Active detection type house water leakage detection robot

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of intelligent robots, in particular to an active detection type house water leakage detection robot which comprises a robot body, a three-axis mechanical arm and an active heating box. The three-axis mechanical arm is arranged on the top surface of the machine body; the active heating box is arranged at the tail end of the three-axis mechanical arm and comprises a box body, the face, back to the tail end of the three-axis mechanical arm, of the box body is an open end, and a microwave emitting assembly is further arranged in the box body and used for emitting microwaves to the open end of the box body. The robot carries the active heating box to scan the target wall, then the water pipe in the wall is heated through microwaves, due to the fact that water molecules are polar molecules, under the action of the microwaves, the temperature of water can be rapidly increased, that is, an obvious temperature difference can be generated between seepage water and a surrounding concrete structure, and the temperature of the water can be increased. Therefore, the thermal imager can accurately find the leakage position.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of intelligent robots, and in particular to an active detection type house water leakage detection robot. Background Art

[0002] Once a house leaks, it will cause problems such as moldy walls and soaked wooden structures. The repair process will damage the decoration, especially the leakage of water supply and drainage pipes on the walls and floors. The leakage point is difficult to confirm, and large-scale chiseling is often required to find the source. It takes a long time and a large amount of work, which brings great trouble to users.

[0003] Currently, the most common method for locating water pipe leaks within walls is to scan the wall with a handheld thermal imager. Because the water in the pipe typically has a temperature difference from the surrounding wall material, the wall temperature is normally relatively stable and close to the ambient temperature. However, when a pipe leaks, the leaking water changes the local temperature distribution within the wall. If the leak is from a hot water pipe, the temperature at the leak site will be higher than the surrounding wall; if it is from a cold water pipe, the temperature will be lower than the surrounding wall. Thermal imagers can detect these subtle temperature variations and display them in different color images, helping to locate the leak.

[0004] However, when the water temperature is close to the wall temperature, thermal imaging technology often has difficulty capturing these subtle temperature variations. This is especially true for small leaks, which may not be noticeable in thermal images or easily overlooked. Therefore, thermal imaging has limitations in detecting leaks, especially for leaks in pipes operating at room temperature. Furthermore, manually scanning walls and floors with a handheld thermal imager can easily cause arm and leg pain over time, and is labor-intensive. To address these shortcomings, we propose an active detection robot for house leak detection. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an active detection type house leakage detection robot for solving the problems raised in the above background technology.

[0006] The present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions: an active detection type house leak detection robot, comprising:

[0007] A robot body, comprising a crawler-type walking mechanism and a body;

[0008] A three-axis robotic arm, the three-axis robotic arm being arranged on the top surface of the fuselage;

[0009] An active heating box is provided at the end of the three-axis manipulator, and includes a box body, the side of the box body facing away from the end of the three-axis manipulator is an open end, and a microwave emitting assembly is further provided in the box body for emitting microwaves toward the open end of the box body;

[0010] A temperature measurement and imaging mechanism, wherein the temperature measurement and imaging mechanism is arranged outside the active heating box;

[0011] A laser scanner, wherein the laser scanner is arranged on the top surface of the fuselage;

[0012] An integrated host is provided inside the fuselage, and the temperature measurement and imaging mechanism and the laser scanner are both communicatively connected to the integrated host.

[0013] Optionally, the microwave transmitting component includes a microwave transmitting host and a microwave transmitter, and the number of the microwave transmitters is several.

[0014] Optionally, a carrying plate is provided in the box body, and displacement plates are symmetrically provided on the left and right sides of the top surface of the carrying plate, and a plurality of microwave transmitters are respectively provided on the two displacement plates, and the transmitting probes of the microwave transmitters pass through the displacement plates and point to the open end of the box body;

[0015] A bidirectional cylinder is further provided at the middle position of the top surface of the bearing plate, and two movable ends of the bidirectional cylinder are respectively connected to the two displacement plates.

[0016] Optionally, the carrier plate is further provided with a plurality of strip openings for microwave transmitter probes to pass through, and a waveguide is provided in the strip opening. The waveguide is sleeved outside the corresponding microwave transmitter probe, and the top end of the waveguide is also rotatably connected to the displacement plate.

[0017] Optionally, a driven gear is sleeved on the outside of the top end of the waveguide, a positioning rack is provided inside the strip-shaped opening, and the driven gear is meshed with the positioning rack;

[0018] When the probe of the microwave transmitter is located in the strip-shaped opening and close to one end of the bidirectional cylinder, the bottom end of the waveguide points to the edge of the opening end of the box body;

[0019] When the probe of the microwave transmitter is located in the strip-shaped opening and away from one end of the bidirectional cylinder, the bottom end of the waveguide points to the middle position of the opening end of the box body.

[0020] Optionally, a telescopic cover is provided on the inner side of the open end of the box body, and the telescopic cover and the box body are slidably fitted together. The left and right side walls of the telescopic cover are provided with sliding openings. The inner wall of the box body is also provided with a slider passing through the sliding opening, and a return spring is provided between the slider and the inner bottom surface of the sliding opening; in a natural state, the return spring is in a compressed state, and the bottom end of the telescopic cover extends out of the outside of the box body.

[0021] Optionally, a reflective plate is hingedly provided on both of the sliders, a guide column is provided at the bottom end of the reflective plate, and a sliding groove distributed along the width direction of the box body is opened on the bottom inner surface of the telescopic cover, and the guide column is movably embedded in the sliding groove.

[0022] Optionally, the temperature measurement and imaging mechanism includes a temperature measurement imager and a linear drive component, and the linear drive component is used to drive the temperature measurement imager to slide along the length direction of the box body.

[0023] Optionally, the three-axis robotic arm is rotatably connected to the top surface of the fuselage via a rotating base.

[0024] Optionally, a main body battery and a travel drive assembly are provided inside the fuselage, and the travel drive assembly is used to drive the crawler-type travel mechanism to move.

[0025] Compared with the existing technology, the present invention provides an active detection type house leak detection robot, which has the following beneficial effects:

[0026] 1. This invention uses a robot carrying an active heating box to scan the target wall, and then heats the water pipes inside the wall with microwaves. Because water molecules are polar molecules, they can quickly heat up under the action of microwaves. This means that the infiltrating water can create a significant temperature difference with the surrounding concrete structure, which helps the thermal imager accurately locate the leak.

[0027] 2. The active heating box and thermal imaging mechanism in the present invention are both controlled by a robotic arm, which is mounted on the vehicle body. Therefore, the present invention can achieve automatic scanning and detection through the movement of the vehicle body and the robotic arm, eliminating the need for manual operation of the thermal imager, greatly reducing the labor intensity of workers.

[0028] 3. The probes of the microwave emitters in the present invention are sheathed with waveguides. When the two rows of microwave emitters on either side of the box move closer or further away from each other, the waveguides automatically rotate a certain angle, thereby changing the direction of microwave emission. Therefore, the present invention can adapt to various heating requirements by changing the direction of microwave action, thereby more efficiently improving energy utilization.

[0029] 4. The opening end of the box body in the present invention is elastically mounted with a telescopic cover, which contains two reflective plates. As the telescopic cover slides up and down, it can indirectly drive the two reflective plates to rotate, thereby further changing the microwave action range. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 2 This is a longitudinal sectional view of the active heating box of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 3 A longitudinal sectional view of the active heating box of the present invention in another state;

[0033] Figure 4 This is a transverse cross-sectional view of the active heating box of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 5 This is a cross-sectional view of the load-bearing plate structure of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the waveguide structure of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 7 for Figure 4 The corresponding figure at A is enlarged;

[0037] Figure 8 for Figure 5 The corresponding figure at point B is enlarged.

[0038] In the figure: 100, robot body; 101, crawler walking mechanism; 102, fuselage; 103, integrated host; 200, three-axis robotic arm; 300, active heating box; 301, box body; 302, mounting seat; 303, microwave transmitting host; 304, microwave transmitter; 305, load-bearing plate; 306, displacement plate; 307, bidirectional cylinder; 308, strip opening; 309, waveguide; 310, driven gear; 311, positioning rack; 312, telescopic cover; 313, sliding opening; 314, slider; 315, return spring; 316, reflector; 317, guide column; 318, slide; 400, temperature measurement and imaging mechanism; 401, temperature measurement imager; 402, linear drive component; 500, laser scanner. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] The following will provide a clear and complete description of the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on the embodiments of the present invention without making any creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0040] Example 1: Please refer to Figure 1 - Figure 8An active detection robot for house leak detection includes a robot body 100, a three-axis robotic arm 200, and an active heating box 300. The robot body 100 includes a tracked walking mechanism 101 and a body 102. Body 102 houses a main battery and a driving assembly for driving the tracked walking mechanism 101. The three-axis robotic arm 200 is mounted on the top surface of body 102 and is rotatably connected to the top surface of body 102 via a swivel mount.

[0041] In addition, an active heating box 300 is disposed at the end of the three-axis manipulator 200. The active heating box 300 includes a box body 301. The box body 301 is a hollow rectangular parallelepiped structure. The side of the box body 301 facing away from the end of the three-axis manipulator 200 is open. A mounting base 302 is provided on the top surface of the box body 301. The mounting base 302 is used to connect to the end of the three-axis manipulator 200. A microwave transmitting assembly is also provided within the box body 301 for transmitting microwaves toward the open end of the box body 301. The microwave transmitting assembly includes a microwave transmitting host 303 and a plurality of microwave transmitters 304. The microwave transmitters 304 have functions such as signal distribution and power amplification, and can distribute the generated microwave signals to multiple microwave transmitters 304 via a transmission line.

[0042] It should be noted that the microwave emitter 304 can generate long-wave, low-amplitude heating microwaves with strong penetrating power. The microwaves can penetrate the structure and, after the amplitudes are superimposed within the structure, can effectively heat the accumulated water within the structure, forcing it to heat up.

[0043] This embodiment also includes a temperature measurement and imaging mechanism 400 and a laser scanner 500. The temperature measurement and imaging mechanism 400 is disposed outside the active heating box 300, and the laser scanner 500 is disposed on the top surface of the body 102. The body 102 includes an integrated host 103, and both the temperature measurement and imaging mechanism 400 and the laser scanner 500 are communicatively connected to the integrated host 103. The temperature measurement and imaging mechanism 400 includes a temperature measurement imager 401 and a linear drive assembly 402. The linear drive assembly 402 is mounted on the outer surface of the box body 301 and is used to drive the temperature measurement imager 401 to slide along the length of the box body 301.

[0044] In practical applications, the robot's laser scanner 500 scans the room, determines its location and the distance to the four walls, and automatically plans a detection route. The three-axis robotic arm 200 then places the active heating box 300 against a wall or floor for inspection. For larger rooms, the robot can maneuver using its crawler-type walking mechanism 101 to ensure complete coverage of the inspection surface.

[0045] When the open end of the box 301 is placed against a wall or the ground, the microwave emitter 304 generates microwaves to heat the water in the wall's water pipes. After a period of heating, the heated surface is scanned by the thermal imager 401. When a pipe leaks, water molecules are polar, and microwaves rapidly heat them. This creates a significant temperature difference between the infiltrating water and the surrounding concrete structure. The thermal imager then scans the heated area, and changes in the image on the thermal imager can help identify the leaking area.

[0046] It should be noted that the temperature imaging camera 401 transmits detection signals to the integrated host 103. The integrated host 103 can also connect to an external terminal device, such as a tablet computer, via a Bluetooth transmission module. Therefore, staff can use a handheld tablet computer to view the detection results of the temperature imaging camera 401 in real time. Once the leakage area is determined, staff can mark the leakage area and then conduct targeted excavation to repair the water pipe in the leakage area. Compared with traditional technical solutions, this embodiment helps to accurately locate the leakage area, thereby reducing the maintenance difficulty.

[0047] In another embodiment of the present application, a carrier plate 305 is provided within a box body 301. Displacement plates 306 are symmetrically positioned on the left and right sides of the top surface of the carrier plate 305. A plurality of microwave emitters 304 are disposed on each of the two displacement plates 306, with the transmitting probes of the microwave emitters 304 extending through the displacement plates 306 and pointing toward the open end of the box body 301. Specifically, in this embodiment, four microwave emitters 304 are disposed on each displacement plate 306. Furthermore, a bidirectional cylinder 307 is positioned in the middle of the top surface of the carrier plate 305. The two movable ends of the bidirectional cylinder 307 are connected to the two displacement plates 306, respectively. Therefore, the bidirectional cylinder 307 can be used to control the two displacement plates 306 to move closer or further away from each other, which is equivalent to controlling the microwave emitters 304 on the two displacement plates 306 to move closer or further away from each other.

[0048] Furthermore, the carrier plate 305 is provided with a plurality of strip-shaped openings 308 for the probes of the microwave emitters 304 to pass through. Waveguides 309 are disposed within the strip-shaped openings 308. The waveguides 309 are curved tubes and are mounted outside the probes of the corresponding microwave emitters 304. The top ends of the waveguides 309 are also rotatably connected to the displacement plate 306. Specifically, a driven gear 310 is mounted on the top ends of the waveguides 309. A positioning rack 311 is disposed within the strip-shaped openings 308. The driven gear 310 meshes with the positioning rack 311. Therefore, when the displacement plate 306 drives the waveguides 309 to move synchronously, the gear and rack can drive the waveguides 309 to rotate.

[0049] Specifically, when the probe of the microwave emitter 304 is located within the strip-shaped opening 308 and near one end of the bidirectional cylinder 307, the bottom end of the waveguide 309 points toward the edge of the opening of the box body 301. When the probe of the microwave emitter 304 is located within the strip-shaped opening 308 and away from one end of the bidirectional cylinder 307, the bottom end of the waveguide 309 points toward the middle of the opening of the box body 301. In other words, when the two rows of microwave emitters 304 are positioned apart from each other, the microwaves emitted by each microwave emitter 304 are directed toward the very middle of the opening of the box body 301, resulting in a more concentrated microwave range. Conversely, when the two rows of microwave emitters 304 are positioned close together, the microwave range is wider.

[0050] like Figure 2 As shown in the figure, when there are multiple pipes buried in the wall, a wider heating range is required; on the contrary, when there is only one pipe buried in the wall, Figure 3 As shown, a more concentrated heating range is required, which is used to change the heating range according to different heating requirements, thereby improving energy utilization.

[0051] In another embodiment of the present application, a telescopic cover 312 is provided on the inner side of the open end of the box body 301, and the telescopic cover 312 and the box body 301 are slidably fitted together. The left and right side walls of the telescopic cover 312 are provided with sliding openings 313. The inner wall of the box body 301 is also provided with a slider 314 passing through the sliding opening 313, and a return spring 315 is provided between the slider 314 and the inner bottom surface of the sliding opening 313; in the natural state, the return spring 315 is in a compressed state, and the bottom end of the telescopic cover 312 extends out of the outside of the box body 301; that is, the telescopic cover 312 and the box body 301 are elastically connected.

[0052] In addition, both sliders 314 are hingedly provided with reflective plates 316. These reflective plates 316 are made of smooth stainless steel and help reflect microwaves. Guide posts 317 are provided at the bottom ends of the reflective plates 316. Slide grooves 318 extending along the width of the housing 301 are defined on the bottom inner surface of the telescopic cover 312. The guide posts 317 are movably embedded in the slide grooves 318. In other words, the bottom ends of the reflective plates 316 can slide along the slide grooves 318, and the bottom ends of the reflective plates 316 and the bottom ends of the telescopic cover 312 are at the same height.

[0053] In actual application of this embodiment, when a single pipe needs to be heated, the telescopic cover 312 is attached to the wall, and the single pipe is located inside the telescopic cover 312. Then, the box body 301 is controlled to be pressed down, so that the bottom ends of the two reflective plates 316 are moved closer to the middle. Figure 3 At this time, the microwaves emitted by the microwave emitter 304 also concentrate on the middle area, and under the action of the two reflective plates 316, the microwaves can be further concentrated, thereby fully improving the energy utilization rate.

[0054] When the microwave range needs to be expanded, the telescopic cover 312 only needs to be gently attached to the wall without squeezing the telescopic cover 312. Figure 2 The two displacement plates 306 are then controlled to move closer to each other. At this time, the ends of the two rows of waveguides 309 are both directed toward the edge of the opening of the box body 301. At the same time, under the action of the two reflective plates 316, the microwaves can act evenly on the wall surface, causing the area between the two reflective plates 316 to be heated and heated evenly. This helps the staff to determine the leakage location and avoids the staff from misjudging the leakage area due to uneven heating of the wall surface.

[0055] In summary, this embodiment can automatically adjust the microwave heating range according to the area to be heated, thereby helping to improve energy utilization and also helping the heating area to be heated and heated evenly.

[0056] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as first and second, etc., are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or device. In the absence of further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising a ..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or device comprising the element.

[0057] While embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions, and variations may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, and that the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An active detection type house leak detection robot, characterized in that: include: A robot body, comprising a crawler-type walking mechanism and a body; A three-axis robotic arm, the three-axis robotic arm being arranged on the top surface of the fuselage; An active heating box is provided at the end of the three-axis manipulator, and includes a box body, the side of the box body facing away from the end of the three-axis manipulator is an open end, and a microwave emitting assembly is further provided in the box body for emitting microwaves toward the open end of the box body; A temperature measurement and imaging mechanism, wherein the temperature measurement and imaging mechanism is arranged outside the active heating box; A laser scanner, wherein the laser scanner is arranged on the top surface of the fuselage; An integrated host is provided inside the fuselage, and the temperature measurement and imaging mechanism and the laser scanner are both communicatively connected to the integrated host.

2. The active detection type house leak detection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The microwave transmitting assembly includes a microwave transmitting host and a microwave transmitter, and the number of the microwave transmitters is several.

3. The active detection type house leak detection robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The box body is provided with a carrying plate, and displacement plates are symmetrically provided on the left and right sides of the top surface of the carrying plate. A plurality of microwave transmitters are respectively provided on the two displacement plates, and the transmitting probes of the microwave transmitters pass through the displacement plates and point to the open end of the box body; A bidirectional cylinder is further provided at the middle position of the top surface of the bearing plate, and two movable ends of the bidirectional cylinder are respectively connected to the two displacement plates.

4. The active detection type house leak detection robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: The carrier plate is also provided with a plurality of strip openings for microwave transmitter probes to pass through, and a waveguide is provided in the strip opening. The waveguide is sleeved outside the corresponding microwave transmitter probe, and the top end of the waveguide is also rotatably connected to the displacement plate.

5. The active detection type house leak detection robot according to claim 4, characterized in that: A driven gear is sleeved on the outside of the top end of the waveguide, and a positioning rack is provided inside the strip-shaped opening, and the driven gear is meshed with the positioning rack; When the probe of the microwave transmitter is located in the strip-shaped opening and close to one end of the bidirectional cylinder, the bottom end of the waveguide points to the edge of the opening end of the box body; When the probe of the microwave transmitter is located in the strip-shaped opening and away from one end of the bidirectional cylinder, the bottom end of the waveguide points to the middle position of the opening end of the box body.

6. The active detection type house leak detection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: A telescopic cover is provided on the inner side of the open end of the box body, and the telescopic cover and the box body are slidably matched. The left and right side walls of the telescopic cover are both provided with sliding openings. The inner wall of the box body is also provided with a slider passing through the sliding opening, and a return spring is provided between the slider and the inner bottom surface of the sliding opening; in a natural state, the return spring is in a compressed state, and the bottom end of the telescopic cover extends out of the outside of the box body.

7. The active detection type house leak detection robot according to claim 6, characterized in that: A reflective plate is hingedly provided on each of the two sliders, a guide column is provided at the bottom end of the reflective plate, a slide groove distributed along the width direction of the box body is opened on the bottom inner surface of the telescopic cover, and the guide column is movably embedded in the slide groove.

8. The active detection type house leak detection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The temperature measurement and imaging mechanism includes a temperature measurement imager and a linear drive component, and the linear drive component is used to drive the temperature measurement imager to slide along the length direction of the box body.

9. The active detection type house leak detection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The three-axis mechanical arm is rotatably connected to the top surface of the fuselage through a rotating base.

10. The active detection type house leak detection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: A main body battery and a travel drive assembly are provided inside the fuselage, and the travel drive assembly is used to drive the crawler-type travel mechanism to move.

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