System based on cooperation of quadruped robot and unmanned aerial vehicle and button pressing method

Abstract

The invention provides a system based on cooperation of a quadruped robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle. The system comprises the quadruped robot, the unmanned aerial vehicle, a cable take-up and pay-off mechanism, a carrying platform, an electrical docking station and a main controller. A carrying flat plate is installed on the back of the quadruped robot, and a cable take-up and pay-off mechanism, a main controller, an electrical docking station and an unmanned aerial vehicle are installed on the carrying flat plate. A pressing contact assembly is assembled at the front section of the bottom of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and before a button is pressed, the angle of a contact pressure sensor is controlled to be parallel to a target button; when the unmanned aerial vehicle lands, the angle of the contact pressure sensor is controlled to be parallel to the backs of the four robots; the cable winding and unwinding mechanism is used for winding and unwinding the transmission cable; the main controller is used for controlling the movement and attitude of the quadruped robot, performing two-way communication and state coordination with the unmanned aerial vehicle, controlling the cable take-up and pay-off mechanism, performing closed-loop control on the operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and performing task scheduling and resource allocation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a button pressing method based on the collaboration between a quadruped robot and a drone, belonging to the field of robot collaborative operation technology. Background Technology

[0002] Typically, miniature quadruped robots are no larger than 0.5 meters in size and have a payload capacity of less than 5 kilograms. In smart home and building inspection applications, quadruped robots, due to their height limitations, cannot reach the switches of devices such as lights and air conditioners, thus failing to perform intelligent control tasks. In logistics and food delivery, where movement across different floors is required, miniature robots cannot climb the stairs of standard office buildings due to their leg length limitations. Therefore, they must rely on elevators for movement between floors. However, since robotic arms often weigh more than 5 kilograms, especially those with an arm span exceeding 1 meter, quadruped robots cannot carry such arms to perform precise button operations at heights exceeding 1 meter. Currently, these robots must rely on humans to press elevator buttons, which not only reduces operational efficiency but also limits their level of intelligence.

[0003] While drones possess the capability to operate at high altitudes, their flight time is typically limited to 20 to 30 minutes. This necessitates frequent returns to base for recharging, impacting mission continuity and hindering their ability to handle extended missions. The lack of haptic feedback mechanisms in drones can lead to improper force control during missions, resulting in insufficient force or overload. Furthermore, drones rely on ground markings or manual intervention for recovery, a time-consuming process susceptible to environmental factors.

[0004] Currently, most systems use a single robot for operation, which limits their ability to perform delicate operations across different heights. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a solution that allows robots and drones to work together to expand the operational range of quadruped robots. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by this invention is to overcome the existing technical problems and provide a button pressing method based on the collaboration of a quadruped robot and a drone. This method realizes the ability to perform precise operation of lighting switch buttons, air conditioner switch buttons, elevator control buttons, and power distribution cabinet control buttons through wired interaction, tactile feedback, and energy sharing technology. It is applicable to various scenarios such as logistics transportation, smart homes, and building inspection.

[0006] The technical solution adopted in this invention is: a system based on the collaboration of a quadruped robot and a drone, including a quadruped robot, a drone, a cable retraction mechanism, a mounting platform, an electrical expansion dock, and a main controller;

[0007] The quadruped robot has a mounting plate on its back. The cable management mechanism, main controller, electrical expansion dock, and drone are all mounted on the mounting plate.

[0008] Several guide cylinders are symmetrically arranged on the middle section of the bottom of the drone, which cooperate with the positioning structure on the mounting platform for positioning and fixation. A press contact assembly is installed at the front of the bottom. The press contact assembly includes a contact pressure sensor, a bracket, a rotating shaft, and a first servo motor. The pressure sensor is fixed to the front end of the bracket to monitor the button pressing pressure in real time. The bracket is connected to the rotating shaft, which drives the bracket to rotate under the drive of the first servo motor. Before the button is pressed, the angle of the control contact pressure sensor is adjusted to be parallel to the target button. When the drone lands, the angle of the control contact pressure sensor is adjusted to be parallel to the back of the four robot groups.

[0009] The cable winding and unwinding mechanism includes a second servo motor, a transmission cable, and a cable shaft; one end of the transmission cable is connected to the UAV, and the other end is connected to the quadruped robot via an electrical expansion dock to realize power transmission and data communication; the second servo motor drives the cable shaft to realize the winding and unwinding of the transmission cable;

[0010] The main controller controls the movement and posture of the quadruped robot, communicates and coordinates with the drone in both directions, controls the cable retraction mechanism, performs closed-loop control of the drone's operations, and performs task scheduling and resource allocation.

[0011] Furthermore, the main controller controls the movement and posture of the quadruped robot, including:

[0012] The main controller receives data from the lidar and visual SLAM module on the quadruped robot, plans the optimal movement path according to the preset task map, drives the leg joint motors to adjust the gait, and drives the quadruped robot to move to the target area.

[0013] The main controller receives acceleration and angular velocity data collected in real time by the quadruped robot's built-in IMU, and uses a PID algorithm to dynamically adjust the leg support length to keep the drone's body level within a set range. At the same time, it locks the hip and knee joint angles of the quadruped robot to ensure that the body remains stationary relative to the ground.

[0014] Furthermore, the main controller engages in bidirectional communication and state coordination with the UAV, including:

[0015] The main controller transmits control commands and pressure sensor data, including takeoff / landing signals and angles, via a transmission cable. It also transmits images captured by the drone's camera and the drone's own status information, including battery level, GPS location, and flight attitude angle.

[0016] The main controller analyzes the flight altitude, horizontal displacement, and yaw angle data contained in the UAV's IMU in real time, and calculates the UAV's spatial coordinates relative to the quadruped robot based on the cable release length.

[0017] Furthermore, the main controller controls the cable retraction mechanism, including:

[0018] The main controller presets the initial cable release length based on the target operating altitude of the drone, monitors the cable shaft speed in real time through the encoder, and uses a PID algorithm to adjust the speed of the second servo motor to ensure that the transmission cable length matches the drone's flight altitude.

[0019] Furthermore, the main controller performs closed-loop control of the UAV operation, including:

[0020] The main controller receives button image data collected by the front-end camera of the drone, identifies the button position through the built-in target detection algorithm, calculates the angle between the current angle of the contact pressure sensor and the button plane, and generates the first servo motor rotation command to ensure that the contact pressure sensor and the button are horizontally aligned.

[0021] The main controller receives data from the contact pressure sensor in real time. When the pressure value is lower than the set threshold 'a', it sends a "feed command" to control the drone to adjust its position forward according to the feed amount. When the pressure exceeds the set threshold 'b', it sends a "reverse command" to control the drone to adjust its position backward according to the fine adjustment amount. The main controller stabilizes the pressing force of the pressing contact assembly within the set threshold range of 'a' to 'b' through closed-loop control. When the pressure is ≥ 'c' and lasts for 'd' seconds, a "pressing successful" signal is triggered, and the adjustment stops. Here, 'a' < 'c' < 'b', and 'c' and 'd' are set values.

[0022] Furthermore, the main controller performs task scheduling and resource allocation, including:

[0023] The main controller presets task priorities. When multiple task instructions are received at the same time, the main controller sorts them according to priority, first driving the quadruped robot to move to the highest priority task area, and then switching to the next priority task after the highest priority task is completed.

[0024] The main controller monitors the battery levels of the quadruped robot and the drone via an electrical expansion dock. When the drone's battery level drops below a set value, the main controller controls the power supply line built into the transmission cable to replenish the drone's power while simultaneously restricting the quadruped robot's movement.

[0025] Furthermore, the main controller is also capable of fault diagnosis:

[0026] The main controller monitors the status of the drone, transmission cable, and pressure sensor in real time, including the drone motor speed, cable rewind / unwind motor current, and pressure sensor communication status. When an abnormality is detected, a safety mechanism is immediately triggered: if the drone loses contact, the main controller drives the cable rewind / unwind mechanism to urgently rewind the cable at a set speed to pull the drone back to the platform; if the pressure sensor malfunctions, the pressing operation is performed by default according to the set fixed feed amount.

[0027] Furthermore, the main controller can also perform an emergency shutdown: when the quadruped robot's IMU detects an acceleration > 5g, or when the drone exceeds the safe operating radius, the main controller cuts off the drone's power supply and locks the quadruped robot's posture, awaiting human intervention.

[0028] A button pressing method based on a system of collaboration between a quadruped robot and a drone, characterized in that it includes:

[0029] The main controller receives task instructions from the host computer, parses the absolute target coordinates based on the preset map, and generates a path point sequence based on the real-time environmental data of obstacles obtained by LiDAR scanning; the main controller sends angle instructions to the leg joint motors of the quadruped robot, which moves using the trot gait.

[0030] After the quadruped robot arrives at the target area, the main controller adjusts the leg support length based on the quadruped robot's IMU data to keep the robot's level within the set range, while locking the leg joint angles.

[0031] The main controller calculates the initial release length based on the target button height, drives the servo motor of the cable winding mechanism to rotate forward, and stops after releasing the cable to the initial release length;

[0032] The main controller sends an "unlock" command to the drone, and the drone starts up; at the same time, the main controller sends a "take-off" command.

[0033] The main controller controls the drone to rise vertically to the height of the target button based on the drone's GPS data and the length of the transmission cable, and then moves horizontally to the front of the button. During this process, the distance is confirmed by the images transmitted back in real time by the camera.

[0034] The drone's front-end camera captures images of the button, the main controller calls a target detection algorithm to identify the button area, outputs the pixel coordinates of the top left / bottom right corner of the button in the image, and calculates the normal vector of the button plane based on the perspective transformation of the button edge in the image;

[0035] The main controller obtains the current angle of the drone's contact pressure sensor, compares it with the normal vector of the button plane, and calculates the deviation angle.

[0036] The main controller sends a rotation command to the first servo motor, which drives the shaft to rotate and provides real-time feedback of the rotation angle data until the angle of the contact pressure sensor is parallel to the button plane.

[0037] After the contact pressure sensor touches the button, it collects data in real time; the main controller compares the collected pressure data with the target pressure value and adjusts the drone's position according to the pressure value.

[0038] When the pressure value exceeds the set value, the main controller sends a "fine-tuning command" to the drone, controlling the drone to move along the contact axis until the pressure value stabilizes within the set range.

[0039] The main controller continuously monitors the pressure data. When it detects a pressure ≥ c and a duration of d seconds, it determines that the button was pressed successfully, sends a "stop pressing" command to the drone, and the contact head remains in the current position for f seconds before retracting and disengaging from the button; c, d, and f are all set values.

[0040] The main controller drives the cable winding mechanism to reverse and wind up the cable. At the same time, it generates a return path based on the positioning hole of the platform identified by the drone's camera.

[0041] When the bottom guide cylinder of the drone is aligned with the positioning structure of the mounting platform, the main controller controls the drone to reduce the motor speed and land. After the guide cylinder and the positioning structure of the mounting platform are in sync, the drone locks the motor that drives the drone to take off and completes the return operation.

[0042] After the drone returns to its original position, the cable is retracted to its initial state, and the main controller shuts down non-essential modules of the drone, including the camera and pressure sensor. The quadruped robot releases its attitude lock and returns to the preset standby area to await the next mission command.

[0043] The advantages of this invention compared to the prior art are:

[0044] (1) The quadruped robot of the present invention serves as a ground mobile platform, primarily responsible for ground navigation, providing stable support, and supplying energy. By releasing the drone via cable, it performs tasks such as pressing switches and control buttons at high locations, effectively solving the problem that robots cannot operate across floors or heights in scenarios such as smart homes, logistics transportation, and building inspections, thereby significantly improving operational efficiency.

[0045] (2) The quadruped robot of the present invention provides power support for the drone through cables, enabling the drone to carry out continuous operation for a long time, effectively overcoming the problem of short battery life; at the same time, the cable winding mechanism assists the drone in returning to its position, which greatly improves efficiency compared with the traditional manual recycling method.

[0046] (3) The pressure sensor at the front end of the drone of the present invention can monitor the pressure of the button in real time. Once an overload is detected, it will automatically cut off the power to prevent damage to the device. Attached Figure Description

[0047] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall system structure;

[0048] Figure 2 Diagram of the drone's head contact module;

[0049] Figure 3 This is a task flow diagram. Detailed Implementation

[0050] The present invention will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0051] This invention proposes a method for collaborative operation between a quadruped robot and a drone. The drone involved in this method is equipped with an angle-adjustable contact component at its front end, which also possesses pressure sensing capabilities. Controlled via cables, the drone can perform precise operations on light switches, air conditioner switches, elevator control buttons, and electrical cabinet control buttons, among others. This method, by utilizing drones, expands the operational range of quadruped robots, effectively overcoming the limitations of micro quadruped robots in cross-floor and high-altitude operations, and is applicable to various scenarios such as logistics transportation, smart homes, and building inspection.

[0052] like Figure 1 As shown, a system based on the collaboration between a quadruped robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes a quadruped robot, an UAV 1, a cable retraction mechanism 2, a mounting platform, an electrical expansion dock 3, and a main controller 4.

[0053] The quadruped robot serves as the ground support and control core of the collaborative system. Its back integrates key components such as a mounting plate, cable retraction mechanism 2, main controller 4, electrical expansion dock 3, and drone 1.

[0054] like Figure 2As shown, the UAV 1, serving as the system's observation and execution unit, has a dedicated cable fixing interface 16 at its bottom rear end to ensure a secure connection with the cable. Four guide cylinders 11 are symmetrically arranged in the middle of the bottom section, cooperating with the positioning structure of the mounting platform to achieve precise positioning and fixation. The push-button assembly mounted at the front of the bottom includes a push-button pressure sensor 12, a bracket 13, a rotating shaft 14, and a first servo motor 15. The push-button pressure sensor 12 is fixed to the front end of the bracket 13 and is used to monitor the button pressing pressure in real time; the bracket 13 is connected to the rotating shaft 14, which, driven by the first servo motor 15, can rotate the push-button assembly. Before the button is pressed, the angle of the control contact pressure sensor 12 is adjusted to be parallel to the target button, which effectively solves the problem that the contact pressure sensor 12 and the button are at an angle due to the upward tilt of the drone during takeoff, making it difficult to press. When the drone lands, the angle of the contact pressure sensor 12 is adjusted to be parallel to the back of the robot to avoid interference between the contact pressure sensor 12 and the back of the robot, ensuring that the drone lands and is recovered smoothly. At the same time, the center of gravity of the drone is lowered, which improves the overall stability of the quadruped robot during movement.

[0055] Equipped with a flat plate to carry the drone, it is fastened to the threaded hole on the back of the robot by screws at the edge. The positioning hole designed in the center area provides stable and reliable positioning support during the loading and take-off and landing of the drone, effectively ensuring the safety of the operation.

[0056] The cable retraction mechanism 2, serving as the connection hub between the quadruped robot and the drone 1, consists of a second servo motor, a transmission cable, and a cable shaft. One end of the transmission cable is connected to the dedicated cable fixing interface 16 of the drone 1, and the other end is connected to the quadruped robot system via the electrical expansion dock 3, enabling power transmission and data communication functions. The servo motor drives the cable shaft, allowing for rapid retraction and extension of the transmission cable according to actual needs, ensuring the transmission cable maintains a safe and stable working state during movement.

[0057] The Electrical Expansion Dock 3 is equipped with a variety of standardized electrical interfaces, including power interfaces, data interfaces, and communication interfaces, which can connect to various external devices, such as sensors and actuators, to support the expansion of system functions.

[0058] The main controller 4, as the central nervous system of the system, is responsible for coordinating the robot's own motion control, two-way communication with the drone 1, precise control of the cable retraction mechanism 2, closed-loop control of drone operations, and task scheduling and resource allocation of the entire system.

[0059] 1. Motion and attitude control of quadruped robots

[0060] a. Target area localization: Receive data from the LiDAR and visual SLAM module on the quadruped robot, combine it with preset task maps such as building floor plans and smart home layout maps, plan the optimal movement path, and drive the leg joint motors to adjust the gait to ensure accurate movement to the target area.

[0061] b. Body attitude locking: With the help of the quadruped robot’s built-in IMU to collect acceleration and angular velocity data in real time, the main controller 4 dynamically adjusts the leg support length based on the PID algorithm to keep the body level within ±2°, thereby avoiding the instability of the drone 1 during take-off and landing due to ground tilt; at the same time, the hip and knee joint angles are locked to ensure that the body remains stationary relative to the ground.

[0062] 2. Two-way communication and status coordination with UAV 1

[0063] a. Data Interaction Protocol: The cable has a built-in data line to transmit takeoff / landing signals, angle and other key control commands and pressure sensor data. It also transmits images captured by the drone's camera and its own status information such as battery level, GPS location, and flight attitude angle.

[0064] b. State synchronization mechanism: The main controller analyzes the flight altitude, horizontal displacement, yaw angle and other data contained in the UAV IMU in real time, and calculates the spatial coordinates of the UAV relative to the quadruped robot in combination with the cable release length, so as to ensure the controllability of the UAV's motion trajectory in "wire control mode" and avoid cable tangling or excessive stretching.

[0065] 3. Precise control of the cable reel-in / out mechanism

[0066] a. Length Closed-Loop Adjustment: Based on the target operating height of UAV 1 (e.g., 1.5m above an elevator button), the initial cable release length is preset. The calculation formula is: Initial Length = Target Height + Redundancy, with a redundancy of 0.5m (to avoid the cable tautness affecting the UAV's attitude). The encoder monitors the cable shaft speed in real time, and the main controller 4 adjusts the speed of the second servo motor based on a PID algorithm (the retraction speed can be adjusted within the range of 0.1-0.5m / s) to ensure that the cable length matches the UAV's flight altitude, and the length error does not exceed 5cm.

[0067] 4. Closed-loop control of UAV operations

[0068] a. Visual guidance command generation: Receive button image data collected by the front-end camera of the drone, identify the button position through the built-in target detection algorithm, calculate the angle between the current angle of the contact pressure sensor 12 and the button plane, and generate the first servo motor rotation command to ensure that the contact and the button are horizontally aligned.

[0069] b. Pressure feedback adjustment: Real-time reception of pressure sensor data from the drone's contact point. When the pressure value is below 4N, a "feed command" is sent to control the drone to make a fine adjustment forward, with a feed amount of 0.5mm / time. When the pressure exceeds 6N, a "reverse command" is sent, with a fine adjustment amount of 0.3mm / time. The pressing pressure is stabilized at 5±1N through closed-loop control. When the pressure is ≥5N and lasts for 0.5 seconds, a "press successful" signal is triggered, and adjustment stops.

[0070] 5. Task scheduling and resource allocation

[0071] a. Multi-task priority management: Preset task priorities, such as "pressing elevator buttons" having a higher priority than "operating the light switch". When multiple task instructions are received simultaneously, the main controller sorts them according to priority, first driving the quadruped robot to move to the highest priority task area, and after completing that task, switching to the next priority task.

[0072] b. Energy Sharing Control: The battery levels of the quadruped robot and the drone are monitored via the electrical expansion dock 3. When the drone's battery level drops below 20%, the power supply line built into the main controller's control cable replenishes the drone's power while restricting unnecessary movements of the quadruped robot (such as shutting down some sensors in standby mode) to prioritize the drone's operational endurance.

[0073] 6. Anomaly Handling and Safety Redundancy

[0074] a. Fault Diagnosis: Real-time monitoring of the status of each component, including drone motor speed, cable rewind / unwind motor current, and pressure sensor communication status. When abnormal situations such as drone disconnection or pressure sensor data fluctuations are detected, a safety mechanism is immediately triggered: If drone disconnection occurs, the main controller drives the cable rewind / unwind mechanism to urgently rewind the cable at a speed of 0.8 m / s, pulling the drone back to the mounting platform; if the pressure sensor malfunctions, the default pressing operation is performed with a fixed feed amount of 5 mm to avoid mission interruption.

[0075] b. Emergency shutdown: When the quadruped robot encounters a violent collision (IMU detects acceleration > 5g), or the drone exceeds the safe operating radius (cable release length > 5m), the main controller cuts off the drone's power supply and locks the quadruped robot's posture, waiting for manual intervention.

[0076] like Figure 3 As shown, a button pressing method based on the collaboration between a quadruped robot and a drone includes the following steps:

[0077] Step 1: The quadruped robot moves to the target area and locks its posture.

[0078] 11. Task Reception and Path Planning

[0079] The main controller receives task instructions such as "3rd floor elevator button, 1st floor call" sent by the host computer (such as smart home central control, building management system), parses the absolute target coordinates based on the preset map, and combines the real-time environmental data of obstacles such as walls, tables and chairs obtained by LiDAR scanning, sets a path point every 0.5 meters, and generates a path point sequence.

[0080] 12. Gait execution and positioning calibration

[0081] The main controller sends angle commands to the leg joint motors of the quadruped robot, which moves using a trot gait (moving speed of 0.5m / s). Every 1 meter it moves, it collects environmental feature points such as QR codes on the wall and the outline of the elevator door through the visual SLAM module to correct positioning errors and ensure that it finally reaches the center of the target area within ±5cm.

[0082] 13. Attitude Locking

[0083] Upon reaching the target area, the main controller adjusts the leg support length based on IMU data (e.g., the left front leg extends by 5mm and the right hind leg shortens by 3mm) to keep the body level within ±2°; at the same time, it locks the leg joint angle and prevents the body from shaking by maintaining the joint motor current at 500mA.

[0084] Step Two: Cable Release and Drone Takeoff by Wired Control

[0085] 21. Initial cable length setting

[0086] The main controller calculates the initial release length based on the target button height (e.g., 1.5m for an elevator button). The calculation formula is: Initial length = target height + quadruped robot shoulder height (e.g., 0.3m) + redundancy (0.2m) = 2.0m. Then, the servo motor of the cable winding and unwinding mechanism is driven to rotate forward (100rpm) and the cable is released to 2.0m before stopping. The length is confirmed by the encoder.

[0087] 22. Drone unlocking and wire-controlled takeoff

[0088] The main controller sends an "unlock" command to the drone, and the drone starts its motors (the motors that drive the drone to take off) (the speed gradually increases from 0 to 1500 rpm); at the same time, the main controller sends a "take-off" command.

[0089] 23. Flight to the target area

[0090] The main controller combines the drone's GPS data and cable length to control the drone to rise vertically to the height of the target button (e.g., 1.5m), and then move horizontally to 30cm in front of the button. During this process, the distance is confirmed by images transmitted back in real time from the camera.

[0091] Step 3: Dynamic Correction of Drone Head Angle

[0092] 31. Button Image Acquisition and Recognition

[0093] The drone's front-end camera captures images of the button, the main controller calls a target detection algorithm to identify the button area, outputs the pixel coordinates of the top left / bottom right corner of the button in the image, and calculates the normal vector of the button plane based on the perspective transformation of the button edge in the image.

[0094] 32. Calculation of angular deviation

[0095] The main controller obtains the current contact angle of the drone (feedback from the drone's built-in angle sensor, such as an initial angle of 0°), compares it with the normal vector of the button plane, and calculates the deviation angle (e.g., if the contact tilts to the left by 3°, the deviation angle is 3°).

[0096] 33. Angle adjustment execution

[0097] The main controller sends a rotation command (e.g., 3° ​​clockwise) to the servo motor of the drone's contact assembly. The motor drives the shaft to rotate at a speed of 5° / s, and feeds back angle data every 0.5° rotation until the contact angle is parallel to the button plane (deviation ≤ 0.5°).

[0098] Step 4: Pressure Feedback and Button Pressing

[0099] 41. Pressure Data Acquisition and Analysis

[0100] After the contact point touches the button, the pressure sensor collects data in real time. The main controller compares the collected data with the target pressure value (5N). When the pressure value is 4N (below the lower limit), an additional 2mm feed is required to increase the pressure; when the pressure value is 6N (above the upper limit), a 1mm backfeed is required to decrease the pressure.

[0101] 42. Dynamic adjustment of feed rate

[0102] When the pressure value is greater than 4N, the main controller sends a "fine-tuning command" to the drone, controlling the drone to move along the contact axis (feed / reverse speed is 0.2mm / s). Pressure data is collected every 0.1mm of movement until the pressure value stabilizes within the range of 5±1N.

[0103] 43. Successful press determination

[0104] The main controller continuously monitors the pressure data. When it detects a pressure ≥5N and a duration of 0.5 seconds, it determines that the button was pressed successfully and then sends a "stop pressing" command to the drone. The contact head remains in the current position for 0.2 seconds and then slightly retracts (0.5mm) to disengage from the button.

[0105] Step 5: Drone returns to its designated location and system is ready for operation.

[0106] 51: Cable winding and repositioning guidance

[0107] The main controller drives the cable winding mechanism to reverse (80 rpm) and winds up the cable at a speed of 0.3 m / s. At the same time, the drone's camera identifies the positioning hole (5 cm in diameter with built-in infrared marker) on the platform and generates a return path. Specifically, the drone first rises to a position 0.5 m above the platform and then performs a vertical descent.

[0108] 52: Precise landing of drones

[0109] When the guide cylinder on the bottom of the drone is aligned with the positioning hole on the mounting platform, the main controller controls the drone to reduce the motor speed (down to 500 rpm) and land slowly at a speed of 0.1 m / s. After the guide cylinder is inserted into the hole, the drone locks the motor, and the return operation is completed.

[0110] 53: System Reset

[0111] The cable is retracted to its initial state (the drone is fixed on the mounting platform), and the main controller shuts down non-essential modules of the drone, including cameras and pressure sensors. The quadruped robot releases its attitude lock and returns to the preset standby area (such as a charging dock in a building lobby) to await the next mission command.

[0112] The parts of this invention not described in detail are well-known to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A system based on the collaboration of a quadruped robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle, characterized in that, Includes a quadruped robot, a drone (1), a cable retraction mechanism (2), a mounting platform, an electrical expansion dock (3), and a main controller (4); The quadruped robot has a mounting plate installed on its back. The cable management mechanism (2), main controller (4), electrical expansion dock (3), and drone (1) are mounted on the mounting plate. The bottom middle section of the UAV (1) is symmetrically equipped with several guide cylinders (11), which cooperate with the positioning structure on the mounting platform for positioning and fixation; the bottom front section is equipped with a pressing contact assembly, which includes a contact pressure sensor (12), a bracket (13), a rotating shaft (14) and a first servo motor (15); the pressure sensor (12) is fixed to the front end of the bracket (13) for real-time monitoring of button pressing pressure; the bracket (13) is connected to the rotating shaft (14), and under the drive of the first servo motor (15), the rotating shaft (14) drives the bracket (13) to rotate; before the button is pressed, the angle of the control contact pressure sensor (12) is adjusted to be parallel to the target button; when the UAV (1) lands, the angle of the control contact pressure sensor (12) is adjusted to be parallel to the back of the four robots; The cable winding mechanism (2) includes a second servo motor, a transmission cable and a cable shaft; one end of the transmission cable is connected to the UAV (1), and the other end is connected to the quadruped robot via the electrical expansion dock (3) to realize power transmission and data communication; The second servo motor drives the cable shaft to realize the winding and unwinding of the transmission cable; The main controller (4) controls the movement and posture of the quadruped robot, communicates and coordinates with the drone (1) in both directions, controls the cable retraction mechanism (2), performs closed-loop control of the drone's operation, and performs task scheduling and resource allocation.

2. The system based on the collaboration between a quadruped robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that, The main controller (4) controls the motion and posture of the quadruped robot, including: The main controller (4) receives data from the lidar and visual SLAM module mounted on the quadruped robot, plans the optimal movement path according to the preset task map, drives the leg joint motors to adjust the gait, and drives the quadruped robot to move to the target area. The main controller (4) receives acceleration and angular velocity data collected in real time by the IMU built into the quadruped robot, and uses a PID algorithm to dynamically adjust the leg support length so that the drone body level is maintained within the set range. At the same time, it locks the hip and knee joint angles of the quadruped robot to ensure that the body remains stationary relative to the ground.

3. The system based on the collaboration between a quadruped robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 2, characterized in that, The main controller (4) communicates and coordinates with the UAV (1) in two directions, including: The main controller (4) transmits control commands and pressure sensor data, including take-off / landing signals and angles, via transmission cables. It also transmits images captured by the drone camera and the drone's own status information, including battery power, GPS position, and flight attitude angle. The main controller (4) analyzes the flight altitude, horizontal displacement and yaw angle data contained in the UAV IMU in real time, and calculates the spatial coordinates of the UAV relative to the quadruped robot based on the cable release length.

4. A system based on the collaboration of a quadruped robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 3, characterized in that, The main controller (4) controls the cable retraction mechanism (2), including: The main controller (4) presets the initial release length of the cable according to the target operating altitude of the UAV (1), monitors the rotation speed of the cable shaft in real time through the encoder, and uses the PID algorithm to adjust the speed of the second servo motor to ensure that the transmission cable length matches the flight altitude of the UAV.

5. A system based on the collaboration of a quadruped robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 4, characterized in that, The main controller (4) performs closed-loop control of the UAV operation, including: The main controller (4) receives button image data collected by the front-end camera of the drone, identifies the button position through the built-in target detection algorithm, calculates the angle between the current angle of the contact pressure sensor (12) and the button plane, and generates the first servo motor rotation command to ensure that the contact pressure sensor (12) is horizontally aligned with the button. The main controller (4) receives data from the contact pressure sensor (12) in real time. When the pressure value is lower than the set threshold a, it sends a "feed command" to control the drone to adjust its position forward according to the feed amount. When the pressure exceeds the set threshold b, it sends a "backward command" to control the drone to adjust its position backward according to the fine adjustment amount. The main controller (4) stabilizes the pressing force of the pressing contact assembly within the set threshold a to b range through closed-loop control. When the pressure is ≥ c and lasts for d seconds, it triggers a "pressing success" signal and stops adjusting. Here, a < c < b, and c and d are both set values.

6. A system based on the collaboration of a quadruped robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 5, characterized in that, The main controller (4) performs task scheduling and resource allocation, including: The main controller (4) presets task priorities. When multiple task instructions are received at the same time, the main controller sorts them according to priority. First, it drives the quadruped robot to move to the highest priority task area. After the highest priority task is completed, it switches to the next priority task. The main controller (4) monitors the battery power of the quadruped robot and the drone (1) through the electrical expansion dock (3); when the drone's battery power is lower than the set value, the main controller controls the power supply line built into the transmission cable to replenish the power of the drone, while restricting the movement of the quadruped robot.

7. A system based on the collaboration of a quadruped robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 5, characterized in that, The main controller (4) is also capable of fault diagnosis: The main controller (4) monitors the status of the drone, transmission cable and pressure sensor in real time, including the drone motor speed, cable winding and unwinding motor current and pressure sensor communication status; when an abnormal situation is detected, the safety mechanism is triggered immediately: if the drone loses contact, the main controller (4) drives the cable winding and unwinding mechanism (2) to urgently wind up the cable at a set speed and pull the drone back to the mounting platform; If the pressure sensor malfunctions, the pressing operation will be performed by default according to the set fixed feed amount.

8. A system based on the collaboration of a quadruped robot and an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 7, characterized in that, The main controller (4) can also perform emergency shutdown: when the quadruped robot IMU detects an acceleration > 5g, or when the drone exceeds the safe operating radius, the main controller cuts off the drone's power supply and locks the quadruped robot's posture, waiting for manual intervention.

9. A button pressing method based on a system of quadruped robot and unmanned aerial vehicle collaboration as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, include: The main controller (4) receives the task instructions sent by the host computer, parses the absolute target coordinates according to the preset map, and generates a path point sequence based on the real-time environmental data of obstacles obtained by the laser radar scan; the main controller (4) sends angle instructions to the joint motors of the quadruped robot's legs and moves using the trot gait. After the quadruped robot arrives at the target area, the main controller (4) adjusts the leg support length according to the quadruped robot's IMU data to keep the robot's level within the set range, while locking the leg joint angle. The main controller calculates the initial release length based on the target button height, drives the servo motor of the cable winding mechanism to rotate forward, and stops after releasing the cable to the initial release length; The main controller sends an "unlock" command to the drone, and the drone starts up; at the same time, the main controller sends a "take-off" command. The main controller controls the drone to rise vertically to the height of the target button based on the drone's GPS data and the length of the transmission cable, and then moves horizontally to the front of the button. During this process, the distance is confirmed by the images transmitted back in real time by the camera. The drone's front-end camera captures images of the button, the main controller calls a target detection algorithm to identify the button area, outputs the pixel coordinates of the top left / bottom right corner of the button in the image, and calculates the normal vector of the button plane based on the perspective transformation of the button edge in the image; The main controller obtains the current angle of the drone's contact pressure sensor (12), compares it with the normal vector of the button plane, and calculates the deviation angle; The main controller sends a rotation command to the first servo motor (15), the first servo motor (15) drives the shaft to rotate, and feeds back the rotation angle data in real time until the angle of the contact pressure sensor (12) is parallel to the button plane; After the contact pressure sensor (12) contacts the button, the contact pressure sensor (12) collects data in real time; the main controller compares the collected pressure data with the target pressure value and adjusts the position of the UAV according to the pressure value; When the pressure value exceeds the set value, the main controller sends a "fine-tuning command" to the drone, controlling the drone to move along the contact axis until the pressure value stabilizes within the set range. The main controller continuously monitors the pressure data. When it detects a pressure ≥ c and a duration of d seconds, it determines that the button was pressed successfully and sends a "stop pressing" command to the drone. The contact head remains in the current position for f seconds and then moves back, disengaging from the button. c, d, and f are all set values. The main controller drives the cable winding mechanism to reverse and wind up the cable. At the same time, it generates a return path based on the positioning hole of the platform identified by the drone's camera. When the bottom guide cylinder of the drone aligns with the positioning structure of the mounting platform, the main controller controls the drone to reduce the motor speed and land. After the guide cylinder and the positioning structure of the mounting platform are in sync, the drone locks the motor that drives the drone to take off, completing the return operation.

10. A button pressing method according to claim 9, characterized in that, Also includes: After the drone returns to its original position, the cable is wound back to its initial state, and the main controller shuts down non-essential modules of the drone, including the camera and pressure sensor. The quadruped robot releases its posture lock and returns to the preset standby area, awaiting the next mission instruction.

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