Waist movement mechanism and humanoid robot

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of humanoid robot trunk structure, and discloses a waist movement mechanism and a humanoid robot, wherein the waist movement mechanism comprises a seat body, a movable platform, a driving module and a transmission module, the seat body is used for connecting the lower trunk of the robot, the movable platform is arranged on the seat body and is connected with the seat body in multiple directions, the movable platform is used for connecting the upper trunk of the robot, the driving module is arranged on the seat body and comprises two speed reducers, the output shafts of the two speed reducers are coaxial and are arranged in a back-to-back extension mode, the transmission module comprises two transmission groups, one transmission group is connected with one output shaft and the movable platform, the transmission group comprises a swing arm and a transmission arm, the swing arm is connected with the output shaft and is rotatably connected with the seat body, the transmission arm is rotatably connected with the swing arm and the movable platform, and the rotation axis directions of the transmission arm and the swing arm are parallel to the extension direction of the output shaft, so that the waist movement of the robot is realized, and the waist structure is simplified.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of humanoid robot torso structure technology, and particularly to a waist movement mechanism and a humanoid robot. Background Technology

[0002] In current humanoid robot torso designs, the vast majority of commercial and engineering prototypes adopt a monolithic rigid torso structure, eliminating or abandoning the active motion degrees of freedom of the waist, and rarely configuring active waist joints with multi-dimensional motion capabilities such as pitch, roll, and yaw. The core reason for this common design status quo in the industry is not that waist motion lacks functional gain, but rather that the movable waist has inherent mechanical structural defects that are difficult to avoid. Furthermore, achieving multi-dimensional waist motion requires the superposition of numerous auxiliary structures, transmission structures, and protective structures, directly resulting in a bulky robot torso structure, significantly increased integration difficulty, deteriorated structural rigidity, and complex assembly processes. This severely restricts the design requirements for miniaturization, lightweighting, and high reliability of humanoid robots.

[0003] In existing technologies, to achieve three-dimensional spatial motion (pitch, roll, yaw) of the robot's waist, three sets of orthogonally arranged rotary joints and corresponding drive reduction units are required. However, the stacked structure layout of the multi-degree-of-freedom waist presents a serious structural design contradiction. The waist is located in a narrow area connecting the upper and lower torso of the robot, and the space is limited. The axial or radial stacking of three sets of motors, reducers, and bearing assemblies will directly and significantly increase the overall thickness and height of the torso.

[0004] In summary, the realization of active waist movement in the existing technology has inherent structural difficulties such as severe spatial interference, deterioration of structural rigidity, and high integration difficulty. It also tends to result in a bulky overall structure of the robot torso, numerous parts, complex assembly, and reduced reliability. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The main objective of this invention is to provide a waist movement mechanism that enables waist movement in robots and simplifies the waist structure.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the lumbar movement mechanism proposed in this invention includes: A base for connecting the robot's lower torso; An active platform is provided on the base and is rotatably connected to the base in multiple directions. The active platform is used to connect to the upper torso of the robot. A drive module, disposed on the base, includes two reducers, the output shafts of which are coaxial and extend backwards; and The transmission module includes two transmission groups. One transmission group is correspondingly connected to the output shaft and the movable platform. The transmission group includes a swing arm and a transmission arm. The swing arm is connected to the output shaft and rotatably connected to the base. The transmission arm is rotatably connected to the swing arm and the movable platform respectively, and the direction of the rotation axis is parallel to the extension direction of the output shaft.

[0007] In one embodiment, the waist movement mechanism further includes a support member disposed on the seat and abutting against the lower end surface of the movable platform.

[0008] In one embodiment, the support member includes an mounting section and a support section; The mounting section is connected to the base body; The support section is connected to the mounting section and is perpendicular to the mounting section. The support section is spaced apart from the base and abuts against the lower end surface of the movable platform.

[0009] In one embodiment, the support member is detachably connected to the base.

[0010] In one embodiment, the transmission arm includes a first transmission section and a second transmission section; The first transmission section is rotatably connected to the swing arm; The second transmission segment is rotatably connected to the movable platform and rotatably connected to the first transmission segment. The rotation axis of the second transmission segment and the first transmission segment is perpendicular to the extension direction of the output shaft.

[0011] In one embodiment, the waist movement mechanism further includes a cross-shaped swing joint that connects the seat and the movable platform.

[0012] In one embodiment, the drive module further includes a flange having a main body and two flanges located at both ends of the main body; The flange is connected to the end of the reducer furthest from its output shaft.

[0013] In one embodiment, the drive module further includes a plurality of first fasteners, the reducer has a plurality of first mounting holes, and the base has a plurality of first through holes; The first mounting hole is located on the same side as the output shaft and corresponds one-to-one with each of the first through holes; The first fastener passes through the first through hole and is connected and fixed to the first mounting hole.

[0014] In one embodiment, the drive module further includes a plurality of second fasteners, the output shaft has a plurality of second mounting holes, and the swing arm has a plurality of second through holes; The second assembly hole corresponds one-to-one with each of the second through holes; The second fastener passes through the second through hole and is connected and fixed to the second mounting hole.

[0015] The present invention also proposes a humanoid robot, including the aforementioned waist movement mechanism.

[0016] In the technical solution of this invention, the seat of the waist movement mechanism is connected to the lower torso, and the movable platform is connected to the upper torso. The drive module uses two reducers with coaxial and back-to-back output shafts as power sources. Two sets of transmission groups are connected one-to-one between the output shafts of the reducers and the movable platform. The swing arm rotates and swings with the output shaft of the reducer, and then the rotational motion of the swing arm is transmitted to the movable platform through the transmission arm. The rotation axes between the swing arm and the transmission arm are parallel to the direction of the output shaft. Through the differential drive of the two reducers, the pitch and roll of the movable platform relative to the seat can be realized. This abandons the traditional three sets of orthogonal rotary joint stacked layout, eliminates the need to stack multiple sets of motor reducers, reduces the number of parts, and avoids the problems of bulky torso, spatial interference, and reduced rigidity caused by stacking multiple joints. It realizes multi-dimensional waist movement of the upper torso in the narrow installation space of the waist, simplifies the overall structure, reduces integration difficulty, and facilitates the miniaturization and lightweighting of the humanoid robot torso. At the same time, the differential drive of the dual reducers can ensure the output torque of the waist and maintain the overall load-bearing capacity of the mechanism. Attached Figure Description

[0017] 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 the structures shown in these drawings without creative effort.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a structure of an embodiment of the waist movement mechanism provided by the present invention; Figure 2 for Figure 1 The diagram shows the structural breakdown of the embodiment.

[0019] Explanation of icon numbers: 100. Waist movement mechanism; 1. Seat; 2. Movable platform; 3. Drive module; 31. Reducer; 312. Output shaft; 3121. Second mounting hole; 4. Transmission module; 41. Transmission group; 411. Swing arm; 4111. Second through hole; 412. Transmission arm; 4121. First transmission section; 4122. Second transmission section; 5. Support component; 51. Mounting section; 52. Support section; 6. Cross-shaped orthogonal swing joint; 7. Flange; 71. Flange; 8. First fastener.

[0020] The realization of the objective, functional features and advantages of the present invention will be further explained in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Detailed Implementation

[0021] 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 a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0022] It should be noted that all directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.) in the embodiments of the present invention are only used to explain the relative positional relationship and movement of each component in a certain specific posture (as shown in the figure). If the specific posture changes, the directional indication will also change accordingly.

[0023] Furthermore, the use of terms such as "first" and "second" in this invention is for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of that feature. Additionally, the technical solutions of the various embodiments can be combined with each other, but only on the basis of being achievable by those skilled in the art. When the combination of technical solutions is contradictory or impossible to implement, such a combination of technical solutions should be considered non-existent and not within the scope of protection claimed by this invention.

[0024] This invention proposes a waist movement mechanism 100. Figures 1 to 2 This is an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] In this embodiment of the invention, the waist movement mechanism 100 includes a seat 1, a movable platform 2, a drive module 3, and a transmission module 4. The seat 1 is used to connect the lower torso of the robot. The movable platform 2 is located on the seat 1 and is rotatably connected to the seat 1 in multiple directions. The movable platform 2 is used to connect the upper torso of the robot. The drive module 3 is located on the seat 1 and includes two reducers 31. The output shafts 312 of the two reducers 31 are coaxial and extend in opposite directions. The transmission module 4 includes two transmission groups 41. One transmission group 41 is correspondingly connected to an output shaft 312 and the movable platform 2. The transmission group 41 includes a swing arm 411 and a transmission arm 412. The swing arm 411 is connected to the output shaft 312 and is rotatably connected to the seat 1. The transmission arm 412 is rotatably connected to the swing arm 411 and the movable platform 2 respectively, and the direction of the rotation axis is parallel to the extension direction of the output shaft 312.

[0026] In the technical solution of this invention, the seat 1 of the waist movement mechanism 100 connects to the lower torso, and the movable platform 2 connects to the upper torso. The drive module 3 uses two reducers 31 with their output shafts 312 arranged coaxially and back-to-back as power sources. Two sets of transmission groups 41 are connected one-to-one between the output shafts 312 of the reducers 31 and the movable platform 2. The swing arm 411 follows the output shafts 312 of the reducers 31 to rotate and swing, and then the rotational motion of the swing arm 411 is transmitted to the movable platform 2 through the transmission arm 412. The rotation axes between the swing arm 411 and the transmission arm 412 are parallel to the direction of the output shaft 312. The differential drive of reducer 31 enables multi-dimensional pitch and roll swing of the moving platform 2 relative to the seat 1. It abandons the traditional three-set orthogonal rotary joint stacking layout, eliminating the need to stack multiple sets of motor reducers, reducing the number of parts, and avoiding the problems of bulky torso, spatial interference, and reduced rigidity caused by multi-joint stacking. It enables multi-dimensional waist movement of the upper torso within the narrow installation space of the waist, simplifying the overall structure, reducing integration difficulty, and facilitating the miniaturization and lightweighting of the humanoid robot torso. At the same time, the differential drive of dual reducers 31 can ensure the output torque of the waist and maintain the overall load-bearing capacity of the mechanism.

[0027] The upper torso is used to assemble the robot's head, upper limbs, etc., while the lower torso is used to assemble the leg structure.

[0028] In one embodiment, the waist movement mechanism 100 further includes a support member 5, which is disposed on the seat 1 and abuts against the lower end surface of the movable platform 2.

[0029] In this example, a support member 5 is installed on the base 1. The support member 5 forms an abutment fit with the lower end face of the movable platform 2. The movable platform 2 bears the self-weight of the upper torso, upper arm, head and other components. The load can be transferred to the support member 5 through the lower end face of the movable platform 2. The support member 5 shares most of the vertical load, preventing the upper torso, upper arm, head and other components from collapsing due to their own weight during the assembly process, and providing temporary support for the structural assembly process.

[0030] In one embodiment, the support member 5 includes an installation section 51 and a support section 52; the installation section 51 is connected to the base 1; the support section 52 is connected to the installation section 51 and is perpendicular to the installation section 51, the support section 52 is spaced apart from the base 1 and abuts against the lower end surface of the movable platform 2.

[0031] In this example, the support member 5 is divided into a mounting section 51 and a support section 52 that are perpendicular to each other. The mounting section 51 is fixed on the base 1, and there is a gap between the support section 52 and the base 1. The top surface of the support section 52 abuts against the lower end surface of the movable platform 2. The vertically bent structure can lift the support section 52 to avoid the arrangement area of ​​moving parts such as the reducer 31 and the swing arm 411 on the base 1, and prevent the support member 5 from interfering with the surrounding moving parts during assembly. The gap can also provide a clearance stroke for the swing arm 411 during the assembly process. At the same time, the bent structure itself has bending resistance and can stably bear the vertical load transmitted from the movable platform 2 and other structures assembled on the upper part of the movable platform 2.

[0032] In one embodiment, the support member 5 is detachably connected to the base 1.

[0033] In this example, the support component 5 and the base 1 are detachably connected. During the assembly stage, the drive module 3, transmission module 4, and moving platform 2 can be assembled first with the support of the support component 5. After assembly, effective support is formed between the various structures. At this time, the support component 5 can be removed to avoid interference between the support component 5 and the structure during waist movement. When inspecting or replacing parts later, the support component 5 can be reassembled in the corresponding position to bear the weight of the upper torso, upper arm, head and other components, providing reasonable support for the later inspection and replacement process.

[0034] In one embodiment, the transmission arm 412 includes a first transmission segment 4121 and a second transmission segment 4122; the first transmission segment 4121 is rotatably connected to the swing arm 411; the second transmission segment 4122 is rotatably connected to the movable platform 2 and rotatably connected to the first transmission segment 4121, and the rotation axis directions of the second transmission segment 4122 and the first transmission segment 4121 are perpendicular to the extension direction of the output shaft 312.

[0035] In this example, the transmission arm 412 is provided with a first transmission section 4121 and a second transmission section 4122 that can rotate relative to each other. The first transmission section 4121 is hinged to the swing arm 411, and the second transmission section 4122 is hinged to the movable platform 2. The hinge axis between the two is perpendicular to the output shaft 312 of the reducer 31. When the swing arm 411 rotates, the two transmission arm sections 412 can rotate relative to each other, which can compensate for the spatial position deviation generated during the multi-dimensional swing of the movable platform 2, eliminate the dead points and additional stresses in the motion process of the mechanism, ensure that the power of the swing arm 411 can be smoothly transmitted to the movable platform 2, adapt to the multi-directional swing spatial motion requirements of the movable platform 2, reduce the risk of mechanism motion jamming, and improve motion smoothness.

[0036] In one embodiment, the waist movement mechanism 100 further includes a cross-shaped swing joint 6, which connects the seat 1 and the movable platform 2.

[0037] In this example, the base 1 and the movable platform 2 are connected by a cross-orthogonal swing joint 6. The cross-orthogonal swing joint 6 serves as the motion reference for the movable platform 2, providing rotational constraints for the movable platform 2 in two degrees of freedom: pitch and roll. This limits the motion trajectory of the movable platform 2, constraining all swing motion of the movable platform 2 within a predetermined range. This reduces the radial and lateral loads that the two transmission groups 41 need to bear. Most of the lateral force is borne by the cross-orthogonal swing joint 6. The transmission group 41 mainly undertakes the function of torque transmission, reducing the force load on the swing arm 411 and the transmission arm 412, further improving the overall rigidity of the mechanism and improving the motion accuracy. At the same time, the cross-orthogonal swing joint 6 does not provide driving power; it is driven by the differential of the external dual reducers 31, without adding an additional drive motor, thus avoiding a bulky mechanism.

[0038] In one embodiment, the drive module 3 further includes a flange 7 having a main body and two flanges 71 located at both ends of the main body; one flange 71 is correspondingly connected to one end of a reducer 31 away from its output shaft 312.

[0039] In this example, the drive module 3 is equipped with flanges 71 at both ends. Two reducers 31 are arranged back-to-back, with the non-output ends of the reducers 31 fixed to the flanges 71 at both ends of the flange 7. The flanges 7 rigidly center and position the two reducers 31, ensuring the coaxiality of their output shafts 312. This avoids assembly coaxiality deviations caused by independent installation of the two reducers 31, reducing assembly and debugging difficulty. The flanges 7 connect the two reducers 31 into a single unit, improving the overall rigidity of the drive module 3, suppressing vibration during operation of the reducers 31, reducing operational jitter, and ensuring synchronous power output. The flange 7 can be assembled from two flanges, each with a central connecting ring. The ring of one flange can abut against the inner wall of the ring of the other flange, achieving partial radial overlap. The two rings are then fixed from multiple radial positions using fasteners, resulting in the flange 7 described in this example.

[0040] In one embodiment, the drive module 3 further includes a plurality of first fasteners 8, the reducer 31 has a plurality of first mounting holes, and the base 1 has a plurality of first through holes; the first mounting holes are disposed on the same side as the output shaft 312 and correspond one-to-one with each of the first through holes; a first fastener 8 passes through a first through hole and is connected and fixed to a first mounting hole.

[0041] In this example, the fastener passes through the first through hole on the base 1 from one side and locks with the first mounting hole on the same side as the output shaft 312 of the reducer 31, thus fixing the reducer 31 to the base 1. The fastener is arranged on the side where the output shaft 312 is located, and the locking operation can be completed directly from the outside of the mechanism during assembly. There is no need to perform assembly in the narrow middle area between the two reducers 31. The assembly operation space is sufficient, which facilitates the installation and disassembly of the reducer 31 and the later maintenance and replacement of the reducer 31. At the same time, the multi-point fastener locking ensures that the reducer 31 is installed firmly and suppresses the deflection and vibration of the reducer 31 relative to the base 1 during operation.

[0042] In one embodiment, the drive module 3 further includes a plurality of second fasteners, the output shaft 312 has a plurality of second mounting holes 3121, and the swing arm 411 has a plurality of second through holes 4111; the second mounting holes 3121 correspond one-to-one with each of the second through holes 4111; a second fastener passes through a corresponding second through hole 4111 and is connected and fixed to a second mounting hole 3121.

[0043] In this example, the swing arm 411 has a second through hole 4111, and the output shaft 312 of the reducer 31 has a corresponding second mounting hole 3121. The second fastener passes through the second through hole 4111 of the swing arm 411 and locks to the second mounting hole 3121 of the output shaft 312, realizing a rigid connection between the swing arm 411 and the output shaft 312 of the reducer 31. The multi-point fastener connection can distribute the torsional load and reduce the compressive stress at the connection position compared with single key and spline transmission. It can prevent slippage and increased gap under alternating loads, ensure that the output torque is completely transmitted from the output shaft 312 to the swing arm 411, improve the torque transmission accuracy, and reduce transmission backlash.

[0044] Furthermore, the combination of the first through hole, the first mounting hole and the first fastener 8, as well as the fit of the second through hole 4111, the second mounting hole 3121 and the second fastener, are all evenly arranged along the circumferential direction to minimize vibration and other problems during the rotation of the output shaft 312.

[0045] This invention also proposes a humanoid robot, including the aforementioned waist movement mechanism 100. The humanoid robot is equipped with the waist movement mechanism 100 of this application, employing a dual-reducer 31 differential drive scheme. This eliminates the need for multiple sets of rotary joints stacked together, enabling multi-dimensional waist movements such as torso pitch and roll within the limited space of the waist. This solves the shortcomings of traditional active waist movements, such as bulkiness, poor rigidity, and high integration difficulty. It allows the humanoid robot to achieve miniaturization and lightweighting of the torso while maintaining multi-dimensional waist movement capabilities, improving the robot's overall motion performance and environmental adaptability. Furthermore, the mechanism has fewer parts, simplifying the assembly process, facilitating mass production, and improving the overall operational reliability.

[0046] The humanoid robot proposed in this invention includes a waist movement mechanism 100. The specific structure of the waist movement mechanism 100 is as described in the above embodiments. Since the humanoid robot adopts all the technical solutions of all the above embodiments, it has at least all the beneficial effects brought about by the technical solutions of the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0047] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent structural transformations made using the contents of the present invention's specification and drawings under the inventive concept of the present invention, or direct / indirect applications in other related technical fields, are included within the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A waist movement mechanism (100), characterized in that, The lumbar movement mechanism (100) includes: A base (1) for connecting the lower body of the robot; The active platform (2) is located on the seat (1) and is rotatably connected to the seat (1) in multiple directions. The active platform (2) is used to connect the upper body of the robot. A drive module (3), the drive module (3) being disposed on the base (1), and including two reducers (31), the output shafts (312) of the two reducers (31) being coaxial and extending backwards; and The transmission module (4) includes two transmission groups (41). One transmission group (41) is connected to the output shaft (312) and the movable platform (2). The transmission group (41) includes a swing arm (411) and a transmission arm (412). The swing arm (411) is connected to the output shaft (312) and rotatably connected to the seat (1). The transmission arm (412) is rotatably connected to the swing arm (411) and the movable platform (2) respectively, and the direction of the rotation axis is parallel to the extension direction of the output shaft (312). The waist movement mechanism (100) also includes a support member (5), which is located on the seat (1) and abuts against the lower end face of the active platform (2); The support member (5) is detachably connected to the base (1).

2. The waist movement mechanism (100) as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The support member (5) includes an installation section (51) and a support section (52); The mounting section (51) is connected to the base (1); The support section (52) is connected to the mounting section (51) and is perpendicular to the mounting section (51). The support section (52) is spaced apart from the seat (1) and abuts against the lower end face of the movable platform (2).

3. The waist movement mechanism (100) as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The transmission arm (412) includes a first transmission section (4121) and a second transmission section (4122); The first transmission section (4121) is rotatably connected to the swing arm (411); The second transmission segment (4122) is rotatably connected to the movable platform (2) and rotatably connected to the first transmission segment (4121). The rotation axis directions of the second transmission segment (4122) and the first transmission segment (4121) are perpendicular to the extension direction of the output shaft (312).

4. The waist movement mechanism (100) as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The waist movement mechanism (100) also includes a cross-shaped swing joint (6), which connects the seat (1) and the movable platform (2).

5. The waist movement mechanism (100) as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The drive module (3) also includes a flange (7), which has a main body and two flanges (71) located at both ends of the main body; One of the flanges (71) is connected to one end of the reducer (31) away from its output shaft (312).

6. The waist movement mechanism (100) as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The drive module (3) further includes a plurality of first fasteners (8), the reducer (31) has a plurality of first mounting holes, and the base (1) has a plurality of first through holes; The first mounting hole is located on the same side as the output shaft (312) and corresponds to each of the first through holes; The first fastener (8) passes through the first through hole and is connected and fixed to the first mounting hole.

7. The waist movement mechanism (100) as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The drive module (3) also includes a plurality of second fasteners, the output shaft (312) has a plurality of second mounting holes (3121), and the swing arm (411) has a plurality of second through holes (4111); The second assembly hole (3121) corresponds one-to-one with each of the second through holes (4111); The second fastener passes through the second through hole (4111) and is connected and fixed to the second mounting hole (3121).

8. A humanoid robot, characterized in that, The humanoid robot includes a waist movement mechanism (100) as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

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