Inspection robot for safety production of oil field

Abstract

The inspection robot comprises a vehicle body, a swing mechanism, a first inspection module, a second inspection module, a third inspection module and a central control module, the upper portion of the vehicle body is covered with a vehicle cover, a walking mechanism is arranged in the vehicle body, walking wheels are arranged on the two sides of the vehicle body respectively, and the walking mechanism is connected with the walking wheels; the first inspection module is arranged at the front end of the vehicle body; the swing mechanism is arranged on the vehicle body; the second inspection module is arranged on the slewing mechanism; the third inspection module is arranged between the second inspection modules and is arranged on the slewing mechanism; the central control module receives inspection images fed back by the first inspection module, the second inspection module and the third inspection module, and forwards the received inspection images to the control terminal. According to the invention, the inspection robot is matched with the three-dimensional integrated inspection camera to realize omnibearing image acquisition of the oil field production area, and safety monitoring and operation and maintenance of all-weather oil field production can be realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of oilfield inspection technology, and in particular to an inspection robot for safe production in oilfields. Background Technology

[0002] Oilfields are important national energy production bases, and their production processes are characterized by high risks, including high temperature, high pressure, flammability, explosiveness, and leakage of toxic and hazardous substances. Therefore, regular and meticulous inspections of various production facilities within oilfields (such as pumping units, metering stations, combined stations, and oil pipelines) are a core element in ensuring safe production and preventing accidents.

[0003] Currently, oilfield inspections both domestically and internationally primarily rely on the following methods: traditional manual inspection, fixed online monitoring systems, and manned inspection vehicles / drones. Traditional manual inspection, the most basic method, involves personnel carrying portable testing instruments (such as temperature guns, combustible gas detectors, and leak detectors) to monitor equipment at the site according to a predetermined route and inspection items. To compensate for the shortcomings of manual inspection, fixed sensor networks have been installed in some key areas to monitor critical parameters such as temperature, pressure, and gas concentration in real time. While this method achieves automated monitoring, its limitations are also significant. In recent years, some oilfields have begun to experiment with using inspection vehicles or drones for auxiliary inspections. While vehicle inspections expand the scope of a single inspection, they still cannot access areas with dense equipment or complex terrain, and are essentially still an extension of "human eyes + instruments." Drone inspections can obtain a macroscopic perspective from the air, but are limited by payload, flight time, weather conditions, and explosion-proof requirements, making it difficult to conduct close-range, detailed equipment inspections (such as valve leaks and abnormal equipment temperatures).

[0004] In summary, existing inspection technologies either pose serious safety hazards or suffer from problems such as monitoring blind spots, insufficient flexibility, and high costs, failing to meet the all-weather, comprehensive, high-precision, and intelligent inspection requirements of modern oilfields for safe production. Therefore, developing a safe, reliable, efficient, and intelligent inspection equipment that can replace manual labor has become an urgent technical challenge in the field of oilfield safety production. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide an inspection robot for safe production in oil fields in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0006] The present invention achieves the above objectives through the following technical solutions: An inspection robot for safe production in oil fields includes: The vehicle body is covered with a canopy, and a running mechanism is installed inside the vehicle body. Running wheels are installed on both sides of the vehicle body, and the running mechanism is connected to the running wheels. The first inspection module is located at the front end of the vehicle body and is used to collect images of the front of the vehicle body. A slewing mechanism is disposed on the upper part of the vehicle body; The second inspection module is installed on the rotary mechanism; The third inspection module is located between the second inspection modules and is mounted on the rotary mechanism. Under the circumferential rotation of the rotary mechanism, the second inspection module and the third inspection module simultaneously acquire images of the vehicle's surroundings. The central control module receives inspection images from the first inspection module, the second inspection module, and the third inspection module, and forwards the received inspection images to the control terminal.

[0007] Preferably, the traveling wheel is a double-layer omnidirectional wheel, and a number of wear-resistant pads are evenly spaced along the circumference of the double-layer omnidirectional wheel.

[0008] Preferably, the first inspection module includes a front-mounted inspection camera and a servo motor. The servo motor is located at the front end of the vehicle body, and the front-mounted inspection camera is mounted on the servo motor. Driven by the servo motor, the front-mounted inspection camera can rotate left and right.

[0009] Preferably, the slewing mechanism includes a rotating tower, a rotating motor is installed inside the vehicle body, the power shaft of the rotating motor is connected to the rotating tower, an equipment base is installed on the rotating tower, and the second inspection module and the third inspection module are respectively installed on the equipment base.

[0010] Preferably, the second inspection module includes two auxiliary inspection cameras, which are respectively installed in corresponding sleeves, and the two sleeves are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the equipment base.

[0011] Preferably, the third inspection module includes a laser sensor inspection camera, which is disposed in a groove opened in the device base, and the device base is provided with an adjustment motor, which is connected to the base of the laser sensor inspection camera and is used to drive the laser sensor inspection camera to adjust its pitch.

[0012] Preferably, a hollow rotary support is provided between the rotating tower and the vehicle body, and the equipment base is decoupled from the bottom of the vehicle body.

[0013] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: 1. The present invention adopts a double-layer universal wheel structure design for the walking wheels, which innovates in two aspects on the basis of the commonly used wheel walking mechanism. On the one hand, the universal wheel structure can greatly increase the flexibility of the inspection robot and adapt to the complex environment of oilfield development. On the other hand, the double-layer universal wheel structure design can carry multiple inspection cameras and sensors for environmental and fault diagnosis monitoring under relatively stable conditions, realize the stable collection and processing of data sources, and ensure the stable operation of inspection work. 2. This invention uses a three-dimensional integrated inspection system that combines a front-mounted inspection camera on the vehicle body with a high-precision inspection camera and a laser sensor inspection camera mounted on the tower. This multi-camera combination design enables real-time, all-round inspection of the oilfield environment and potential safety hazards, effectively saving manual inspection time and costs, and saving a lot of manpower and resources. 3. This invention decouples the high-precision inspection camera and laser sensor inspection camera payload compartment from the robot's mobile chassis and uses a hollow slewing bearing to achieve independent, stable, and unrestricted horizontal rotation of the tower. This design completely solves the blind spot problem caused by the limited steering of traditional inspection robots, allowing them to perform 360° panoramic scanning of the surrounding environment without moving, or to simultaneously complete continuous detection of equipment on both sides while moving. This greatly improves inspection efficiency and coverage. At the same time, the hollow structure cleverly avoids cable entanglement, ensuring the long-term reliability of the system and providing key hardware support for oilfield inspection robots to achieve efficient and blind-spot-free safety monitoring. Attached Figure Description

[0014] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 2 This is the front view of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 3 This is a top view of the present invention.

[0018] The annotations in the attached figures are explained as follows: 1. Vehicle body; 2. Vehicle cover; 3. Running gear; 4. Running wheels; 5. Slewing mechanism; 6. Slewing support; 7. Steering gear body; 8. Front inspection camera; 9. Adjustment motor; 10. Laser sensor camera; 11. Auxiliary camera. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The following is in conjunction with the appendix Figure 1-3 The technical solution of the present invention will be further explained below: like Figure 1-3 As shown, an inspection robot for safe production in oil fields includes a vehicle body, a rotary mechanism, a first inspection module, a second inspection module, a third inspection module, and a central control module. The upper part of the vehicle body is covered by a cover, and a walking mechanism is installed inside the vehicle body. Walking wheels are respectively installed on both sides of the vehicle body, and the walking mechanism is connected to the walking wheels.

[0020] In other words, in this embodiment, the vehicle body adopts an aluminum alloy welded frame, with stainless steel plates laid on the bottom. The interior of the vehicle body is divided into an equipment compartment, a power compartment, and a control compartment, and sealed partitions are installed between the compartments.

[0021] The hood is made of carbon fiber composite material and has a curved, streamlined design at the top. The edge is connected to the vehicle body by a waterproof strip.

[0022] The walking mechanism is located in the power compartment and adopts a dual-wheel differential drive, which can be driven independently on both sides. The walking mechanism includes two DC brushless motors and a planetary gear reducer. The motors are connected to the reducer through a plum blossom coupling, and the output shaft of the reducer is connected to the wheel axle through a spline. There are two walking wheels on each side of the vehicle body. The wheel axle is fixed to the side beam of the vehicle body through a deep groove ball bearing. The bearing seat is equipped with a dust cover to prevent mud and sand from entering.

[0023] Specifically, such as Figure 1 As shown, the traveling wheel is a double-layer swivel wheel, with several wear-resistant pads evenly spaced along its circumference. In other words, the traveling wheel uses inner and outer double-layer swivel wheels of the same size, and a cross-type universal joint connects the wheel axle to the output end of the traveling mechanism, enabling 360° steering.

[0024] Six wear-resistant pads are evenly spaced along the outer circumference of the double-layer swivel wheel and fixed to the tire surface with countersunk bolts. The bolt heads are 2mm lower than the surface of the wear-resistant pads to avoid scratching the ground.

[0025] Among them, such as Figure 1 and Figure 3 As shown, the first inspection module is located at the front of the vehicle body and is used to collect images of the front of the vehicle. That is, the first inspection module is installed in the center of the front of the vehicle body and collects detailed images of the equipment and the environment within a range of 0-50m in front of the vehicle body, with a field of view covering ±90° horizontally and +30° vertically to -20° in front of the vehicle body.

[0026] Specifically, the first inspection module includes a front-mounted inspection camera and a servo motor. The servo motor is located at the front of the vehicle body, and the front-mounted inspection camera is mounted on the servo motor. Driven by the servo motor, the front-mounted inspection camera can rotate left and right. That is, the servo motor uses an MG996R digital metal servo motor, which is fixed to the front bumper of the vehicle body by an aluminum alloy bracket. Rubber shock-absorbing pads are installed between the bracket and the servo motor. The servo motor output shaft is rigidly connected to the camera bracket via a brass coupling with a keyway.

[0027] The front-facing camera is mounted with its optical axis at a 0° angle to the vehicle's longitudinal axis and tilted downwards at a 10° angle. This 4K ultra-high-definition camera is equipped with four 850nm infrared LED fill lights, controlled by PWM signals, offering 10 brightness levels and providing ≥10 lux illumination at a 30m nighttime illumination distance. A servo motor drives the camera to rotate horizontally from -90° to +90°, working in conjunction with a 4-12mm zoom lens to achieve wide-angle to telephoto switching. When the camera rotates to its extreme angle, it automatically switches to wide-angle mode to avoid edge distortion; when rotated to 0°, it switches to telephoto mode to improve the clarity of distant details. The zoom and rotation linkage response time is ≤0.5 seconds. The camera has a built-in photoresistor that automatically activates the infrared fill light when the ambient light is <50 lux, with brightness linearly adjusted according to illumination (e.g., 50% brightness at 10 lux, 100% brightness at 1 lux), preventing overexposure in strong light or underexposure in weak light.

[0028] Among them, such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the slewing mechanism is located on the upper part of the vehicle body. That is, the slewing mechanism is installed at the center of the top of the vehicle body, driving the second and third inspection modules to achieve 360° continuous rotation.

[0029] Specifically, the slewing mechanism includes a rotating tower, a rotary motor is installed inside the vehicle body, the power shaft of the rotary motor is connected to the rotating tower, and an equipment base is installed on the rotating tower. The second inspection module and the third inspection module are respectively installed on the equipment base. In other words, the rotating tower has a cylindrical structure, the rotary motor is a permanent magnet synchronous four-speed motor with a 2500-line absolute encoder, the rotary motor is located at the bottom of the vehicle body, and the power shaft of the rotary motor is connected to the rotating tower, using the rotary motor to drive the rotating tower to rotate circumferentially. The central control module sends position commands to the servo driver via the EtherCAT bus. The driver collects the encoder feedback angle in real time and adjusts the motor output torque through a PID algorithm. It supports three speed settings: low speed mode for fine scanning and high speed mode for rapid environmental traversal. The top of the rotating tower is equipped with a mechanical limit block. When the rotation angle reaches 355° or 5°, a proximity switch is triggered, and the servo motor immediately decelerates to a stop to avoid cable entanglement.

[0030] The rotating tower is connected to the vehicle body by a hollow slewing support, and the equipment base is decoupled from the bottom of the vehicle body. Specifically, the slewing support consists of an inner ring and an outer ring. The inner ring is connected to the rotating tower and movably passes through the outer ring. The upper and lower ends of the slewing support are covered with double-lip nitrile rubber sealing rings. This hollow slewing support, with its fixed outer ring and rotating inner ring, not only bears the weight of the rotating tower and inspection module but also provides 360° rotational freedom. Its four-point contact ball design, with steel balls simultaneously contacting the inner and outer ring raceways, allows it to withstand axial loads, radial loads, and overturning moments, ensuring the rotating tower remains stable under heavy loads.

[0031] Among them, such as Figure 1 As shown, the second inspection module is mounted on the rotary mechanism. In other words, the second inspection module is installed on both sides of the equipment base, rotates with the rotary mechanism, and collects environmental images from both sides and the rear of the vehicle body, complementing the first inspection module and eliminating blind spots.

[0032] Specifically, the second inspection module includes two auxiliary inspection cameras, each housed in a corresponding sleeve, which are symmetrically positioned on either side of the equipment base. The camera cables exit from the closed end of the sleeve, run along a cable tray inside the rotating tower to the vehicle control compartment, and are filled with fire-resistant cotton to prevent cable wear and short circuits. The two auxiliary inspection cameras rotate 360° with the rotating tower, simultaneously capturing images every 15° of rotation. Combined with the forward image from the first inspection module, and using the image stitching algorithm of the central control module based on SIFT feature point matching, the stitching time is ≤2 seconds / frame, generating a 360°×100° panoramic image of the vehicle's surroundings, both horizontally and vertically. The 360° rotation, combined with the dual wide-angle cameras, achieves 100% coverage of the 0-50m environment around the vehicle, significantly reducing the missed detection rate.

[0033] Among them, such as Figure 1As shown, the third inspection module is positioned between the second inspection modules and mounted on the rotary mechanism. During the circumferential rotation of the rotary mechanism, the second and third inspection modules simultaneously acquire images of the vehicle's surroundings. In other words, the third inspection module is installed in the central recess of the equipment base. An adjustment motor can also be installed within the equipment base to adjust the vertical pitch of the third inspection module. The entire system integrates high-definition imaging and LiDAR, enabling 3D environment modeling and high-precision measurement, and supporting nighttime infrared imaging.

[0034] Specifically, the third inspection module includes a laser sensing inspection camera, which is installed in a recess within the equipment base. An adjustment motor is installed within the equipment base and connected to the base of the laser sensing inspection camera to drive the camera's tilt adjustment. In other words, in this embodiment, the laser sensing inspection camera is an integrated design, specifically including a vision unit, a lidar unit, a temperature control system, and an integrated bracket. The vision unit 5 uses a 5-megapixel industrial camera with a 16mm fixed-focus lens; the lidar unit includes a 16-line TOF lidar with a ranging range of 0.5-100m; the camera and lidar are rigidly connected via an aluminum profile bracket with an optical axis calibration error ≤0.1°. Heat insulation cotton is applied to the bracket surface to prevent lidar heat dissipation from affecting the camera's temperature stability. The temperature control system uses a built-in semiconductor cooling chip and temperature sensor. When the ambient temperature is >40℃, the cooling is activated to control the sensor temperature at 25±2℃, ensuring the accuracy of laser ranging.

[0035] The adjustment motor adopts a permanent magnet stepper motor, and the transmission mechanism adopts a crank-connecting rod mechanism. The motor output shaft is connected to one end of the connecting rod through an eccentric wheel, and the other end of the connecting rod is movably connected to the hinge seat of the laser sensor inspection camera base. The forward rotation of the motor drives the camera to tilt.

[0036] The lidar point cloud and camera images are synchronized in time and calibrated in space to achieve the fusion data output of "image texture + three-dimensional coordinates"; while the rotary mechanism rotates and scans, the third inspection module adjusts the pitch according to the preset program, and a single 360° scan can complete the full coverage inspection of the ground, the middle of the equipment and the high-altitude area.

[0037] Among them, such as Figure 1As shown, the central control module receives inspection images from the first, second, and third inspection modules, and forwards the received images to the control terminal. In other words, the central control module is located in the vehicle control compartment, uses NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin graphics processing, and is configured with a 5G industrial module and LoRa backup communication. It communicates with the traveling mechanism and slewing mechanism via a CAN bus and connects to each inspection module via gigabit Ethernet, supporting real-time data transmission and remote control.

[0038] The foregoing has shown and described the basic principles, main features, and advantages of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should understand that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The embodiments and descriptions in the specification are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention. Various changes and modifications can be made to the invention without departing from its spirit and scope, and all such changes and modifications fall within the scope of the claimed invention.

Claims

1. A patrol robot for oilfield safety production, characterized in that, The utility model relates to a kind of vehicle for inspection, including: Vehicle body, the vehicle body upper portion is covered with vehicle cover, walking mechanism is provided in the vehicle body, walking wheel is respectively provided in the both sides of the vehicle body, and the walking mechanism is connected with the walking wheel; First inspection module, the first inspection module is arranged in the front end of the vehicle body, for collecting image in front of vehicle body; Rotary mechanism, the rotary mechanism is arranged on the upper portion of the vehicle body; Second inspection module, the second inspection module is arranged on the rotary mechanism; Third inspection module, the third inspection module is arranged between the second inspection module and the third inspection module is arranged on the rotary mechanism, under the circumferential rotation of the rotary mechanism, the second inspection module and the third inspection module synchronously collect image around vehicle body; Central control module, the central control module receives the inspection image fed back by first inspection module, second inspection module and third inspection module respectively, and transmits the received inspection image to control terminal.

2. The inspection robot for safe production of oilfields of claim 1, wherein, The walking wheel is double-layer universal wheel, and a plurality of wear pads are uniformly and spacedly arranged along the circumference of the double-layer universal wheel.

3. The inspection robot for safe production of oilfields of claim 1, wherein, The first inspection module includes a front inspection camera and a rudder body, the rudder body is arranged in the front end of the vehicle body, and the front inspection camera is arranged on the rudder body, which can rotate left and right under the driving of the rudder body.

4. The inspection robot for safe production of oilfields of claim 1, wherein, The rotary mechanism includes a rotating tower, a rotating motor is arranged in the vehicle body, the power shaft of the rotating motor is connected with the rotating tower, an equipment seat is arranged on the rotating tower, and the second inspection module and the third inspection module are arranged on the equipment seat respectively.

5. The inspection robot for safe production of oilfields of claim 4, wherein, The second inspection module includes two auxiliary inspection cameras, the two auxiliary inspection cameras are arranged in corresponding sleeves respectively, and the two sleeves are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the equipment seat.

6. The inspection robot for safe production of oilfields of claim 4, wherein, The third inspection module includes a laser sensing inspection camera, the laser sensing inspection camera is arranged in a groove formed in the equipment seat, and an adjusting motor is arranged in the equipment seat, the adjusting motor is connected with the base of the laser sensing inspection camera, for driving the laser sensing inspection camera to adjust up and down.

7. The inspection robot for safe production of oilfields of claim 4, wherein, The rotating tower and the vehicle body are provided with a hollow rotary support, and the equipment seat and the bottom of the vehicle body are decoupled.

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