Photovoltaic panel detection robot of bionic snail

Abstract

The invention relates to a photovoltaic panel detection robot, and particularly discloses a snail-bionic photovoltaic panel detection robot which comprises a supporting base, a tail shell capable of being opened and closed is arranged on the rear side of a shell, the tail shell and the shell form a containing space, a flaw detection mechanical arm is arranged in the containing space, and when the tail shell is opened, the flaw detection mechanical arm is connected with the supporting base. The flaw detection mechanical arm extends to the outer side of the accommodating space for flaw detection operation; and the bottom of the support base is provided with a soft driver group in contact with the photovoltaic panel. According to the snail-bionic photovoltaic panel detection robot, the soft driver group is in flexible contact with a photovoltaic panel through inflation and deflation distortion, the scratch rate can be controlled to be far lower than that of a traditional rigid robot, and secondary damage caused by detection is fundamentally avoided; a penetrating type stepping motor in the gravity center adjusting mechanism drives a storage battery and an air pump to move along a lead screw, the gravity center adjusting mechanism is matched with a soft gravity center driver to adjust the direction and a tail driver to maintain balance, the multi-slope roof can be stably adapted, and the passing success rate of an equipment dense area is increased.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of photovoltaic panel detection robots, in particular to a photovoltaic panel detection robot imitating a snail. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the development of global photovoltaic industry, the global photovoltaic newly installed capacity reached a new high in 2024, and the proportion of distributed photovoltaic increased, but operation and maintenance faced many pain points: high risk of manual scrubbing, high scratch rate of existing rigid detection robots; many inclined surfaces on the roof of residential buildings and dense equipment, traditional robots are easy to slide and drift. The closest prior art is a rigid photovoltaic detection robot, most of which are track-type or wheeled and driven by motors, which can easily scratch the surface of the photovoltaic panel and have poor adaptability, making it difficult to meet the needs of photovoltaic panel defect detection.

[0003] There are mainly three types of existing technology implementation schemes similar to the present application: first, motor-driven non-contact detection robots, such as the unmanned photovoltaic power station inspection device disclosed in patent publication No. CN222215692U, which uses a high-definition camera and an infrared thermal imager to detect at multiple angles through an adjusting assembly, reducing the risk of scratches without rigid contact, but it does not adapt to complex inclined surfaces; second, bionic adsorption type detection equipment, such as a bionic inchworm robot equipped with a pneumatic suction cup, which avoids damage by precisely controlling the suction force of the suction cup and integrates a detection module to identify small defects, adapting to photovoltaic panels of different shapes, but it does not solve the problem of complex obstacle avoidance; third, unmanned aerial vehicle non-contact detection schemes, such as the photovoltaic scanning equipment of Changjiang Electric Power, which uses a camera scanner driven by a rotating shaft to image and detect, combined with infrared technology to achieve non-destructive detection, but features can be misaligned under strong light.

[0004] The existing photovoltaic panel low-damage defect detection technology has two major shortcomings: first, the contact adaptability is insufficient, semi-flexible detection equipment only uses flexible materials in part, the rigid frame of the main body is still prone to hard contact with the surface of curved and irregular photovoltaic panels, and there is no bionic adhesion design, which can easily slip on inclined surfaces and cannot be stably attached for detection; second, the complex environment adaptability is poor, fixed detection equipment cannot be moved, and portable equipment can be moved but lacks flexible direction adjustment structure, which can be easily blocked by obstacles on equipment-dense rooftops. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application aims to provide a photovoltaic panel detection robot imitating a snail to solve the problems raised in the background art.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present application provides the following technical scheme: a photovoltaic panel detection robot imitating snail, comprising a support base, a shell is arranged on the top front side of the support base, a tail shell capable of being opened and closed is arranged on the rear side of the shell, the tail shell and the shell form a containing space, a flaw detection mechanical arm is arranged in the containing space, when the tail shell is opened, the flaw detection mechanical arm extends to the outside of the containing space to perform flaw detection work; a soft driver group in contact with the surface of the photovoltaic panel is arranged on the bottom of the support base, and a gravity center adjusting mechanism is arranged on the front side of the containing space and used in cooperation with the soft driver group.

[0007] Preferably, the tail shell is controlled in the opening and closing state by a tail shell opening and closing control mechanism.

[0008] Preferably, the tail shell opening and closing control mechanism comprises a lead screw motor fixedly connected with the shell, a lead screw nut is threadedly connected to the output end of the lead screw motor, one end of a driven arm is connected to the outer wall of the lead screw nut on both sides, and the other end of the driven arm is connected with a connecting head fixedly connected with the tail shell.

[0009] Preferably, the flaw detection mechanical arm is rotatably connected with the support base through a horizontal holder.

[0010] Preferably, the soft driver group comprises a soft driver, the soft driver is arranged in sequence as a soft driver one, a soft driver two and a soft driver three, and the soft driver one, the soft driver two and the soft driver three are connected with an air pump through a pipeline.

[0011] Preferably, the soft driver comprises a limiting layer and a soft foot chamber, the limiting layer is fixedly connected with the support base, and the limiting layer is provided with an air inlet and an air outlet on the top.

[0012] Preferably, the deformation amount of the soft foot chamber on the front side is greater than that of the soft foot chamber on the rear side.

[0013] Preferably, the gravity center adjusting mechanism comprises a fixed box, a lead screw is arranged on the inner side of the fixed box, a stepper motor is threadedly connected to the outer wall of the lead screw, the lead screw penetrates through the stepper motor, and the stepper motor can move in the length direction of the lead screw on the inner side of the fixed box.

[0014] Preferably, a storage battery for increasing the weight of the counterweight is fixedly connected to the top of the stepper motor.

[0015] Preferably, the flaw detection mechanical arm comprises a fixed base, one end of a driving arm one and a driving arm two are respectively connected to the fixed base, the other end of the driving arm one and the driving arm two is connected to a driven arm three, wherein the driving arm one and the driving arm two are respectively connected to different connection points of the driven arm three, the free end of the driven arm three is connected to a mechanical arm tail end platform for supporting a flaw detection device; one end of a driven arm one is also connected to the fixed base, the other end of the driven arm one is connected to a triangular driven arm two connected to the driving arm one, wherein the connection point of the triangular driven arm two and the driving arm one is coaxial with the connection point of the driving arm one and the driven arm three, the triangular driven arm two is also connected to the mechanical arm tail end platform through a driven arm four.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the bionic snail photovoltaic panel detection robot has the following beneficial effects: the soft body driver group is deformed by charging and discharging to form a flexible contact with the photovoltaic panel, so that the scratch rate can be controlled to be much lower than that of a traditional rigid robot, and secondary damage caused by detection can be fundamentally avoided; the center of gravity adjusting mechanism drives the battery and the air pump to move along the screw rod through the through-type stepping motor, and cooperates with the soft center of gravity driver to adjust the direction and the tail driver to maintain balance, so that the robot can stably adapt to multiple inclined roofs, the success rate of passing through the equipment dense area is improved, the problem of poor equipment compatibility and poor maintenance of the current distributed photovoltaic is solved, the detection mechanical arm is controlled by the steering gear and the horizontal holder, so that the infrared detection unit can be suspended and observed at any position, the side light is blocked when the tail shell is opened, the defect detection rate is improved, and the false alarm rate is reduced. In terms of economy, the robot detection does not need chemical auxiliary reagents, the annual operation and maintenance cost of a single photovoltaic panel can be reduced, and the service life of the component can be prolonged. The robot can also replace manual work to complete high-altitude inspection and reduce the operation accident rate to 0. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 It is a perspective view of robot front view in a preferred embodiment of the application; Figure 2 It is a perspective view of robot rear view in a preferred embodiment of the application; Figure 3 It is a structural schematic view of the inner side of the robot in a preferred embodiment of the application; Figure 4 It is a structural schematic view of the soft body driver group in a preferred embodiment of the application; Figure 5 It is a structural schematic view of the soft body driver in a preferred embodiment of the application; Figure 6 It is a structural schematic view of the tail shell opening and closing control mechanism in a preferred embodiment of the application; Figure 7 It is a structural schematic view of the flaw detection mechanical arm in a preferred embodiment of the application; Figure 8This is a schematic diagram of the center of gravity adjustment mechanism in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] In the diagram: 1. Outer shell; 2. Flaw detection robotic arm; 21. Fixed base; 22. Active arm one; 23. Active arm two; 24. Driven arm one; 25. Triangular driven arm two; 26. Driven arm three; 27. Driven arm four; 28. Tail end platform of the robotic arm; 29. ​​Infrared detection unit; 3. Support base; 4. Tail shell; 5. Software actuator assembly; 51. Air pump; 52. Solenoid valve; 53. Software actuator one; 54. Software actuator two; 5 5. Software driver 3; 56. Air inlet; 57. Air outlet; 58. Restriction layer; 59. Soft foot chamber; 6. Center of gravity adjustment mechanism; 61. Fixing box; 62. Lead screw; 63. Stepper motor; 64. Stepper motor fixing plate; 65. Slider; 66. Slide rail; 67. Cover plate; 7. Tail shell opening and closing control mechanism; 71. Lead screw motor; 72. Lead screw nut; 73. Driven arm; 74. Connector; 8. Horizontal gimbal; 9. Battery. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0020] Please see Figures 1-8 This invention provides a technical solution: a biomimetic snail-shaped photovoltaic panel inspection robot, comprising a support base 3, an outer shell 1 disposed on the top front side of the support base 3, and two openable tail shells 4 disposed on the rear side of the outer shell 1, the tail shells 4 being shaped like snail shells. The tail shells 4 and the outer shell 1 form a receiving space, the receiving space being used for a flaw detection robotic arm 2, etc. When the tail shells 4 are opened, the two tail shells 4 can assist in shading light, and the flaw detection robotic arm 2 extends to the outside of the receiving space to perform flaw detection operations; a soft actuator assembly 5 is disposed at the bottom of the support base 3 in contact with the photovoltaic panel surface, and a center of gravity adjustment mechanism 6 is disposed at the front side of the receiving space to cooperate with the soft actuator assembly 5.

[0021] The opening and closing states of the two tail shells 4 are controlled by the tail shell opening and closing control mechanism 7.

[0022] The tail shell opening and closing control mechanism 7 comprises a lead screw motor 71 fixed to the shell 1, the output end of the lead screw motor 71 is threadedly connected with a lead screw nut 72, both sides of the outer wall of the lead screw nut 72 are connected with one end of a driven arm 73, the other end of the driven arm 73 is connected with a connecting head 74 fixed to the tail shell 4. The lead screw motor 71 works, the lead screw nut 72 moves on the outer wall of the lead screw motor 71, and in turn drives the driven arm 73 to move, and pushes the tail shell 4 to turn around the shell 1.

[0023] The soft driver group 5 comprises soft drivers, the soft drivers are sequentially arranged as a soft driver one 53, a soft driver two 54 and a soft driver three 55, and the soft driver one 53, the soft driver two 54 and the soft driver three 55 are all connected with an air pump 51 through pipelines. The soft driver group 5 uses the air pump 51 as a driving source, opens a sandwich layer in the middle of the support base 3, and arranges pipelines in the inner side of the sandwich layer for connecting the air pump 51 and the soft foot chamber 59 in communication.

[0024] The soft driver comprises a limiting layer 58 and a soft foot chamber 59, and the limiting layer 58 is fixedly connected with the support base 3.

[0025] The soft foot chamber 59 located at the front side has a larger deformation than the soft foot chamber 59 located at the rear side.

[0026] The soft driver one 53, the soft driver two 54 and the soft driver three 55 are inflated and energized by the air pump 51, and the deflation and energy release of the soft driver is controlled by the electromagnetic valve 52. The soft driver one 53 can be called a soft power driver, and the main forward power of the robot is provided by the soft driver one 53. The soft driver two 54 can be called a soft gravity center driver, which cooperates with the gravity center adjusting mechanism 6 to adjust the direction of the robot. The soft driver three 55 is a soft tail driver, and its main function is to maintain the balance of the robot. The soft driver is twisted and deformed between inflation and deflation, and due to its own structure, the deformation degree of the front of the driver is larger than that of the rear, so that the robot can crawl on a smooth surface.

[0027] The gravity center adjusting mechanism 6 comprises a fixed box 61, and a lead screw 62 is arranged in the inner side of the fixed box 61 and fixed to the fixed box 61. A stepping motor 63 is threadedly connected to the outer wall of the lead screw 62 and can move along the outer wall of the lead screw 62. One end of the stepping motor 63 is fixedly connected with a cover plate 67, the outer wall of the cover plate 67 is fixedly connected with a sliding block 65, the inner wall of the fixed box 61 is provided with a sliding rail 66, the sliding rail 66 is slidably connected with the sliding block 65, and the movement track of the stepping motor 63 is limited. The lead screw 62 penetrates through the stepping motor 63, and the stepping motor 63 can move in the inner side of the fixed box 61 along the length direction of the lead screw 62.

[0028] The top of the stepper motor 63 is fixed with a battery 9 for increasing the weight.

[0029] The stepper motor 63 can freely move on the screw rod 62. Meanwhile, the battery 9 and the air pump 51 are fixed on the through-type stepper motor 63. Under the gravity pressure, the left and right air bags of the soft center of gravity driver 54 are not consistent in bending degree, causing the left and right end displacement to be inconsistent. Therefore, the device can adjust the center of gravity of the whole robot.

[0030] The flaw detection mechanical arm 2 is rotationally connected with the supporting base 3 through the horizontal holder 8. The bottom of the horizontal holder 8 is provided with a motor, which drives the rotation of the top of the horizontal holder 8, and further drives the horizontal rotation of the flaw detection mechanical arm 2.

[0031] The flaw detection mechanical arm 2 comprises a fixed base 21 fixed on the top of the horizontal holder 8. Two rudders are fixedly connected to the fixed base 21. The output ends of the two rudders are respectively connected to one end of a main driving arm one 22 and a main driving arm two 23 which are connected to the fixed base 21. The other end of the main driving arm one 22 and the main driving arm two 23 is connected to a driven arm three 26. The connection points of the main driving arm one 22, the main driving arm two 23 and the driven arm three 26 are not coaxial. The free end of the driven arm three 26 is connected to a mechanical arm tail platform 28 for supporting a flaw detection device. The main driving arm two 23 is used to drive the rotation of the driven arm three 26. One end of a driven arm one 24 is also connected to the fixed base 21. The other end of the driven arm one 24 is connected to a triangular driven arm two 25 which is connected to the main driving arm one 22. The connection points of the triangular driven arm two 25, the main driving arm one 22 and the main driving arm one 22 and the driven arm three 26 are coaxial. The triangular driven arm two 25 is further connected to the mechanical arm tail platform 28 through a driven arm four 27. An infrared detection unit 29 is installed on the mechanical arm tail platform 28 for detecting the condition of the photovoltaic panel.

[0032] When the tail shell 4 is completely closed, the infrared detection unit 29 can be protected from being damaged by flying objects such as stones in high-altitude environments such as rooftops. When the tail shell 4 is completely opened, it provides sufficient movement space for the flaw detection mechanical arm 2, and can also shield a certain amount of lateral strong light for the infrared detection unit 29, ensuring the reliability of the test data.

[0033] Working process and principle: A distributed photovoltaic power station is randomly selected, such as a photovoltaic panel on the roof of a residential building. After the robot is started, the battery 9 supplies power to the air pump 51, the rudder, and the stepper motor 63. The central control board charges the soft driver one 53 with a constant air pressure by controlling the air pump 51. The front side soft foot chamber deforms more than the rear side, driving the robot to adhere to the photovoltaic panel and wriggle at a certain speed. In the center of gravity adjusting mechanism 6, the through-type stepper motor 63 drives the battery 9 to move 2 cm to the right, and cooperates with the single-side inflation of the soft center of gravity driver 54 to make the robot complete large-angle turning between large obstacles such as water heater supports.

[0034] The tail shell 4 can open to a maximum angle of 120° under the drive of the N20 ball screw motor 71. The tail shell 4 can greatly reduce the interference of strong lateral light. If the infrared detection unit 29 detects an abnormal temperature at a certain point of the photovoltaic panel, it indicates that there are defects such as hidden cracks in the photovoltaic panel.

[0035] The soft actuator of the biomimetic snail robot is made of silicone with a hardness of 30 Shore A. It uses an air pump and a solenoid valve to inflate and deflate the silicone, simulating the peristaltic deformation of snail muscle waves. The soft actuator is mainly divided into soft foot chambers and a restraining layer. The main function of the restraining layer is to connect the silicone soft foot chambers to the rigid structure on the support base. Due to the constraint of the rigid structure, the restraining layer does not deform significantly during inflation and deflation. Each soft actuator has three soft foot chambers arranged in a fan-shaped diffusion pattern. When inflated, horizontal force and torque are generated in the soft foot chambers, which can cause the soft foot chambers to bend naturally.

[0036] Each soft actuator has three openings for gas to enter and exit. From front to back, the two openings closest to the direction of travel are the air inlets 56, and the rear opening is the air outlet 57. Gas is injected into the inside of the first soft actuator 53 by the air pump 51. When the soft foot chamber 59 of the first soft actuator 53 expands to a certain size, the gas is discharged through the air outlet 57 on the first soft actuator 53. The discharged gas enters the soft foot chamber 59 of the second soft actuator 54 through the air inlet 56. When the soft foot chamber 59 of the second soft actuator 54 expands to a certain size, it is discharged again and enters the soft foot chamber 59 of the next soft actuator. Therefore, when the air pump 51 is inflating, the soft actuators inflate and expand sequentially in the order of "front-middle-rear," causing the deformation of the soft foot chamber 59 of the soft actuator closer to the front to be greater than that of the soft foot chamber 59 of the soft actuator closer to the rear. When the solenoid valve deflates, the soft actuators deflate and contract sequentially in the order of "rear-middle-front." It is evident that the front soft foot chamber exhibits the largest deformation and the longest deformation time during a single inflation / deflation cycle. This generates a peristaltic wave that propels the robot forward.

[0037] The measured coefficient of friction between the soft actuator of the biomimetic snail robot and the rough surface in contact with the photovoltaic panel is around 0.25. The static friction on the smooth glass surface tilted at 45° can offset the component of the robot's own weight.

[0038] The center of gravity adjustment mechanism can adjust the movement of the robot's main gravity components (air pump, battery) along the robot's width, which can cause a difference in expansion angle between the left and right actuators. This results in a thrust difference: , This refers to the contact area between the expanded soft actuator and the photovoltaic panel surface. This value is constant under a given inflation pressure, hence the thrust difference. Difference in expansion angle Positive correlation. Thrust difference creates steering torque around robot's center of gravity , pushing the robot to turn.

[0039] In the description of the present application, it needs to be understood that the terms "coaxial", "bottom", "one end", "top", "middle", "the other end", "upper", "one side", "outer", "inner", "front", "central", "both ends" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, which is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0040] In addition, the terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth" are only for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated, so that the features with "first", "second", "third", "fourth" can explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features.

[0041] In the present application, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "mounting", "setting", "connecting", "fixing", "screwed" and the like should be understood broadly, for example, it can be fixedly connected, or it can be detachably connected, or it can be integrated; it can be mechanically connected, or it can be electrically connected; it can be directly connected, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium; it can be the internal communication of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements, unless otherwise explicitly limited, the above-mentioned terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific meaning of the above-mentioned terms in the present application by the person skilled in the art according to the specific circumstances.

[0042] Although the embodiments of the present application have been shown and described, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, replacements and variations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirits of the present application, and the scope of the present application is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A biomimetic snail-inspired photovoltaic panel inspection robot, comprising a support base (3), characterized in that: The support base (3) has a shell (1) on the top front side and an openable tail shell (4) on the rear side of the shell (1). The tail shell (4) and the shell (1) form a receiving space. A flaw detection robot arm (2) is installed in the receiving space. When the tail shell (4) is opened, the flaw detection robot arm (2) extends to the outside of the receiving space to perform flaw detection operations. The support base (3) has a soft driver assembly (5) that contacts the photovoltaic panel at the bottom. A center of gravity adjustment mechanism (6) is installed on the front side of the receiving space to work in conjunction with the soft driver assembly (5).

2. The biomimetic snail-based photovoltaic panel inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tail shell (4) is controlled to open or close by a tail shell opening and closing control mechanism (7).

3. The biomimetic snail-based photovoltaic panel inspection robot according to claim 2, characterized in that: The tail shell opening and closing control mechanism (7) includes a lead screw motor (71) fixedly connected to the outer shell (1). The output end of the lead screw motor (71) is threadedly connected to a lead screw nut (72). Both sides of the outer wall of the lead screw nut (72) are connected to one end of a driven arm (73). The other end of the driven arm (73) is connected to a connector (74) fixedly connected to the tail shell (4).

4. The biomimetic snail-based photovoltaic panel inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The flaw detection robotic arm (2) is rotatably connected to the support base (3) via a horizontal gimbal (8).

5. The biomimetic snail-based photovoltaic panel inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The software driver group (5) includes software drivers, which are divided into software driver one (53), software driver two (54) and software driver three (55) arranged in sequence. Software driver one (53), software driver two (54) and software driver three (55) are all connected to an air pump (51) through pipes.

6. The biomimetic snail-based photovoltaic panel inspection robot according to claim 5, characterized in that: The soft actuator includes a limiting layer (58) and a soft foot chamber (59). The top of the limiting layer (58) is provided with an air inlet (56) and an air outlet (57), and the limiting layer (58) is fixedly connected to the support base (3).

7. The biomimetic snail-based photovoltaic panel inspection robot according to claim 6, characterized in that: The deformation of the soft foot chamber (59) located on the front side is greater than that of the soft foot chamber (59) on the rear side.

8. The biomimetic snail-based photovoltaic panel inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The center of gravity adjustment mechanism (6) includes a fixed box (61), a lead screw (62) is provided inside the fixed box (61), a stepper motor (63) is threaded to the outer wall of the lead screw (62), the lead screw (62) passes through the stepper motor (63), and the stepper motor (63) can move inside the fixed box (61) along the length direction of the lead screw (62).

9. A biomimetic snail-based photovoltaic panel inspection robot according to claim 8, characterized in that: The stepper motor (63) is fixed to the top of a battery (9) for increasing the counterweight mass.

10. The biomimetic snail-based photovoltaic panel inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The flaw detection robotic arm (2) includes a fixed base (21), on which one end of an active arm (22) and an active arm (23) are respectively connected. The other end of the active arm (22) and the active arm (23) is connected to a driven arm (26). The connection points of the active arm (22) and the active arm (23) with the driven arm (26) are not coaxial. The free end of the driven arm (26) is connected to a robotic arm tail for supporting the flaw detection equipment. End platform (28); one end of driven arm one (24) is also connected to the fixed base (21), and the other end of driven arm one (24) is connected to triangular driven arm two (25) which is connected to active arm one (22). The connection point between triangular driven arm two (25) and active arm one (22) and the connection point between active arm one (22) and driven arm three (26) are coaxial. The triangular driven arm two (25) is also connected to the tail platform (28) of the robot arm through driven arm four (27).

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