An adaptive paint spraying robot

Abstract

This invention provides an adaptive painting robot, relating to the field of crawling robots. It includes a crawling robot body, a control subsystem, and a painting subsystem. The control and painting subsystems are mounted on the crawling robot body. The adaptive frame of this invention can conform to the wall surface. Combined with two sets of symmetrical painting mechanisms in the painting subsystem, the position and angle of the spray gun can be dynamically adjusted to adapt to walls of different shapes and sizes. Through the composite motion of three degrees of freedom—a swing assembly, a sliding table assembly, and an angle adjustment assembly—a single robot can achieve a wide, variable, and precisely controlled painting area. This effectively improves the limited coverage of manual painting and the limitations of robotic arms due to their reach. It is suitable for efficient and complete painting of large walls, reducing the number of movements and operation time. The control subsystem uses sensor mechanisms to locate the posture in real time, and the electronic control unit drives the actuators for precise adjustment, reducing human error, avoiding missed spraying, overspraying, or uneven thickness, and improving coating uniformity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of wall-climbing robots, and more particularly to an adaptive painting robot. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, wall painting operations mainly employ two methods: manual spraying and robotic arm spraying.

[0003] The main problems with manual spray painting are as follows: low spraying efficiency, slow manual operation speed and limited coverage; paint mist can easily cause health hazards to operators when working in a confined space; paint waste is easily generated during the spraying process due to factors such as operating skills and environment; in addition, it often requires the use of auxiliary equipment such as lifting vehicles or scaffolding, the construction environment is complex and the overall cost is high.

[0004] While robotic arm painting has improved automation to some extent, it still has significant limitations: the robotic arm and its workstation occupy a large space and have high site requirements; when facing work objects of different shapes and sizes, it is necessary to frequently adjust and calibrate the posture, resulting in poor adaptability and long preparation time; at the same time, due to the limitation of arm span, it is difficult to achieve effective and complete spraying coverage on large walls.

[0005] In summary, existing spray painting technologies generally suffer from unstable coating quality and low work efficiency. Manual operation exposes workers to harmful environments for extended periods, posing significant safety risks. Mechanical spray painting equipment is limited in its use in complex or confined spaces, lacking flexibility and adaptability, and is particularly unsuitable for painting large workpieces. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a wall spray painting device that is highly adaptable, has a wide coverage area, and can balance construction safety and coating quality. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The technical problem this invention aims to improve is to overcome the shortcomings of existing technologies and provide an adaptive painting robot. The adaptive frame of this invention can conform to the wall surface, and combined with two sets of symmetrical painting mechanisms in the painting subsystem, it can dynamically adjust the position and angle of the spray gun to adapt to walls of different shapes and sizes. Through the composite motion of the swing assembly, slide assembly, and angle adjustment assembly—three degrees of freedom—this invention enables a single robot to achieve a wide, variable, and precisely controlled painting area. This effectively improves the limited coverage of manual painting and the limitations imposed by the arm span of robotic arms, making it suitable for efficient and complete painting of large walls, reducing the number of movements and operation time.

[0007] This invention is achieved through the following technical solution: An adaptive painting robot includes a crawling robot body, a control subsystem, and a painting subsystem, wherein the control subsystem and the painting subsystem are deployed on the crawling robot body, wherein: The crawling robot body includes an adaptive frame, an adsorption mechanism, and a walking mechanism. The adaptive frame adaptively conforms to the wall surface. The adsorption mechanism and the walking mechanism are arranged on the adaptive frame. The adsorption mechanism is used to magnetically attract the metal wall surface, and the walking mechanism drives the crawling robot body to move. The control subsystem includes an electronic control unit, a sensor mechanism, and an actuator. The sensor mechanism is used to sense and locate the position and posture of the crawling robot body and transmit the collected information to the electronic control unit. The electronic control unit drives the actuator according to the input command. The painting subsystem is fixedly connected to the front end of the crawling robot body via a support frame. The painting subsystem includes two sets of painting mechanisms arranged symmetrically on the left and right. Each painting mechanism includes a swing assembly, a slide assembly, an angle adjustment assembly, and a spray gun. The swing assembly drives the slide assembly, the angle adjustment assembly, and the spray gun to swing along the first hinge axis. The slide assembly drives the angle adjustment assembly and the spray gun to translate. The angle adjustment assembly drives the spray gun to rotate and adjust the painting angle.

[0008] As can be seen, the present invention effectively improves the high risk and low efficiency of manual painting by replacing manual labor with a crawling robot: it avoids direct contact between operators and paint mist, reducing health hazards; the adsorption mechanism and the walking mechanism work together to achieve autonomous movement, eliminating the need for a lifting platform or scaffolding, reducing auxiliary equipment costs and construction environment limitations; the present invention can effectively improve the adaptability and coverage of mechanical painting: the adaptive frame can conform to the wall surface, and combined with the two sets of symmetrical painting mechanisms of the painting subsystem, it can dynamically adjust the position and angle of the spray gun to adapt to walls of different shapes / sizes, effectively improving the problems caused by the arm span limitation or frequent calibration of traditional robotic arms. To address the issue of incomplete coverage and expand the spraying range, this invention utilizes the combined motion of a swing assembly, a sliding table assembly, and an angle adjustment assembly—three degrees of freedom—allowing a single robot to achieve a wide, variable, and precisely controlled spraying area. This effectively improves the limited coverage capacity of manual painting and the limitations imposed by the reach of robotic arms. It is suitable for efficient and complete spraying of large walls, reducing the number of movements and operation time. Furthermore, this invention effectively improves coating quality stability: the control subsystem uses sensor mechanisms to locate the posture in real time, and the electronic control unit drives the actuators for precise adjustment, reducing human error, avoiding missed spraying, overspraying, or uneven thickness, and improving coating uniformity.

[0009] According to the above technical solution, preferably, the adaptive frame includes two sets of side frame units, a front frame unit and a rear frame unit arranged symmetrically on the left and right sides. The left and right sides of the front frame unit and the rear frame unit are respectively hinged to the side frame units through hinge units, and the front frame unit and the rear frame unit are fixedly connected by an intermediate connecting plate.

[0010] As can be seen, in the above technical solution, the left and right side frame units can rotate independently around the hinge unit at a certain angle through the hinge unit connection. When the crawling robot encounters an arc or uneven wall, the adsorption mechanism and walking mechanism on the left and right sides can independently adjust their posture to ensure good contact with the wall at all times, thereby ensuring the reliability of adsorption and the stability of walking.

[0011] According to the above technical solution, preferably, the adsorption mechanism includes two sets of symmetrically arranged magnetic adsorption units, which are arranged on the lower side of the side frame unit.

[0012] According to the above technical solution, preferably, the walking mechanism includes two sets of symmetrically arranged drive components. The drive components include a motor housing, a drive wheel, a driven wheel, a built-in drive motor, and a transmission shaft. The motor housing is fixedly connected to the side frame unit. The built-in drive motor is housed inside the motor housing. The built-in drive motor drives the drive wheel to rotate through the transmission shaft. The driven wheel coincides with the central axis of the drive wheel.

[0013] As can be seen, in the above technical solution, the symmetrically distributed drive components provide bidirectional driving force, which is not only more stable, but also allows for adjustments such as rotation through differential design; the drive wheel is synchronously driven by the built-in drive motor through the transmission shaft, and the driven wheel is arranged coaxially with the drive wheel, which reduces slippage or shaking during walking and improves movement accuracy.

[0014] According to the above technical solution, preferably, the swing assembly includes an electric push rod and a support platform. One end of the support platform is hinged to the support frame via a first hinge shaft, and both ends of the electric push rod are hinged to the support platform and the support frame, respectively.

[0015] As can be seen, in the above technical solution, the electric push rod drives the support platform to swing around the first hinge axis, which allows the painting mechanism to swing as a whole, covering a wider horizontal area without the need for the robotic arm to move significantly, thus improving work efficiency.

[0016] According to the above technical solution, preferably, the slide assembly includes a first motor, a lead screw assembly, a slide rail unit, and a slide unit. The slide rail unit is fixedly connected to the support platform, and the slide unit is slidably connected to the slide rail unit. The first motor drives the slide unit through the lead screw assembly.

[0017] As can be seen, in the above technical solution, the lead screw assembly converts rotational motion into linear motion, and with the guide of the slide rail unit, it realizes high-precision translation of the slide table unit, thereby accurately controlling the lateral position of the spray gun and avoiding uneven coating or missed spraying caused by movement error.

[0018] According to the above technical solution, preferably, the angle adjustment component includes a servo motor, the servo motor is fixedly connected to the slide unit, and the spray gun is fixedly connected to the output end of the servo motor.

[0019] As can be seen, in the above technical solution, the servo motor can adjust the angle between the spray gun and the wall in real time, avoiding paint accumulation or insufficient coverage due to angle deviation, and is especially suitable for uniform spraying of non-planar walls.

[0020] The beneficial effects of this invention are: (1) The present invention effectively improves the high risk and low efficiency of manual spraying: by replacing manual labor with the crawling robot body, the operator is avoided from direct contact with paint mist, thus reducing health hazards; the adsorption mechanism and the walking mechanism work together to achieve autonomous movement, without relying on the lifting vehicle or scaffolding, thus reducing the cost of auxiliary equipment and the limitations of the construction environment; (2) The present invention can effectively improve the adaptability and coverage of mechanical painting: the adaptive frame can fit the wall surface, and combined with the two sets of symmetrical painting mechanisms of the painting subsystem, the position and angle of the spray gun can be dynamically adjusted to adapt to walls of different shapes / sizes, effectively improving the problem of incomplete coverage caused by the arm span limitation or frequent calibration of traditional robotic arms, and expanding the painting range. (3) Through the composite motion of the three degrees of freedom of the swing component, the slide component and the angle adjustment component, a single robot can achieve a wide, variable and precisely controlled spraying area. This will effectively improve the problem of limited coverage of manual painting and the limitation of the robotic arm by the arm span. It is suitable for efficient and complete spraying of large walls, reducing the number of moves and operation time. (4) The present invention can effectively improve the stability of coating quality: the control subsystem positions the posture in real time through the sensor mechanism, and the electronic control unit drives the actuator to make precise adjustments, reducing human operation errors, avoiding missed spraying, over-spraying or uneven thickness, and improving coating uniformity. Attached Figure Description

[0021] Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating the operation according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown; Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an isometric structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown; Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the front view structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown; Figure 4 A top view of the structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown; Figure 5 A side view structural schematic diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown; Figure 6 A schematic diagram of another isometric structure according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown; Figure 7A schematic diagram of the isometric structure of the crawling robot body according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown; Figure 8 A bottom-view structural schematic diagram of the crawling robot body according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown; Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures: 1. Crawling robot body; 2. Control subsystem; 3. Painting subsystem; 4. Adaptive frame; 5. Adsorption mechanism; 6. Walking mechanism; 7. Side frame unit; 8. Front frame unit; 9. Rear frame unit; 10. Hinge unit; 11. Intermediate connecting plate; 12. Magnetic suction unit; 13. Drive assembly; 14. Drive wheel; 15. Driven wheel; 16. Motor housing; 17. Wall surface; 18. Electronic control unit; 19. Sensor mechanism; 20. Swing assembly; 21. Slide table assembly; 22. Angle adjustment assembly; 23. Spray gun; 24. Electric push rod; 25. Support platform; 26. First motor; 27. Lead screw assembly; 28. Slide rail unit; 29. ​​Slide table unit; 30. Support frame. Detailed Implementation

[0022] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and preferred embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the invention.

[0023] In the description of the invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing the invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on the invention.

[0024] As shown in the figure, this invention provides an adaptive painting robot, including a crawling robot body 1, a control subsystem 2, and a painting subsystem 3. The control subsystem 2 and the painting subsystem 3 are arranged on the crawling robot body 1, wherein: The crawling robot body 1 includes an adaptive frame 4, an adsorption mechanism 5, and a walking mechanism 6. The adaptive frame 4 adaptively conforms to the wall surface 17. The adsorption mechanism 5 and the walking mechanism 6 are arranged on the adaptive frame 4. The adsorption mechanism 5 is used to magnetically attract the metal wall surface 17, and the walking mechanism 6 drives the crawling robot body 1 to move. The adaptive frame 4 includes two sets of symmetrically arranged side frame units 7, a front frame unit 8, and a rear frame unit 9. The left and right sides of the front frame unit 8 and the rear frame unit 9 are respectively hinged to the side frame unit 7 through hinge units 10. The front frame unit 8 and the rear frame unit 9 are fixedly connected by a middle connecting plate 11 and connected by hinge units 10. The left and right side frame units 7 can independently rotate around the hinge units 10 at a certain angle. When the crawling robot encounters an arc or uneven wall surface 17, the adsorption mechanism 5 and the walking mechanism 6 on the left and right sides can independently... The posture is adjusted to ensure good contact with the wall surface 17 at all times, thereby guaranteeing the reliability of adsorption and the stability of walking. The adsorption mechanism 5 includes two sets of symmetrically arranged magnetic adsorption units 12, which are arranged on the lower side of the side frame unit 7. Furthermore, the walking mechanism 6 includes two sets of symmetrically arranged drive components 13. The drive component 13 includes a motor housing 16, a drive wheel 14, a driven wheel 15, a built-in drive motor, and a transmission shaft. The motor housing 16 is fixedly connected to the side frame unit 7. The built-in drive motor is housed inside the motor housing 16 and drives the drive wheel 14 to rotate through the transmission shaft. The driven wheel 15 is aligned with the central axis of the drive wheel 14. The symmetrically distributed drive components 13 provide bidirectional driving force, which is not only more stable, but also allows for adjustment such as rotation through differential design. The drive wheel 14 is synchronously driven by the built-in drive motor through the transmission shaft, and the driven wheel 15 is arranged coaxially with the drive wheel 14.

[0025] The control subsystem 2 includes an electronic control unit 18, a sensor mechanism 19, and an actuator. The sensor mechanism 19 is used to sense and locate the position and posture of the crawling robot body 1 and transmit the collected information to the electronic control unit 18. The electronic control unit 18 drives the actuator according to the input command. The painting subsystem 3 is fixedly connected to the front end of the crawling robot body 1 via the support frame 30. The painting subsystem 3 includes two sets of painting mechanisms arranged symmetrically on the left and right. Each painting mechanism includes a swing component 20, a slide assembly 21, an angle adjustment component 22, and a spray gun 23. The swing component 20 drives the slide assembly 21, the angle adjustment component 22, and the spray gun 23 to swing in a wing-like manner along the first hinge axis. The slide assembly 21 drives the angle adjustment component 22 and the spray gun 23 to translate. The angle adjustment component 22 drives the spray gun 23 to rotate and adjust the painting angle. The swing component 20 includes an electric push rod 24 and a support platform 25. One end of the support platform 25 is hinged to the support frame 30 via the first hinge axis. Both ends of the electric push rod 24 are hinged to the support platform 25 and the support frame 30, respectively. The electric push rod 24 drives the support platform 25 to swing in a wing-like manner around the first hinge axis, which allows the painting mechanism to swing as a whole, covering a wider lateral area without requiring the robotic arm to translate significantly, thus improving work efficiency.

[0026] This invention effectively improves the high risk and low efficiency of manual painting: by replacing manual labor with a crawling robot body 1, operators are prevented from directly contacting paint mist, reducing health hazards; the adsorption mechanism 5 and the walking mechanism 6 work together to achieve autonomous movement, eliminating the need for a lifting platform or scaffolding, reducing auxiliary equipment costs and construction environment limitations; this invention can effectively improve the adaptability and coverage of mechanical painting: the adaptive frame 4 can conform to the wall surface 17, and combined with the two sets of symmetrical painting mechanisms of the painting subsystem 3, it can dynamically adjust the position and angle of the spray gun 23 to adapt to walls 17 of different shapes / sizes, effectively improving the limitations of traditional robotic arms due to arm span restrictions. This invention addresses the issue of incomplete coverage caused by frequent calibrations by expanding the spraying range. Through the combined motion of the swing assembly 20, the sliding table assembly 21, and the angle adjustment assembly 22, a single robot can achieve a wide, variable, and precisely controlled spraying area, suitable for efficient and complete spraying of large walls 17, reducing the number of movements and operation time. Furthermore, this invention effectively improves coating quality stability: the control subsystem 2 uses the sensor mechanism 19 to locate the posture in real time, and the electronic control unit 18 drives the actuator for precise adjustment, reducing human error, avoiding missed spraying, overspraying, or uneven thickness, and improving coating uniformity.

[0027] Optionally, in one possible implementation, the slide assembly 21 includes a first motor 26, a lead screw assembly 27, a slide rail unit 28, and a slide unit 29. The slide rail unit 28 is fixedly connected to the support platform 25, and the slide unit 29 is slidably connected to the slide rail unit 28. The first motor 26 drives the slide unit 29 through the lead screw assembly 27. The lead screw assembly 27 converts the rotational motion into linear motion, which, in conjunction with the guide of the slide rail unit 28, enables the slide unit 29 to move with high precision, thereby accurately controlling the lateral position of the spray gun 23 and avoiding uneven coating or missed spraying caused by movement errors.

[0028] Optionally, in one possible implementation, the angle adjustment component 22 includes a servo motor, which is fixedly connected to the slide unit 29. The spray gun 23 is fixedly connected to the output end of the servo motor. The servo motor can adjust the angle between the spray gun 23 and the wall surface 17 in real time to avoid paint accumulation or insufficient coverage due to angle deviation. It is especially suitable for uniform spraying of non-planar wall surfaces 17.

[0029] Obviously, the above embodiments are merely illustrative examples for clear explanation and are not intended to limit the implementation. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other variations or modifications can be made based on the above description. It is neither necessary nor possible to exhaustively list all possible implementations here. However, obvious variations or modifications derived therefrom are still within the scope of protection of this invention.

Claims

1. An adaptive painting robot, characterized in that, It includes a crawling robot body, a control subsystem, and a painting subsystem, wherein the control subsystem and the painting subsystem are installed on the crawling robot body, wherein: The crawling robot body includes an adaptive frame, an adsorption mechanism, and a walking mechanism. The adaptive frame adaptively conforms to the wall surface. The adsorption mechanism and the walking mechanism are arranged on the adaptive frame. The adsorption mechanism is used to magnetically attract the metal wall surface, and the walking mechanism drives the crawling robot body to move. The control subsystem includes an electronic control unit, a sensor mechanism, and an actuator. The sensor mechanism is used to sense and locate the position and posture of the crawling robot body and transmit the collected information to the electronic control unit. The electronic control unit drives the actuator according to the input command. The painting subsystem is fixedly connected to the front end of the crawling robot body via a support frame. The painting subsystem includes two sets of painting mechanisms arranged symmetrically on the left and right. Each painting mechanism includes a swing assembly, a slide assembly, an angle adjustment assembly, and a spray gun. The swing assembly drives the slide assembly, the angle adjustment assembly, and the spray gun to swing along the first hinge axis. The slide assembly drives the angle adjustment assembly and the spray gun to translate. The angle adjustment assembly drives the spray gun to rotate and adjust the painting angle.

2. The adaptive painting robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The adaptive frame includes two sets of side frame units, a front frame unit, and a rear frame unit arranged symmetrically on the left and right sides. The left and right sides of the front frame unit and the rear frame unit are respectively hinged to the side frame unit through hinge units. The front frame unit and the rear frame unit are fixedly connected by an intermediate connecting plate.

3. The adaptive painting robot according to claim 2, characterized in that, The adsorption mechanism includes two sets of symmetrically arranged magnetic adsorption units, which are located on the lower side of the side frame unit.

4. The adaptive painting robot according to claim 3, characterized in that, The walking mechanism includes two sets of symmetrically arranged drive components. Each drive component includes a motor housing, a drive wheel, a driven wheel, a built-in drive motor, and a transmission shaft. The motor housing is fixedly connected to the side frame unit. The built-in drive motor is housed inside the motor housing. The built-in drive motor drives the drive wheel to rotate through the transmission shaft. The driven wheel's central axis coincides with that of the drive wheel.

5. An adaptive painting robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The swing assembly includes an electric push rod and a support platform. One end of the support platform is hinged to the support frame via a first hinge shaft, and both ends of the electric push rod are hinged to the support platform and the support frame, respectively.

6. An adaptive painting robot according to claim 5, characterized in that, The slide assembly includes a first motor, a lead screw assembly, a slide rail unit, and a slide table unit. The slide rail unit is fixedly connected to the support platform, and the slide table unit is slidably connected to the slide rail unit. The first motor drives the slide table unit through the lead screw assembly.

7. An adaptive painting robot according to claim 6, characterized in that, The angle adjustment assembly includes a servo motor, which is fixedly connected to the slide unit, and the spray gun is fixedly connected to the output end of the servo motor.

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