinal rod servo U-shaped bracket 1, 1204. Longitudinal rod servo, 12041. Longitudinal rod servo body, 12042. Longitudinal rod servo steering wheel, 1205. Longitudinal rod servo U-shaped bracket 2, 1206. Crossbar connector, 1207. Crossbar, 1208. Crossbar servo U-shaped bracket 1, 1209. Crossbar servo, 12091. Crossbar servo body, 12092. Crossbar servo steering wheel, 1210. Center bracket, 13. Combined power unit, 131. Wheel drive motor, 132. Wheel, 133. Propeller, 134. Rotor motor, 135. Power mounting bracket, 14. Environmental sensor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The technical solution of the present invention is further described in detail below through specific embodiments and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

[0037] Example: Figure 1 and Figure 2 The figure shows a transformable amphibious robot, comprising a body 11, a transforming mechanism 12, a combined land-air power unit 13, an environmental sensor 14, and a controller. The transforming mechanism is mounted on the body, and the combined land-air power unit is mounted on the transforming mechanism. The controller communicates and controls the crossbar servo, longitudinal servo, and combined land-air power unit, while the environmental sensor is mounted on the body. In this embodiment, the transformable amphibious robot has four axes and eight propellers, and can be a small remote-controlled or intelligent robot capable of performing designated tasks in indoor or underground environments.

[0038] like Figure 1 As shown, the deformable amphibious robot is in the air flight mode. Figure 2 As shown, the deformable land-air amphibious robot is in ground driving mode.

[0039] like Figure 2As shown, in this embodiment, in order to reduce structural redundant weight, the land-air combination power unit is divided into active and passive. The active land-air combination power unit includes a rotor power unit and a wheel-driven power unit, and the passive land-air combination power unit includes a rotor power unit and a wheel. The active land-air combination power unit is arranged diagonally in the right front and left rear, with the left front and right rear being the passive land-air combination power units. The wheels of the passive land-air combination power units are driven wheels. The rotor power unit provides power for the transformable land-air amphibious robot to fly in the air, and the wheel-driven power unit provides power for the transformable land-air amphibious robot to move on the ground. The rotor power unit includes a rotor motor 134 and a propeller 133. The wheel-driven power unit includes a wheel-drive motor 131 and a wheel 132. Power mounting brackets 135 are connected to both ends of the longitudinal rod. The center of the power mounting bracket is fixedly connected to the wheel-drive motor, and the output end of the wheel-drive motor is fixedly connected to the wheel. The two sides of the power mounting bracket are fixedly connected to the rotor motor, and the output end of the rotor motor is fixedly connected to the propeller. A controller communicates and controls the wheel-drive motor and the rotor motor.

[0040] like Figure 3 As shown, the deformation mechanism includes a central support 1210, a crossbar 1207, a longitudinal bar 1201, a crossbar servo 1209, a longitudinal bar servo 1204, a longitudinal bar servo U-shaped bracket 1203, a longitudinal bar servo U-shaped bracket 2 1205, a crossbar servo U-shaped bracket 1208, a crossbar connector 1206, and a longitudinal bar connector 1202. The longitudinal bar servo 1204 includes a longitudinal bar servo body 12041 and a longitudinal bar servo steering disc 12042. The crossbar servo 1209 includes The crossbar servo body 12091 and crossbar servo steering wheel 12092, with their deformation mechanism connected to the fuselage via a central bracket. The crossbar servo is fixedly mounted on each end of the central bracket. The crossbar servo steering wheel is connected to the crossbar via crossbar servo U-shaped bracket 1 and a crossbar connector. The crossbar is connected to the longitudinal servo via the crossbar connector and longitudinal servo U-shaped bracket 2. The longitudinal servo steering wheel is connected to the longitudinal servo via longitudinal servo U-shaped bracket 1 and a longitudinal connector. The longitudinal connector is fixedly connected to the center of the longitudinal servo. The longitudinal servo is mounted parallel to the fuselage. The combined land-air power unit is mounted at each end of the longitudinal servo.

[0041] like Figure 4 As shown, the deformable land-air amphibious robot can adjust its own height and width to perform aerial deformation when flying in the air to adapt to narrow passages in the air. When performing aerial deformation, the propellers and wheels are always kept parallel to the horizontal plane.

[0042] like Figure 5 As shown, the deformable land-air amphibious robot can adjust its own height and width to perform ground deformation when moving on the ground to adapt to narrow passages on the ground. When performing ground deformation, the propeller and wheels are always kept perpendicular to the horizontal plane.

[0043] like Figure 6As shown, when the deformable land-air amphibious robot switches from an aerial flight state to a ground driving state, the two cross bars first form a V shape, and then the robot lands on the ground with the fuselage legs touching the ground. The longitudinal rod servo rotates the land-air combined power device from a horizontal state to a vertical state, and then the cross bar servo drives the cross bar to rotate, so that the wheels touch the ground and the fuselage is lifted. After the fuselage leaves the ground, it switches to the ground driving mode.

[0044] like Figure 7 As shown, when the transformable land-air amphibious robot switches from a ground driving state to an air flying state, the crossbar servo and the longitudinal rod servo first rotate in coordination to lower the fuselage. After the fuselage tripod touches the ground, the crossbar servo continues to raise the crossbar, and at the same time the longitudinal rod servo rotates to rotate the land-air combined power unit from a vertical state to a horizontal state, switching to an air flying mode.

[0045] like Figure 8 and Figure 9 As shown, the transformable land-air amphibious robot can rotate the horizontal rod servo and the vertical rod servo when not in use, so that the whole body can be folded into a flat shape, and the wheels and propellers can be disassembled to save storage space and facilitate transportation and storage.

[0046] like Figure 10 As shown, the transformable amphibious robot has two sets of control modes and methods, one for air and the other for land, enabling switching between air and land configurations and transforming between air and ground. The amphibious flying platform achieves this switching between air and ground configurations through a transforming mechanism and is driven by different power units.

[0047] When in air mode I, the eight flight drive blade differentials are used to achieve control of flight pitch, roll, and yaw attitude. The four-axis eight-propeller drive mode has stronger flight power and fault tolerance. The center of gravity, width, and height are adjusted by the deformation of the aircraft arms, thereby achieving the ability to pass through different obstacle scenarios, enhancing passability and environmental adaptability. When in ground mode II, the diagonal two-wheel differential is used to achieve ground advance, retreat, and steering. The diagonal two-wheel drive mode has the ability to turn on the spot and is lighter than four-wheel drive. The center of gravity, width, and height are adjusted by the deformation of the aircraft arms, thereby achieving the ability to pass through different obstacle scenarios, enhancing passability, gimbal field of view expansion capability, and concealment.

[0048] like Figure 11 As shown, the control device of the deformable land-air amphibious robot includes a scheduler, a flight controller, a deformation controller, a driving controller and a control distributor.

[0049] like Figure 12As shown, when the deformable amphibious robot is operated, the controller is first started. The controller sends an initialization control signal to the two sets of deformation mechanisms, controlling the two sets of deformation mechanisms to rotate to the initial angle with the horizontal plane of the body, and achieve the aerial flight form, that is, the initialization is completed and ready to execute the next action;

[0050] After initialization, the controller receives external control commands and, based on the received control commands, maintains the current aerial flight form or controls the deformation mechanism to perform corresponding ground-to-air or air-to-ground switching actions;

[0051] After completing the switching action, the deformation mechanism can be controlled to perform air deformation or ground deformation actions according to the air deformation or ground deformation instructions given by the control instructions in the current mode, and continue to perform the flight or driving mission after the deformation is completed.

[0052] When the amphibious robot needs to take flight, the onboard controller controls the vertical rod servo 1204 to tilt upward 45 degrees and the horizontal rod servo 1209 to tilt upward, making the rotors 133 parallel to the ground, thus transforming into an unmanned robot. The unmanned robot is driven by four axes and eight rotors. By controlling the rotational speed of the eight propellers, the robot can control the pitch, roll, and yaw movements during flight.

[0053] When the amphibious robot of the present invention needs to travel on the ground, the onboard controller first determines whether the robot has landed. If the robot is on the ground, the controller first controls the longitudinal stick servo 1209 to tilt downward, making the wheels 132 parallel to the ground. Then, the controller coordinates the longitudinal stick servo 1204 and the crossbar servo 1209 to support the body of the robot through the wheels, transforming it into a vehicle configuration. During this switching process, the two sets of arm drive units control the ground travel assembly to always keep it downward to reduce ground friction during the switching process. Ground travel is achieved through diagonal dual-wheel drive, and the differential rotation of the two wheels controls the forward, backward, and steering of the robot.

[0054] The embodiment described above is only a preferred solution of the present invention and does not limit the present invention in any form. Other variations and modifications are possible without exceeding the technical solution described in the claims.

Claims

1. A deformable amphibious robot, characterized by: It includes a fuselage, a deformation mechanism, a land-air combined power device and a controller. The deformation mechanism is installed on the fuselage, and the land-air combined power device is installed on the deformation mechanism. The deformation mechanism includes a central bracket, a crossbar, a longitudinal bar, a crossbar servo, a longitudinal bar servo, a servo U-shaped bracket, a crossbar connector, and a longitudinal bar connector. The deformation mechanism is connected to the fuselage through the central bracket, and crossbar servos are fixedly installed on both ends of the central bracket. The output end of the crossbar servo is connected to the crossbar through the servo U-shaped bracket and the crossbar connector. The crossbar is connected to the longitudinal bar servo through the crossbar connector and the servo U-shaped bracket. The output end of the longitudinal bar servo is connected to the longitudinal bar through the servo U-shaped bracket and the longitudinal bar connector. The longitudinal bar is installed parallel to the fuselage. The controller connects and controls the crossbar servo, the longitudinal bar servo and the land-air combined power device.

2. The deformable amphibious robot according to claim 1, wherein: It also includes environmental sensors, including lidar, binocular cameras, GNSS satellite receivers, and optoelectronic pods. Environmental sensors are installed in different positions on the fuselage.

3. The deformable land-air amphibious robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The land-air combined power device is installed at both ends of the longitudinal rod.

4. The deformable land-air amphibious robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: The land-air combined power device includes a rotor power device and a wheel-driven power device. The rotor power device provides power for the deformable land-air amphibious robot to fly in the air, and the wheel-driven power device provides power for the deformable land-air amphibious robot to move on the ground.

5. The deformable land-air amphibious robot according to claim 4, characterized in that: The rotor power device includes a rotor motor and a propeller, the wheel drive power device includes a wheel drive motor and a wheel, the two ends of the longitudinal rod are connected to a power mounting bracket, the center of the power mounting bracket is fixedly connected to the wheel drive motor, the output end of the wheel drive motor is fixedly connected to the wheel, the two sides of the power mounting bracket are fixedly connected to the rotor motor, the output end of the rotor motor is fixedly connected to the propeller, and the controller is connected to control the rotation of the wheel drive motor and the rotor motor.

6. The deformable land-air amphibious robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The longitudinal rod connecting piece is fixedly connected to the center of the longitudinal rod.

7. A method for controlling a deformable amphibious robot according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The method steps are: S1. First, the controller is started. The controller sends an initialization control signal to the two sets of deformation mechanisms, controlling the two sets of deformation mechanisms to rotate to the initial angle with the horizontal plane of the body, so as to achieve the flying form in the air. This completes the initialization and prepares for the next action. S2. After initialization is completed, the controller receives external control commands and, based on the received control commands, maintains the current aerial flight form or controls the deformation mechanism to perform corresponding ground-to-air or air-to-ground switching actions. When the deformable land-air amphibious robot switches from the aerial flight state to the ground driving state, the two crossbars first form a V shape, then the robot lands on the ground, the fuselage and the footrest touch the ground, and the longitudinal rod servo rotates the land-air combined power unit from a horizontal state to a vertical state. The crossbar servo then drives the crossbar to rotate, so that the wheels touch the ground and the fuselage is raised. After the fuselage leaves the ground, the robot switches to the ground driving mode and can perform ground driving actions according to the control commands in the current mode. When the deformable land-air amphibious robot switches from the ground driving state to the aerial flight state, the crossbar servo and the longitudinal rod servo first rotate in coordination to lower the fuselage. After the fuselage and the footrest touch the ground, the crossbar servo continues to raise the crossbar. At the same time, the longitudinal rod servo rotates in coordination to rotate the land-air combined power unit from a vertical state to a horizontal state, switching to the aerial flight mode and can perform aerial flight actions according to the control commands in the current mode. S3. In the air flying state or ground driving state, the deformation mechanism can be controlled to perform air deformation or ground deformation action according to the air deformation or ground deformation instruction given by the control instruction in the current mode, and continue to perform the flight or driving task after the deformation is completed.

8. The method for controlling a deformable amphibious robot according to claim 7, wherein: In step S3, when performing the deformation action in the air, the land-air combination power device is always kept parallel to the horizontal plane, and when performing the deformation action on the ground, the land-air combination power device is always kept perpendicular to the horizontal plane.

9. The method for controlling a deformable amphibious robot according to claim 7, wherein: When driving on the ground, the land-air combined power unit can use diagonal two-wheel or four-wheel differential drive for driving and steering.

10. The method for controlling a deformable amphibious robot according to claim 7, wherein: When flying in the air, the land-air combined power unit can use coaxial twin propellers or single-axis single propeller to drive flight.

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