Vehicle chassis inspection robot

Abstract

The utility model provides a vehicle chassis inspection robot which comprises a vehicle body, an image acquisition module, a central control unit, a holder control module, a distance measurement module, a navigation module and a walking mechanism. The robot is in communication connection with the handheld terminal; the image acquisition module is arranged at the front end of the vehicle body, the image acquisition module is controlled to rotate to shoot vehicle chassis images at different angles, and the shot images are uploaded to the handheld terminal; the central control unit, the holder control module and the navigation module are arranged in the vehicle body; the ranging module is arranged at the top of the vehicle body; the walking mechanism is arranged inside and around the vehicle body; the central control unit is used for receiving a control instruction issued by the handheld terminal and uploading position, speed, angle, distance and attitude information of the robot; the holder control module obtains angle information; the distance measuring module acquires distance information; the navigation module obtains attitude information; and the walking mechanism enables the robot to move according to the control instruction and uploads position and speed information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of vehicle inspection, in particular to a vehicle chassis inspection robot. Background Art

[0002] This section is intended to provide a background or context to the embodiments of the utility model recited in the claims. The description herein is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

[0003] Due to the long working hours and high frequency of daily operation, city buses need to perform chassis maintenance regularly or at a fixed mileage, including chassis condition inspection and parts replacement. These tasks include inspections of key chassis structures and parts such as the drive shaft, tie rod, steering shaft, torsion bar, engine, differential, etc.

[0004] At present, the maintenance of bus chassis requires staff to crawl under the bus for manual inspection. The vehicle has a low suspension and a small chassis space, which is not convenient for personnel to enter and operate. The viewing angle is limited and the visibility is poor. It is easy to have incomplete inspections, which increases labor costs and the risk of failure. In addition, the current maintenance requires special venues and special facilities, and there is a lack of technical means to conduct inspections outside the maintenance center, such as large-scale activity parking lots. The current chassis inspection work requires the driver to cooperate in driving the vehicle into the ditch and equip it with corresponding testing equipment, which is time-consuming and inefficient, and is not convenient for rapid, fixed-point, and centralized chassis inspections.

[0005] In summary, there is an urgent need for a technical solution that can overcome the above-mentioned defects, improve the bus chassis inspection method, improve the inspection efficiency, and improve the inspection effect. Utility Model Content

[0006] In order to solve the problems existing in the prior art, the utility model proposes a vehicle chassis inspection robot, comprising: a vehicle body, an image acquisition module, a central control unit, a pan / tilt control module, a distance measurement module, a navigation module, and a walking mechanism; the robot maintains a communication connection with a handheld terminal;

[0007] The image acquisition module is arranged at the front end of the vehicle body, and the image acquisition module is controlled to rotate and take vehicle chassis images at different angles, and the taken images are uploaded to the handheld terminal;

[0008] The central control unit, the PTZ control module, and the navigation module are arranged inside the vehicle body; the distance measurement module is arranged on the top of the vehicle body; and the walking mechanism is arranged inside and around the vehicle body;

[0009] The central control unit is used to receive the control instructions issued by the handheld terminal and upload the position, speed, angle, distance and posture information of the robot;

[0010] The pan / tilt control module is connected to the central control unit and is used to obtain angle information;

[0011] The distance measurement module is connected to the central control unit and is used to obtain distance information;

[0012] The navigation module is connected to the central control unit and is used to obtain posture information;

[0013] The walking mechanism is connected to the central control unit, and moves the robot according to the control instructions, and uploads the position and speed information.

[0014] In one embodiment of the utility model, it also includes: a wireless router, which is arranged in the vehicle body, connected to the image acquisition module, and communicated with the handheld terminal to upload the vehicle chassis image acquired by the image acquisition module to the handheld terminal.

[0015] In one embodiment of the utility model, it further includes: a transceiver, which is disposed in the vehicle body, connected to the central control unit, and is communicatively connected to the handheld terminal;

[0016] The transceiver receives the control instructions sent by the handheld terminal and sends them to the central control unit; it also obtains the information uploaded by the central control unit and sends it to the handheld terminal.

[0017] In one embodiment of the utility model, the image acquisition module adopts a patrol camera, and an anti-collision protection fence is installed around the patrol camera; for the patrol camera, a motor is arranged inside the vehicle body to drive the patrol camera to rotate in the vertical direction.

[0018] In one embodiment of the present invention, the inspection camera is an integrated camera of a thermal imaging camera and a visible light camera.

[0019] In one embodiment of the utility model, the motor adopts a self-locking worm gear motor, and the vertical rotation range of the inspection camera is 0° to 90°, wherein 0° means the inspection camera is facing forward and is horizontal with the vehicle body; 90° means the inspection camera is perpendicular to the vehicle body and upward.

[0020] In one embodiment of the utility model, the walking mechanism is composed of a plurality of Mecanum wheels and a driving device;

[0021] A plurality of Mecanum wheels are arranged around the vehicle body, the driving device is arranged inside the vehicle body, and the Mecanum wheels are mounted on the driving shaft of the driving device; different vector forces are formed by adjusting the speed of the Mecanum wheels themselves, and the direction of the force is the walking direction of the mechanism, so as to control the robot to travel in all directions.

[0022] In one embodiment of the utility model, it also includes: a power supply module to provide power to the vehicle chassis inspection robot.

[0023] In one embodiment of the utility model, the vehicle chassis inspection robot has a total weight between 12.5 kg and 13.5 kg, and a maximum envelope size of 466 mm in length, 392 mm in width, and 156 mm in height.

[0024] In one embodiment of the utility model, the vehicle body comprises an upper part and a lower part, the lower part is box-shaped, and the upper part is a cover plate; the vehicle body is made of 1.5 mm steel plates by bending and welding, and the upper and lower parts are fixedly connected by screws.

[0025] The vehicle chassis inspection robot proposed in the utility model can break through the limitations of the site, reduce the difficulty of operation, reduce the input of personnel, shorten the operation time, connect with the information system, provide data support, and provide guarantee for vehicle safety. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0027] Figures 1A to 1F It is a six-sided schematic diagram of a vehicle chassis inspection robot according to an embodiment of the utility model.

[0028] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the system architecture of a vehicle chassis inspection robot according to an embodiment of the utility model.

[0029] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a chassis inspection system according to an embodiment of the present utility model. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The principle and spirit of the present invention will be described below with reference to several exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are provided only to enable those skilled in the art to better understand and implement the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided to make the present disclosure more thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.

[0031] According to the implementation mode of the utility model, a vehicle chassis inspection robot is proposed, which relates to the field of vehicle inspection technology. Due to the current maintenance of bus chassis, staff need to drill under the bus for manual inspection. The vehicle has a low suspension and a small chassis space, which is not convenient for personnel to enter and operate. The viewing angle is limited and the visibility is poor. It is easy to have incomplete inspections, which increases labor costs and the risk of failures. In addition, the current maintenance requires special venues and special facilities, and lacks technical means to conduct inspections outside the maintenance center, such as large activity parking lots. The current chassis inspection work requires the driver to cooperate in driving the vehicle onto the ditch and equip it with corresponding detection equipment, which takes a long time and is inefficient. It is not convenient to quickly, fixed-point, and centralizedly inspect the chassis. The utility model is suitable for the narrow bus chassis environment, and performs image acquisition on the bus chassis to provide strong data support for the inspection of the bus chassis. The utility model can also improve the inspection efficiency, has low environmental requirements, and ensures the safety of the bus.

[0032] The principle and spirit of the present invention are explained in detail below with reference to several representative embodiments of the present invention.

[0033] Figures 1A to 1F It is a six-sided schematic diagram of a vehicle chassis inspection robot according to an embodiment of the utility model. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the system architecture of a vehicle chassis inspection robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 As shown, the vehicle chassis inspection robot 100 includes:

[0034] Vehicle body 101, image acquisition module 102, central control unit 103, pan / tilt control module 104, distance measurement module 105, navigation module 106, walking mechanism 107;

[0035] The robot maintains a communication connection with the handheld terminal 200;

[0036] The image acquisition module 102 is disposed at the front end of the vehicle body 101. The image acquisition module 102 is controlled to rotate to capture vehicle chassis images at different angles, and the captured images are uploaded to the handheld terminal 200.

[0037] The central control unit 103, the pan / tilt control module 104, and the navigation module 106 are arranged inside the vehicle body 101; the distance measurement module 105 is arranged on the top of the vehicle body 101; and the walking mechanism is arranged inside and around the vehicle body 101;

[0038] The central control unit 103 is used to receive control instructions issued by the handheld terminal 200 and upload the position, speed, angle, distance and posture information of the robot;

[0039] The pan / tilt control module 104 is connected to the central control unit 103 and is used to obtain angle information;

[0040] The distance measurement module 105 is connected to the central control unit 103 and is used to obtain distance information;

[0041] The navigation module 106 is connected to the central control unit 103 and is used to obtain posture information;

[0042] The walking mechanism 107 is connected to the central control unit 103, moves the robot according to the control instructions, and uploads the position and speed information.

[0043] For further reference, Figure 2 The vehicle chassis inspection robot 100 also includes: a wireless router 108, which is arranged in the vehicle body 101, connected to the image acquisition module 102, and communicated with the handheld terminal 200, and uploads the vehicle chassis image acquired by the image acquisition module 102 to the handheld terminal 200.

[0044] The transceiver 109 is disposed in the vehicle body 101 , connected to the central control unit 103 , and is in communication connection with the handheld terminal 200 ;

[0045] The transceiver 109 receives the control instructions sent by the handheld terminal 200 and sends them to the central control unit 103 ; it also obtains the information uploaded by the central control unit 103 and sends it to the handheld terminal 200 .

[0046] The image acquisition module 102 uses a patrol camera, and an anti-collision protection fence is installed around the patrol camera. For the patrol camera, a motor is provided inside the vehicle body 101 to drive the patrol camera to rotate in the vertical direction.

[0047] The inspection camera uses a thermal imaging camera and a visible light camera integrated camera.

[0048] The motor uses a self-locking worm gear motor, and the vertical rotation range of the inspection camera is 0° to 90°, where 0° is the inspection camera facing forward and maintaining a horizontal state with the vehicle body; 90° is the inspection camera facing vertically with the vehicle body upward.

[0049] The distance measurement module 105 uses an ultrasonic / laser distance measurement device to achieve distance measurement.

[0050] The navigation module 106 uses an IMU inertial navigation device.

[0051] The walking mechanism 107 is composed of a plurality of Mecanum wheels 1071 and a driving device 1072; the driving device 1072 includes a plurality of drivers and motors;

[0052] A plurality of Mecanum wheels are arranged around the vehicle body 101, a driving device 1072 is arranged inside the vehicle body 101, and the Mecanum wheels are mounted on the driving shaft of the driving device 1072; different vector forces are formed by adjusting the speed of the Mecanum wheels themselves, and the direction of the force is the walking direction of the mechanism, so as to control the robot to travel in all directions.

[0053] The power supply module 110 provides power to the vehicle chassis inspection robot.

[0054] The vehicle chassis inspection robot weighs between 12.5kg and 13.5kg, and its maximum envelope dimensions are 466mm long, 392mm wide and 156mm high.

[0055] The vehicle body 101 comprises an upper part and a lower part, the lower part is box-shaped, and the upper part is a cover plate; the vehicle body 101 is made of 1.5 mm Q235 steel plates bent and welded, and the upper and lower parts are fixedly connected by GB_T 70.1-2000_M3 screws.

[0056] In actual application scenarios, the front side of the vehicle is designed with an anti-collision guardrail to protect the camera, and the top is designed with a laser radar mounting seat, which is also used to protect and fix the signal line. Both are made of photosensitive resin 3D printing. A switch button is designed on the rear side of the vehicle.

[0057] The battery and controller are placed in the middle of the car, and the motors and drivers are placed on both sides to keep the center of gravity in the middle and improve the overall balance.

[0058] refer to Figure 3 , is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chassis inspection system according to an embodiment of the present utility model. Figure 3 As shown, the chassis inspection system includes an external vehicle part and an under-vehicle part. The external vehicle part includes an upper device 310 and a handheld terminal 320 , and the under-vehicle part includes a vehicle chassis inspection robot 330 .

[0059] The upper device 310 and the handheld terminal 320 can be connected via a network cable, and the interactive data includes inspection image information, inspection status, temperature, etc.

[0060] The remote controller in the handheld terminal 320 is connected to the receiver of the vehicle chassis inspection robot 330 through 2.4G communication to exchange speed and status instructions. The display in the handheld terminal 320 is connected to the wireless routing communication of the vehicle chassis inspection robot 330 through 5.8G to receive the uploaded image information.

[0061] In the vehicle chassis inspection robot 330, the central control unit is connected to the receiver, driver, laser radar, and IMU module via RS232, and to the pan / tilt control module via RS485. There are two drivers, each of which controls two left wheel motors and two right wheel motors. The inspection camera is connected to a wireless router.

[0062] Specifically, the chassis inspection system consists of a vehicle chassis inspection robot and a handheld terminal. The vehicle chassis inspection robot is stored in a protective pull-bar carrying box, stored in a bus cargo box or stored in a specific inspection station.

[0063] The vehicle chassis inspection robot is mainly composed of a Mecanum wheeled chassis, a camera and an infrared thermometer. The Mecanum wheeled chassis provides walking drive for the robot; the camera and infrared thermometer can move vertically 90 degrees (through the overall horizontal rotation of the vehicle body 360 degrees) to provide multiple orientation detection when performing operations, and can perform video inspections on chassis bolts, component welds, etc., as well as temperature inspections on components with temperature.

[0064] When performing inspection tasks, the robot is placed at a predetermined position close to the chassis of the car by manual or GPS navigation / laser SLAM / ribbon navigation. The robot autonomously navigates under the chassis of the car and moves forward from the rear of the car. The operator can use the handle to remotely control the robot to fine-tune the position and control the robot's movements. The infrared thermometer moves the pan-tilt to the inspection position according to the inspection part, and then measures the temperature of the component. During the process, the components can be recorded and photographed, and the temperature cloud map and other data can be transmitted and saved to complete the inspection task.

[0065] Chassis inspection items can be divided into comprehensive inspection and single-point inspection. Different gear speeds can be selected according to the inspection item category. There are two speeds: fast and low. When inspecting the chassis comprehensively, you can choose low-speed inspection to facilitate taking photos and videos to ensure clarity. When inspecting a single point, you can choose fast speed to quickly reach the inspection point.

[0066] Autonomous navigation and positioning function: Autonomous positioning and navigation technology uses sensors to sense the environment and its own status, and autonomously moves toward the target. Positioning refers to the position and its own posture relative to the global coordinates in the working environment. The vehicle chassis inspection robot uses track calculation to perform autonomous positioning and navigation. The main measures taken by this method include: using an inertial navigation unit to detect the heading angle of the device in real time and adjust the direction for the next target point; using track calculation to determine the speed and time of the device's movement; using global coordinate point positioning to determine the current initial position and target position. Given the coordinate information of each detection point relative to a certain position base point of this type of chassis, the vehicle chassis inspection robot can autonomously navigate to each detection point for image acquisition.

[0067] The vehicle chassis inspection robot proposed in the utility model can break through the limitations of the site, reduce the difficulty of operation, reduce the input of personnel, shorten the operation time, connect with the information system, provide data support, and provide guarantee for vehicle safety.

[0068] Finally, it should be noted that the above-described embodiments are only specific implementation methods of the utility model, which are used to illustrate the technical solution of the utility model, rather than to limit it. The protection scope of the utility model is not limited thereto. Although the utility model is described in detail with reference to the above-mentioned embodiments, ordinary technicians in the field should understand that any technician familiar with the technical field can still modify the technical solution recorded in the above-mentioned embodiments within the technical scope disclosed by the utility model, or can easily think of changes, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein; and these modifications, changes or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solution deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the embodiment of the utility model, and should be included in the protection scope of the utility model. Therefore, the protection scope of the utility model should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A vehicle chassis inspection robot, characterized in that: include: Vehicle body, image acquisition module, central control unit, pan / tilt control module, distance measurement module, navigation module, walking mechanism; the robot maintains communication connection with the handheld terminal; The image acquisition module is arranged at the front end of the vehicle body, and the image acquisition module is controlled to rotate and take vehicle chassis images at different angles, and the taken images are uploaded to the handheld terminal; The central control unit, the PTZ control module, and the navigation module are arranged inside the vehicle body; the distance measurement module is arranged on the top of the vehicle body; and the walking mechanism is arranged inside and around the vehicle body; The central control unit is used to receive the control instructions issued by the handheld terminal and upload the position, speed, angle, distance and posture information of the robot; The pan / tilt control module is connected to the central control unit and is used to obtain angle information; The distance measurement module is connected to the central control unit and is used to obtain distance information; The navigation module is connected to the central control unit and is used to obtain posture information; The walking mechanism is connected to the central control unit, and moves the robot according to the control instructions, and uploads the position and speed information.

2. The vehicle chassis inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: The wireless router is arranged in the vehicle body, connected to the image acquisition module, and communicated with the handheld terminal to upload the vehicle chassis image acquired by the image acquisition module to the handheld terminal.

3. The vehicle chassis inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: A transceiver, disposed in the vehicle body, connected to the central control unit, and communicatively connected to the handheld terminal; The transceiver receives the control instructions sent by the handheld terminal and sends them to the central control unit; it also obtains the information uploaded by the central control unit and sends it to the handheld terminal.

4. The vehicle chassis inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The image acquisition module adopts a patrol camera, and an anti-collision protection fence is installed around the patrol camera; for the patrol camera, a motor is arranged inside the vehicle body to drive the patrol camera to rotate in the vertical direction.

5. The vehicle chassis inspection robot according to claim 4, characterized in that: The inspection camera uses a thermal imaging camera and a visible light camera integrated camera.

6. The vehicle chassis inspection robot according to claim 4, characterized in that: The motor adopts a worm gear motor with self-locking function, and the vertical rotation range of the inspection camera is 0° to 90°, wherein 0° means the inspection camera is facing forward and is horizontal with the vehicle body; 90° means the inspection camera is perpendicular to the vehicle body and faces upward.

7. The vehicle chassis inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The walking mechanism is composed of a plurality of Mecanum wheels and a driving device; A plurality of Mecanum wheels are arranged around the vehicle body, the driving device is arranged inside the vehicle body, and the Mecanum wheels are mounted on the driving shaft of the driving device; different vector forces are formed by adjusting the speed of the Mecanum wheels themselves, and the direction of the force is the walking direction of the mechanism, so as to control the robot to travel in all directions.

8. The vehicle chassis inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: A power supply module provides power to the vehicle chassis inspection robot.

9. The vehicle chassis inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The vehicle chassis inspection robot has a total weight of between 12.5kg and 13.5kg, and a maximum envelope size of 466mm in length, 392mm in width, and 156mm in height.

10. The vehicle chassis inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The vehicle body comprises an upper part and a lower part, the lower part is box-shaped, and the upper part is a cover plate; the vehicle body is made of 1.5 mm steel plates by bending and welding, and the upper and lower parts are fixedly connected by screws.

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