Integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robot

Abstract

The invention discloses an integrated intelligent control system for a pipeline robot, which realizes multi-outlet position identification, self-positioning, path calculation and electric quantity demand analysis based on a central processing unit coordinated positioning and path and electric quantity evaluation module, and obtains real-time coordinates of the robot through a positioning module. The path and electric quantity evaluation module calculates the path distance to each pipeline outlet and the terrain complexity in parallel and accurately estimates the power consumption of each path according to the real-time battery data provided by the power management module, and the central processing unit synchronously analyzes the electric quantity accessibility of all the outlets; when the calculation result shows that the number of reachable exits is lower than the preset safety threshold value, it is judged that the continuous operation risk is too high, a return program is triggered immediately, return is automatically executed through the driving control module, the robot can be actively and safely withdrawn before electricity is used up, the risk that the robot is trapped in a pipeline due to insufficient electricity is effectively avoided, and the safety of the robot is improved. And the operation safety and the task completion rate are obviously improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of pipeline robot control technology, and more particularly to an integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of autonomous pipeline inspection and operation, such as in complex environments like urban underground pipe networks and industrial transmission pipelines, the robot's endurance and return reliability directly affect the task completion rate and equipment safety. To ensure successful operation, the robot must be able to assess its remaining battery power in real time during task execution and dynamically determine whether it can safely return, based on its current location and the distribution of surrounding exits. Any deviation in battery power estimation or misjudgment of exit accessibility could cause the robot to become stuck inside the pipeline, resulting in task interruption, data loss, or even equipment damage.

[0003] To achieve the aforementioned intelligent return-to-home function, it is typically necessary to integrate positioning information, pipeline topology maps, path planning algorithms, and power consumption models to comprehensively assess the accessibility of multiple potential exit points. In this process, the collaborative efficiency between the power monitoring module, positioning unit, path calculation unit, and motion control module is particularly critical. While existing control systems can individually perform functions such as power detection or path planning, they still have limitations in terms of multi-module integration, response speed, and structural compactness. Especially in confined, humid, or highly interference-prone pipeline environments, distributed hardware architectures are susceptible to wiring redundancy and signal interference, making it difficult to guarantee the timeliness of return-to-home decisions and the long-term stability of system operation.

[0004] Therefore, it is necessary to improve the existing pipeline robot control system to solve the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art and provides an integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: an integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots, comprising:

[0007] The central processing unit, as the main control chip of the system, is equipped with multiple general-purpose input / output interfaces, SPI bus interface, I²C bus interface and UART communication interface;

[0008] The power management module is connected to the central processing unit via an I²C bus interface. It includes a power monitoring chip, a voltage regulator circuit, and a battery interface terminal. The voltage sampling terminal of the power monitoring chip is connected to the positive and negative terminals of the robot's main battery. The output terminal of the voltage regulator circuit is connected to the power supply pins of the central processing unit, the positioning module, and the drive control module, respectively.

[0009] The positioning module is connected to the central processing unit via an SPI bus interface and is used for positioning processing;

[0010] The path and power assessment module is connected to the central processing unit via a parallel data bus and is used to perform path calculation and power assessment for the pipeline robot.

[0011] The drive control module is connected to the central processing unit via a PWM output pin and is used to drive the movement of the pipeline robot.

[0012] The communication module is connected to the central processing unit via a UART interface to provide communication.

[0013] The human-computer interaction module is connected to the central processing unit via a GPIO expansion interface;

[0014] In addition, an integrated encapsulation housing is provided to protect the intelligent control system.

[0015] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the power monitoring chip in the power management module has its I²C address pin grounded and its Alert pin connected to the external interrupt EXTI0 of the central processing unit; the input of the voltage regulator circuit is connected to the main battery, the output provides a stable 3.3V voltage, and the output is connected in parallel with two 22μF ceramic capacitors and a 100nF decoupling capacitor.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the positioning module includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) chip, an odometer encoder interface circuit, and a UWB positioning receiving antenna interface. The SCL / SDA pins of the IMU chip are connected to the SPI clock and data lines of the central processing unit, and the A / B phase output terminals of the odometer encoder interface circuit are connected to the external interrupt pins of the central processing unit.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the path and power assessment module includes a non-volatile memory chip, a map data interface circuit, and an auxiliary computing coprocessor. The chip select pin, clock pin, and data pin of the non-volatile memory chip are respectively connected to the corresponding GPIO pins of the central processing unit. The map data interface circuit includes a standard Micro SD card slot. The data lines D0-D3, command line CMD, and clock line CLK of the card slot are respectively connected to the SDIO controller pins of the central processing unit. The configuration pin of the auxiliary computing coprocessor is connected to the debug port of the central processing unit through a JTAG interface.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the drive control module includes an H-bridge motor drive chip, a current sensing resistor, and motor interface terminals. The IN1-IN4 control pins of the H-bridge motor drive chip are respectively connected to the four PWM output terminals of the central processing unit. The current sensing resistor is connected in series in the motor power supply circuit, and the voltage signal at both ends of the resistor is differentially amplified and input to the ADC sampling channel of the central processing unit.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the LoRa wireless communication chip in the communication module is an SX1278, whose DIO0-DIO5 pins are respectively connected to the six GPIO pins of the central processing unit for interrupt triggering.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the human-computer interaction module includes a tri-color LED indicator, an OLED display screen, and a membrane key array. The red, green, and blue anodes of the tri-color LED are respectively connected to three independent GPIO pins of the central processing unit through current-limiting resistors. The OLED display screen adopts an I²C interface, and its SCL / SDA pins are connected to the I²C1 bus of the central processing unit. The four key output terminals of the membrane key array are respectively connected to the four pull-up input pins of the central processing unit.

[0021] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the PCB board thickness of the integrated package housing is 1.6mm, the inner power plane is divided into analog ground and digital ground, which are connected by a single-point magnetic bead; the inside of the housing is potted with an organosilicon gel with a thermal conductivity of 1.2W / m·K, and the filling height covers the top of all components by 2mm.

[0022] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the program storage area of ​​the central processing unit is pre-programmed with a pipeline outlet coordinate database, a pipeline friction coefficient parameter table, and a return decision threshold constant. The default value of the return decision threshold constant is 30%, which can be modified on-site through the key combination of the human-machine interaction module and written into EEPROM for storage.

[0023] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the auxiliary computing coprocessor of the path and power assessment module has a fast path reachability filtering logic circuit embedded inside. The logic circuit receives the current position coordinates and remaining power value sent by the central processing unit, and outputs a list of exit point indexes that meet the power constraints to the DMA receive buffer of the central processing unit.

[0024] This invention addresses the shortcomings of the prior art and has the following beneficial effects:

[0025] This invention provides an integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots. Based on a central processing unit coordinating positioning, path and power assessment modules, it achieves multi-exit location identification, self-positioning, path calculation, and power demand analysis. The positioning module obtains the robot's real-time coordinates, while the path and power assessment modules calculate the path distance and terrain complexity to each pipeline exit in parallel. Based on real-time battery data provided by the power management module, the power consumption of each path is accurately estimated. The central processing unit simultaneously analyzes the power accessibility of all exits. When the calculation results show that the number of accessible exits is lower than a preset safety threshold, it is determined that the risk of continuing operation is too high, and a return-to-home procedure is triggered. The drive control module automatically executes the return, enabling the robot to actively and safely retreat before the power is exhausted. This effectively avoids the risk of being trapped in the pipeline due to insufficient power and significantly improves operational safety and task completion rate. Attached Figure Description

[0026] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments;

[0027] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0028] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. These drawings are simplified schematic diagrams, which are only used to illustrate the basic structure of the present invention and therefore only show the components relevant to the present invention.

[0029] like Figure 1 As shown, an integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots includes a central processing unit, a power management module, a positioning module, a path and power assessment module, a drive control module, a communication module, and a human-machine interaction module. Each of these modules establishes an electrical connection with the central processing unit through a specific interface and is integrated into a six-layer rigid-flexible PCB board within an integrated housing, forming a highly integrated control core.

[0030] The central processing unit (CPU) uses an ARM Cortex-M series microcontroller, integrating at least 64KB of RAM and 512KB of Flash memory. It features multiple general-purpose input / output interfaces, an SPI bus interface, an I²C bus interface, and a UART communication interface. The CPU is soldered to the central area of ​​a six-layer rigid-flex PCB, with its pins connected to the corresponding interface lines of each functional module. The CPU's program storage area is pre-programmed with a pipeline outlet coordinate database, a pipeline friction coefficient parameter table, and a return-to-home decision threshold constant. The default return-to-home decision threshold is 30%, and it can be modified on-site via the human-machine interface module and written to EEPROM for storage.

[0031] The power management module connects to the central processing unit (CPU) via an I²C bus interface. Specifically, it contains a TIBQ27441-G1 power monitoring chip. The chip's voltage sampling pin is directly connected to the positive and negative terminals of the robot's main battery, used to collect real-time data on battery voltage, current, and remaining capacity. Its I²C address pin is grounded and set to a fixed address of 0x55. The Alert pin is connected to the CPU's external interrupt EXTI0 pin, used to trigger an interrupt when the battery level falls below a threshold. The voltage regulator circuit consists of a TPS7A4700 LDO chip. Its input is connected to the positive terminal of the main battery, and its output provides a stable 3.3V voltage, which is connected to the power supply pins of the CPU, positioning module, and drive control module. Two 22μF ceramic capacitors and a 100nF decoupling capacitor are connected in parallel at the output to suppress power supply noise. The power management module is surface-mounted on a six-layer rigid-flex PCB near the battery interface. Its battery interface terminals are connected via PCB traces to a waterproof aviation connector on the top of the housing for external battery access.

[0032] The positioning module connects to the central processing unit (CPU) via an SPI bus interface. Internally, it includes an MPU-9250 IMU chip, an odometer encoder interface circuit composed of an SN74LVC1G17 Schmitt trigger, and a UWB positioning receiver antenna interface. The SCL / SDA pins of the MPU-9250 are connected to the CPU's SPI clock and data lines, while the FSYNC pin is left floating. The odometer encoder interface circuit receives the raw A / B phase signals from the photoelectric encoder on the motor shaft, shapes them using the SN74LVC1G17, and outputs them to the CPU's external interrupt pins PA0 and PA1 to capture pulse edges for displacement calculation. The positioning module is positioned on the PCB board near the drive control module to shorten encoder signal trace length and reduce interference. If UWB positioning is enabled, the UWB antenna is connected to a reserved pad on the PCB board via a coaxial cable. This pad is connected to the UWB receiver chip via a π-type matching network, but this is not installed in this embodiment.

[0033] The path and power assessment module is connected to the central processing unit (CPU) via a parallel data bus. Specifically, it includes a Winbond W25N01GV SPI NAND Flash non-volatile memory chip, a map data interface circuit consisting of a standard Micro SD card slot, and a Lattice iCE40UP5K low-power FPGA auxiliary computing coprocessor. The W25N01GV's chip select pin CS#, clock pin CLK, and data pins IO0-IO3 are connected to the CPU's GPIO pins PB12-PB15. The WP# and HOLD# pins are connected high to disable write protection and suspend functions. The Micro SD card slot's data lines D0-D3, command line CMD, and clock line CLK are connected to the corresponding pins PC8-PC12 of the CPU's SDIO controller. The auxiliary computing coprocessor iCE40UP5K is connected to the CPU's debug ports PA13-PA15 and PB3 via a JTAG interface. Its I / O Bank 1 is configured with LVCMOS33 level, and some GPIOs are shared with the CPU for status feedback. This module is located on the right side of the PCB board, near the SD card slot opening. The auxiliary computing coprocessor has a built-in path reachability fast filtering logic circuit. This circuit receives the current position coordinates and remaining power value sent by the central processing unit through the DMA channel, calculates the energy consumption required for each exit point based on the pre-stored pipeline topology map and friction coefficient parameter table, and outputs a list of exit point indices that meet the power constraints to the DMA receive buffer of the central processing unit.

[0034] The drive control module is connected to the central processing unit (CPU) via PWM output pins. It includes a DRV8876 H-bridge motor driver chip, a 0.01Ω / ±1% / 1W current sensing resistor, and motor interface terminals. The DRV8876's IN1-IN4 control pins are connected to the four PWM outputs TIM1_CH1-TIM1_CH4 of the CPU, respectively. The nSLEEP pin is connected to a high-level enable chip, and the nFAULT pin is connected to the CPU's GPIO input PB0 for fault detection. The current sensing resistor is connected in series on the positive side of the motor power supply circuit. The voltage signal across it is amplified by a differential amplifier and then input to the CPU's ADC sampling channel ADC1_IN0. The drive control module is located at the bottom of the PCB near the heatsink fins. Its motor interface terminals are connected to the motor pins of a waterproof aviation connector via wide copper traces to handle high current. The heat dissipation fins are located on the outer bottom of the housing and are in contact with the power devices on the bottom of the PCB board through thermal grease. The inside of the housing is filled with silicone gel with a thermal conductivity of 1.2 W / m·K, and the filling height covers the top of all components by 2 mm to enhance heat conduction.

[0035] The communication module connects to the central processing unit (CPU) via a UART interface. It includes the SX1278 LoRa wireless communication chip and a π-type LC antenna matching circuit consisting of a 10nH inductor and a 3.3pF capacitor. The SX1278's TXD / RXD pins are connected to the CPU's USART1_TX / USART1_RX pins, respectively. The DIO0-DIO5 pins are connected to the CPU's six GPIO pins for interrupt triggering. The RFOUT pin connects to one end of the π-type matching network and the other end to an external helical antenna. This antenna radiates signals through an antenna window on the sidewall of the housing. The antenna window contains a high-frequency transparent ceramic sheet to maintain IP68 protection while ensuring RF penetration. The communication module is located on the left edge of the PCB, near the antenna window. Its RF traces use a 50Ω microstrip line design and are kept away from digital signal lines to reduce interference.

[0036] The human-machine interface (HMI) module connects to the central processing unit (CPU) via a GPIO expansion interface. It includes a tri-color LED indicator, a 128×64 resolution OLED display, and a four-button membrane key array. The red, green, and blue anodes of the tri-color LEDs are connected to the CPU's GPIO pins PD12, PD13, and PD14 via 220Ω current-limiting resistors, respectively. The OLED display uses an SSD1306 driver chip, with its SCL / SDA pins connected to the CPU's I²C1 bus. The four button outputs of the membrane key array are connected to the CPU's four pull-up input pins PE2-PE5. Each button has a silicone spring underneath, with a pressing force of 180gf and a travel of 0.8mm. The HMI module is positioned on the top of the PCB near the housing's viewing window for easy status monitoring.

[0037] The integrated housing utilizes an IP68-rated die-cast aluminum alloy structure, housing a six-layer rigid-flexible PCB board on which all electronic components are surface-mounted. The PCB board is 1.6mm thick, with the inner power plane divided into analog and digital grounds, connected by a single-point ferrite bead to suppress ground bounce noise. A waterproof aviation connector is located on the top of the housing for connecting external motors, encoders, and batteries; heat sinks are located on the bottom; and antenna windows are embedded in the side walls, housing high-frequency transparent ceramic plates. All modules are electrically connected via copper traces embedded within the PCB board, with trace width, spacing, and layering designed according to high-speed mixed-signal specifications.

[0038] During system operation, the central processing unit (CPU) periodically reads the remaining battery percentage of the BQ27441-G1 in the power management module via the I²C bus; simultaneously, it reads the attitude data of the MPU-9250 in the positioning module via SPI / I²C and captures odometer pulses via external interrupts, fusing these data to calculate the current position coordinates. When the remaining battery level falls below a preset return-to-home decision threshold, the CPU sends the current position coordinates and remaining battery value to the iCE40UP5K coprocessor in the path and battery assessment module via the DMA channel. The coprocessor then uses the data stored in the W25N01GV or Micro... The pipeline map data and friction coefficient parameter table in the SD card execute a fast path reachability filtering logic, calculate the theoretical energy consumption from the current location to each exit point, and filter out exit points with energy consumption less than the current remaining power, generating an index list and returning it to the central processing unit. The central processing unit selects the nearest or optimal exit point based on this list, generates a return path command, and uses PWM signals to control the DRV8876 chip in the drive module to adjust the speed of the left and right motors to achieve steering and forward movement. Simultaneously, the OLED screen of the human-machine interface module displays the return status, and a tri-color LED flashes red slowly to indicate low battery return. If the battery level drops further to a critical value during the return process, the system will accelerate the return or stop at the nearest dock. The communication module periodically sends location and battery information to the ground station via the LoRa chip SX1278, supporting remote monitoring. The entire system operates stably within an IP68 enclosure and is suitable for humid and dusty underground pipeline environments.

[0039] The steps of this invention are as follows: The positioning module provides the robot's own coordinates to the central processing unit via the SPI interface and compares them with the pre-stored or real-time acquired pipeline exit point locations to determine the set of currently reachable exit points. Next, the path and power assessment module obtains the spatial relationship between the robot's position and each exit point via a parallel bus, and calculates the optimal path to each exit, its estimated distance, and terrain complexity in real time, based on the pipeline map topology. Simultaneously, the power monitoring chip in the power management module continuously samples the battery voltage and current, and uploads the accurate remaining power data to the central processing unit via the I²C interface. The central processing unit combines the path information with a real-time power consumption model to dynamically calculate the power required to reach each exit. When the system detects that the number of exit points reachable with sufficient remaining power is lower than a preset threshold (e.g., less than 30% of the total exit points), the central processing unit immediately generates a decision command, initiates a return-to-home procedure via the drive control module, and autonomously returns to the nearest available exit along the path with the lowest power consumption, thus safely evacuating before the power is exhausted. This effectively avoids the risk of being trapped due to insufficient power and improves the reliability and autonomy of the robot working in complex pipeline environments.

[0040] Based on the preferred embodiments of the present invention described above, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the inventive concept. The technical scope of this invention is not limited to the contents of the specification, but must be determined according to the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots, characterized in that, include: The central processing unit, as the main control chip of the system, is equipped with multiple general-purpose input / output interfaces, SPI bus interface, I²C bus interface and UART communication interface; The power management module is connected to the central processing unit via an I²C bus interface. It includes a power monitoring chip, a voltage regulator circuit, and a battery interface terminal. The voltage sampling terminal of the power monitoring chip is connected to the positive and negative terminals of the robot's main battery. The output terminal of the voltage regulator circuit is connected to the power supply pins of the central processing unit, the positioning module, and the drive control module, respectively. The positioning module is connected to the central processing unit via an SPI bus interface and is used for positioning processing; The path and power assessment module is connected to the central processing unit via a parallel data bus and is used to perform path calculation and power assessment for the pipeline robot. The drive control module is connected to the central processing unit via a PWM output pin and is used to drive the movement of the pipeline robot. The communication module is connected to the central processing unit via a UART interface to provide communication. The human-computer interaction module is connected to the central processing unit via a GPIO expansion interface; In addition, an integrated encapsulation housing is provided to protect the intelligent control system.

2. The integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, The power monitoring chip in the power management module has its I²C address pin grounded, and its Alert pin connected to the external interrupt EXTI0 of the central processing unit; the input of the voltage regulator circuit is connected to the main battery, and the output provides a stable 3.3V voltage. Two 22μF ceramic capacitors and a 100nF decoupling capacitor are connected in parallel at the output.

3. The integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, The positioning module includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) chip, an odometer encoder interface circuit, and a UWB positioning receiving antenna interface. The SCL / SDA pins of the IMU chip are connected to the SPI clock and data lines of the central processing unit, and the A / B phase outputs of the odometer encoder interface circuit are connected to the external interrupt pins of the central processing unit.

4. The integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, The path and power assessment module includes a non-volatile memory chip, a map data interface circuit, and an auxiliary computing coprocessor. The chip select pin, clock pin, and data pin of the non-volatile memory chip are respectively connected to the corresponding GPIO pins of the central processing unit. The map data interface circuit includes a standard Micro SD card slot. The data lines D0-D3, command line CMD, and clock line CLK of the card slot are respectively connected to the SDIO controller pins of the central processing unit. The configuration pin of the auxiliary computing coprocessor is connected to the debug port of the central processing unit through a JTAG interface.

5. The integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, The drive control module includes an H-bridge motor driver chip, a current sensing resistor, and motor interface terminals. The IN1-IN4 control pins of the H-bridge motor driver chip are respectively connected to the four PWM output terminals of the central processing unit. The current sensing resistor is connected in series in the motor power supply circuit, and the voltage signal at both ends of the resistor is differentially amplified and input to the ADC sampling channel of the central processing unit.

6. The integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, The LoRa wireless communication chip in the communication module is an SX1278, whose DIO0-DIO5 pins are respectively connected to the six GPIO pins of the central processing unit for interrupt triggering.

7. The integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, The human-computer interaction module includes a tri-color LED indicator, an OLED display screen, and a membrane key array. The red, green, and blue anodes of the tri-color LED are respectively connected to three independent GPIO pins of the central processing unit through current-limiting resistors. The OLED display screen adopts an I²C interface, and its SCL / SDA pins are connected to the I²C1 bus of the central processing unit. The four button outputs of the membrane key array are respectively connected to the four pull-up input pins of the central processing unit.

8. The integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, The PCB board of the integrated package is 1.6mm thick, and the inner power plane is divided into analog ground and digital ground, which are connected by a single-point magnetic bead. The inside of the package is filled with silicone gel with a thermal conductivity of 1.2W / m·K, and the filling height covers the top of all components by 2mm.

9. The integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, The central processing unit's program storage area is pre-programmed with a pipeline outlet coordinate database, a pipeline friction coefficient parameter table, and a return-to-base decision threshold constant. The default value of the return-to-base decision threshold constant is 30%, which can be modified on-site through button combinations of the human-machine interaction module and written to EEPROM for storage.

10. The integrated intelligent control system for pipeline robots according to claim 1, characterized in that, The auxiliary computing coprocessor of the path and power assessment module has a built-in path reachability fast filtering logic circuit. This logic circuit receives the current position coordinates and remaining power value sent by the central processing unit, and outputs a list of exit point indexes that meet the power constraints to the DMA receive buffer of the central processing unit.

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