Biomimetic robot sweating and cooling system

Abstract

The invention discloses a bionic robot sweating and cooling system which comprises a top water storage tank, a chip cooling micro-channel, a battery cooling micro-channel, a joint motor sweating and cooling device and a communicating guide pipe. Wherein the sweating device is formed by compounding a bottom micro-channel (supporting heat conduction) and a porous structure layer (capillary evaporation). According to the system, the gravitational potential energy of the water storage tank and the capillary suction force of the porous layer cooperatively drive a heat dissipation medium to flow, heat is absorbed through chip / battery micro-channels in sequence, and finally phase change evaporation heat dissipation is completed at the motor sweating device; and the porous structure plays a liquid sealing barrier role at the same time to prevent the non-evaporated medium from leaking. According to the whole system, through fluid flowing and evaporation, the purpose of cooling components such as joints, batteries and chips of the bionic robot is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of transpiring and cooling systems for bionic robots, and is an open transpiring and cooling system that utilizes gravity-capillary force synergistic self-drive to achieve comprehensive layout thermal management of various heat-generating components of the robot. Background Art

[0002] As the motion performance of bionic robots improves, the heat accumulation problem of their integrated joint motors, high-computing chips and large-capacity batteries has become increasingly prominent. Traditional heat dissipation solutions have three major limitations: 1. Poor spatial adaptability: fans / radiators require additional installation space, which conflicts with the lightweight and bionic structural design of the robot; the liquid cooling pump system has complex piping and is difficult to adapt to the multi-degree-of-freedom joint layout. 2. Low energy efficiency: forced air cooling has a sharp drop in heat dissipation efficiency in a closed environment and increases the energy consumption of the entire machine by 20%-30%; the power consumption of the pump-driven liquid cooling system accounts for more than 15% of the total power consumption. 3. Insufficient reliability: existing microchannel heat dissipation relies on mechanical pumps, which has the risk of vibration failure; open evaporation systems (such as spray cooling) have a high medium leakage rate (>10%), which corrodes precision electronic components. Recent studies have attempted to use porous core capillary force drive, but it is only applicable to uniform temperature scenarios and cannot meet the requirements of chips (heat flux density>100W / cm 2 ), joint motors (transient thermal shock), and batteries (low-temperature requirements). Bionic sweating materials can achieve localized evaporative cooling, but lack system-level media circulation design, resulting in insufficient sustained heat dissipation. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a self-powered, leak-proof, and multi-heat-source compatible biomimetic cooling system to overcome the thermal management bottleneck of bionic robots. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a self-driven bionic robot sweating and heat dissipation system, which uses gravity-capillary force synergistic drive and a gradient porous sealing structure to cause phase change evaporation of the liquid working fluid, thereby achieving efficient heat dissipation from multiple heat sources (joints / batteries / chips) and solving the energy consumption and inefficiency problems of traditional solutions.

[0004] The present invention designs a bionic robot heat dissipation system based on sweat cooling, which is characterized in that: the heat dissipation system is an open system, and the liquid medium is added from the ventilation / water hole (6) of the top water storage tank (1) to fill the entire system. When the liquid evaporates in the shoulder sweat cooling unit (4) or the leg sweat cooling unit (4), the liquid in the conduit (3), the chip heat dissipation microchannel (2) and the battery heat dissipation microchannel (5) flows, realizing heat dissipation of the chip and battery areas. The ventilation / water hole (6) of the water storage tank (1) always maintains communication with the atmospheric environment to prevent the liquid from being restricted by siphon and difficult to flow. If the chip and battery areas undergo phase change due to excessive temperature, the generated bubbles can also be passed into the water storage tank (1) along the conduit and discharged into the atmosphere. The entire system drives the medium to flow through the liquid gravity and the capillary force of the porous structure of the sweat cooling device, without the need for an external power source. This passive self-driven characteristic significantly extends the continuous operation time of robots with high endurance requirements.

[0005] The structure of the top water storage tank (1) of the present invention can flexibly adjust the volume it occupies according to the head space size of the bionic robot, and the ventilation / water hole (6) can also be placed in a suitable area according to the actual prototype size and position, and can also be a flexible hose.

[0006] The chip heat dissipation microchannel (2) and the battery heat dissipation microchannel (5) have similar structural types, both having a microchannel fluid inlet (7), a microchannel area (8), and a microchannel fluid outlet (9). The upper and lower parts of the structure are sealed and attached to the heat generating area. The difference lies in the size and number of their microchannels. The microchannel size of the chip area is smaller, and the microchannel size of the battery heat dissipation area is larger to accommodate its larger size.

[0007] The sweating heat dissipation unit (4) is composed of a bottom microchannel region (10) and a top porous region (11). The bottom microchannel is used to support the top porous region and simultaneously distribute the incoming liquid medium and conduct heat generated by the joint motor. The sweating heat dissipation unit is a heat dissipation method based on liquid phase change to absorb heat from the surrounding porous medium to achieve the purpose of heat dissipation. Liquid flows through the bottom microchannel region (10) and enters the porous structure (11). The porous structure can provide capillary force for liquid flow, and the capillary force can also prevent liquid from overflowing, thereby achieving a liquid sealing effect.

[0008] The liquid medium used in the present invention can be fluids such as water, ethanol, and fluorinated liquids. Antifreeze and other difficult-to-evaporate working fluids are not suitable. Pipe materials can include PVC pipes, metal pipes, silicone tubing, and other materials for liquid transport. The microchannel structure can be made of copper-based or aluminum-based materials. The sweating and heat dissipation unit can be made of copper and copper particles sintered together. Silicon-based materials can also be used to bond the microchannels to the porous material.

[0009] The present invention has the following advantages and effects:

[0010] 1. This invention couples the gravitational potential energy of the water tank with the capillary effect of the porous layer to construct a fully self-driven fluid circulation system, completely eliminating dependence on external pump power. This system achieves autonomous energy conversion through physical field synergy (gravity field-capillary field). While ensuring high heat transfer efficiency, it fundamentally eliminates the parasitic power consumption problem of traditional liquid cooling systems, providing energy security for the long-term operation of bionic robots.

[0011] 2. The gradient porous structure layer, through a cross-scale design of surface micropores (submicron-level dense network) and underlying macropores (hundred-micron-level flow channels), creates an adaptive liquid sealing effect while capillary force drives medium transport. Combined with surface nano-modification processes (such as aluminum oxide doping), it significantly enhances the liquid phase retention ability, ensuring the sealing integrity of the system during the high-speed movement of the biomimetic robot.

[0012] 3. Based on the differentiated heat dissipation requirements of chips, batteries, joint motors, and other heat sources, we innovatively propose: Chip area: Use high aspect ratio microchannels (submillimeter level) to enhance local heat exchange; Battery area: Wide flow channel design to balance the temperature field; Joint area: Phase change evaporation terminal to absorb transient thermal shock. The coordinated design of the three is achieved through flow path topology optimization (series / parallel)

[0013] Realize dynamic distribution of heat load to meet global temperature control requirements under complex working conditions.

[0014] 4. Evaporative phase-change cooling replaces traditional heat dissipation modules (such as metal fins and fan motors), deeply integrating thermal management into the robot's structure: The sweating device is embedded directly into the joint cavity; microchannels adhere to the battery / chip surface; and the conduit is routed along the bionic skeleton. This design overcomes the limitations of "add-on" cooling systems, significantly reducing motion inertia and improving the robot's dynamic response capabilities.

[0015] 5. The system architecture is based on the general principles of bionic thermal management (gravity drive + joint evaporation), breaking through the limitations of the humanoid robot framework:

[0016] For quadruped robots, water tanks are placed on the back, with distributed evaporation at the leg joints. For flying robots, miniaturized sweating modules are embedded in flapping servos. For underwater robots, pressure-resistant, sealed porous layers enable liquid circulation. Modular interfaces can also be used to adapt to different forms, promoting the standardization of thermal management technology for biomimetic robots. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The present invention proposes a bionic robot sweating and heat dissipation system, and the present invention is further described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and its application in the field of bionic robot heat dissipation. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0018] Example: (Humanoid Robot Application)

[0019] As attached Figure 1-4 As shown, the implementation of the sweat cooling system in a humanoid robot includes:

[0020] The water tank (1) is integrated at the top of the cranial cavity, the highest point of the system, and is made of polycarbonate (wall thickness 1.5mm), with an effective volume of 200mL. The medium is deionized water, and the ventilation / water hole (6) is equipped with a silicone one-way valve with a diameter of Φ1.5mm and an opening pressure of 0.5kPa.

[0021] The chip microchannel (2) is attached to the computing cabin and uses copper as the base material. The microchannel is etched using a femtosecond laser to achieve a microchannel size of width × depth = 0.5 × 1.0 mm, with 12 channels. The battery microchannel (5) is installed in the chest battery compartment and uses aluminum alloy as the base material. It also has parallel flow channels, width × depth = 1.2 × 1.5 mm, with 20 channels.

[0022] The sweating and heat dissipation unit (4) is located at the shoulder and leg joints and is used to dissipate heat from the joint motor. The bottom microchannel (10) is 0.8 mm wide and uses a copper flow channel. The porous area (11) is in contact with the microchannel and is bonded to a bottom layer made of 100 μm copper powder + 25% pore-forming agent (PMMA microspheres), and the surface porous area is made of 10 μm copper powder + Al2O3 nanopowder (10 wt%), which are sintered at high temperature. The bottom microchannel (10) and the porous area (11) both use copper as the base material. The arc-shaped structure can be designed according to the arc-shaped structure of the motor's exterior. Finally, the two are sintered and connected to form the final sweating and heat dissipation unit (4).

[0023] The conduit (3) is used to connect each heat dissipation unit with the water storage tank, and adopts a fluororubber tube with an inner diameter of Φ4mm and a wall thickness of 0.8mm. The connection adopts a medical-grade silicone quick-plug connector to reduce the flow resistance as much as possible.

[0024] The working process of the present invention is as follows: the entire system is attached to the bionic robot heating unit, the pipeline is connected, and deionized water is added from the top water tank (1). The liquid needs to be added slowly to empty the air in the system until the liquid reaches the ventilation / water hole (6). In the normal working mode, the motor temperature is not too high (about 50°C), and the sweating heat dissipation unit (4) evaporates at a slow rate (about 11mL / min). When in a more intense working mode, the motor temperature rises (about 70°C), and the evaporation rate of the sweating unit water is accelerated (about 36mL / min). At this time, the water flow rate of the entire system will also increase accordingly, and the heat dissipation effect for the chip and battery will also be improved, thereby meeting the temperature control requirements of the entire bionic robot in high-power mode and realizing a global adaptive temperature control closed loop.

[0025] In summary, the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any modifications and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the spatial topology configuration of the bionic robot sweating and heat dissipation system of the present invention

[0027] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the top water storage tank of the present invention

[0028] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the microchannel heat dissipation area of ​​the present invention.

[0029] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the sweating and heat dissipation unit of the present invention

[0030] In the figure: 1. Top water storage tank; 2. Chip heat dissipation microchannel; 3. Conduit; 4. Sweating heat dissipation unit; 5. Battery heat dissipation microchannel; 6. Water / air vent; 7. Microchannel fluid inlet; 8. Microchannel area; 9. Microchannel fluid outlet; 10. Microchannel area; 11. Porous area.

Claims

1. A bionic robot sweating and heat dissipation system, characterized in that: include: The water storage tank (1) is arranged on the top of the bionic robot, i.e., the highest point of the entire robot; the chip heat dissipation microchannel (2) is attached to the heat source position of the heat-generating chip; Battery heat dissipation microchannel (5), attached to the battery surface; The joint motor sweating and heat dissipation device (4) is attached to the joint motor and includes: a bottom microchannel structure for heat conduction and mechanical support; a porous structure layer, covering or placed on the surface of the bottom microchannel, providing liquid capillary suction, heat conduction and generating liquid evaporation phase change; a conduit (3) for connecting the water storage tank (1), the chip heat dissipation microchannel (2), the battery heat dissipation microchannel (5) and the joint motor sweating and heat dissipation device (4); the heat dissipation medium is driven to flow in the conduit (3) by the gravitational potential energy of the water storage tank (1) and the capillary suction of the porous structure layer, flows through the chip heat dissipation microchannel (2) and the battery heat dissipation microchannel (5) in turn to absorb heat, and then evaporates and dissipates heat at the joint motor sweating and heat dissipation device (4); the porous structure layer also constitutes a liquid sealing barrier to prevent the non-evaporated medium from leaking out.

2. The sweating and heat dissipation system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The capillary suction force of the porous structure layer satisfies the following conditions: capillary force + static pressure of the liquid column from the water tank (1) to the motor sweating and heat dissipation device (4) ≥ fluid resistance, thereby ensuring autonomous transportation of the heat dissipation medium from the water tank (1) to the motor sweating and heat dissipation device (4) without the need for pump work or other power transportation.

3. The sweating and heat dissipation system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The system flow path is an open evaporation circuit: water storage tank (1) → chip heat dissipation microchannel (2) → shoulder joint motor sweating and heat dissipation device (4) on both sides → environment or battery heat dissipation microchannel (5) → leg joint motor sweating and heat dissipation device (4) on both sides → environment, forming a series closed circuit or an open evaporation circuit.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The conduit (3) is provided with a flow distributor at the inlet of the joint motor sweating and heat dissipation device (4), and the conduit (3) contains a conical flow distribution cavity and a flow equalization device to ensure that the medium evenly covers the porous structure layer.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein: A vent hole is provided in the water storage tank (1) to ensure the circulation of gas with the environment and to balance the volume and pressure changes caused by the evaporation of the heat dissipation medium.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The porous structure layer is a metal sintered layer with a gradient pore size, and the pore size ranges from 0.2 to 200 μm, wherein the surface pore size is smaller than the bottom pore size, and the surface porosity is greater than the bottom porosity, so as to realize its function of absorbing and sealing liquid media.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The porous structure material can be made of copper particles, and the surface is doped with aluminum oxide particles to form a nano layer on the surface, which is fixed by sintering or etching process to enhance the capillary force of the porous structure.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The liquid evaporation intensity of the joint motor sweating and heat dissipation device (4) can be dynamically adjusted according to the real-time heat generation of the motor, and the evaporation rate is changed by the change of heat conductivity, thereby realizing adaptive control of the phase change evaporation amount, thereby accurately maintaining the motor operating temperature within a set range.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The sweating and heat dissipation unit is not limited to the shoulders and leg bones, but can be arranged in any area where motor heat dissipation is required, such as the knee joints, elbow joints and other areas.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein: The size of the microchannel (including width and height) can be adjusted according to its location (at the battery heat dissipation position or the chip heat dissipation position), so that it can achieve the purpose of heat dissipation and maintain the system flow resistance below the preset threshold.

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