Overwater oil spilling robot

Abstract

The utility model relates to the field of overwater oil spill treatment, and discloses an overwater oil spill robot which comprises a main hull unit, and a camera unit, a radar unit and a mechanical arm unit are arranged on the main hull unit. The camera unit is used for acquiring image data in a preset range of the main hull unit in real time and sending the image data to the control center; the radar unit is used for receiving an echo signal of an electromagnetic beam actively emitted by the radar antenna to obtain an object identification and analysis result and sending the object identification and analysis result to the control center; the mechanical arm unit is used for extracting a detection target when receiving an instruction of allowing extraction of the monitoring target from the control center. The mechanical arm unit comprises a front end claw, a server, a hexagonal linkage wheel, a connecting rod piece, a supporting arm, a disc connecting piece and a right-angle fixing base. According to the technology, people do not need to directly relate to a dangerous water area, the monitoring and cleaning work efficiency is greatly improved, oil contamination can be rapidly and accurately positioned, and larger environmental damage caused by oil contamination diffusion is avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the field of water oil spill treatment, in particular to a water oil spill robot. Background Art

[0002] The ocean is the cradle of human life activities, and the development and progress of human society depends on the development and utilization of marine resources. In an era of growing scientific and technological development, with the increasing efforts in offshore oil and gas development and the development of the maritime transportation industry, the risk of oil spill accidents at sea is increasing year by year, and the serious consequences of oil spill accidents have attracted widespread attention from all over the world. Marine oil spill accidents are one of the most typical and serious environmental pollution accidents in the process of human development of the ocean. It is also an important challenge facing marine ecological security and the health of coastal residents. Once a major oil spill occurs, it will drift and spread rapidly under the action of sea breeze and waves, causing unimaginable and serious harm to the marine ecological environment and the coastal natural environment. Oil pollution will pollute seawater quality, endanger the marine ecosystem, destroy the natural environment, and have a devastating impact on marine fisheries and maritime transportation industries. It will also affect ancillary industries such as coastal tourism.

[0003] Therefore, there is an urgent need to provide a solution that can enhance the oil spill emergency response capability, reduce personal safety risks and improve the oil spill rescue effect. Utility Model Content

[0004] The utility model aims to provide an on-water oil spill robot to achieve the purpose of solving the problems raised in the above-mentioned background technology.

[0005] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the utility model provides the following technical solutions: an on-water oil spill robot, the on-water oil spill robot comprising a main hull unit, the main hull unit being provided with a camera unit, a radar unit and a mechanical arm unit; the camera unit comprising one or more camera modules for acquiring image data within a predetermined range of the main hull unit in real time and sending the image data to a control center; the radar unit for receiving an echo signal of an electromagnetic wave beam actively emitted by a radar antenna to obtain identification and analysis results of an object and send the results to the control center; the mechanical arm unit for extracting a detection target upon receiving an instruction from the control center allowing the extraction of a monitoring target, the mechanical arm The unit includes a front claw, a servo, a hexagonal linkage wheel, a connecting rod, a support arm, a disc connector and a right-angle fixed base; the connecting rod drives the hexagonal linkage wheel through the servo to realize the movement of the robot arm unit in the y-axis direction; the servo is suitable for driving the front claw to rotate and / or grasp, and is also suitable for driving the disc connector to realize the rotation of the entire robot arm unit, and the movement of the robot arm in the x, y and z three-axis directions is realized through the mutual joint operation of the hexagonal linkage wheel, the connecting rod, the support arm and the disc connector; one end of the support arm is connected to the disc connector, and the other end is connected to the connecting rod; the disc connector is arranged on the right-angle fixed base.

[0006] Furthermore, the disc connector is suitable for rotating around a predetermined central axis, and the predetermined central axis is a straight line that coincides with or is parallel to the z-axis of the robotic arm unit.

[0007] Furthermore, the camera unit includes one or more camera sub-units.

[0008] Furthermore, each camera subunit includes one or more camera modules.

[0009] Furthermore, the radar unit includes a radar transmitter, a radar receiver, a radar antenna, a radar processor and an indicator; the radar transmitter is suitable for generating high-power radio frequency energy pulses to be transmitted to the sea surface through the radar antenna; the radar receiver is suitable for receiving echo signals reflected from the air through the radar antenna; the radar processor is suitable for processing the echo signals to determine the location and area of ​​the oil spill on the sea surface; and the indicator is suitable for displaying the processing results of the radar processor in the form of video images.

[0010] Furthermore, the number of the robotic arm units is one or more.

[0011] The utility model provides an oil spill robot on water, which has the following beneficial effects: the utility model is based on a radar oil spill monitoring device, cooperates with a mechanical arm and a camera to monitor the oil spill target on the sea surface, works under adverse weather conditions, and does not require personnel to directly wade into dangerous waters, which greatly improves the efficiency of monitoring and cleaning work. In addition, the robot can monitor in real time, quickly and accurately locate oil pollution, and help to take timely response measures to avoid the spread of oil pollution and cause greater environmental damage. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of an above-water oil spill robot of the utility model;

[0013] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 The structural schematic diagram of the robotic arm unit is shown.

[0014] In the figure: 1-main hull unit, 2-camera unit, 3-radar unit, 4-mechanical arm unit, 5-sample storage chamber, 41-front claw, 42-servo, 43-hexagonal linkage wheel, 44-connecting rod, 45-support arm, 46-disc connector, 47-right-angle fixed base. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] In order to have a clearer understanding of the technical features, purposes and effects of the utility model, the specific implementation methods of the utility model are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0016] As mentioned above, the prior art urgently needs to provide a solution that can enhance the emergency response capability of oil spills, reduce personal safety risks and improve the effect of oil spill rescue. Therefore, an embodiment of the present invention provides an on-water oil spill robot, including a main hull unit, on which a camera unit, a radar unit and a mechanical arm unit are provided; the camera unit includes one or more camera modules for acquiring image data within a predetermined range of the main hull unit in real time and sending it to a control center; the radar unit is used to receive the echo signal of the electromagnetic wave beam actively emitted by the radar antenna to obtain the recognition and analysis results of the object and send it to the control center; the mechanical arm unit is used to extract the detection target upon receiving the control center's instruction to allow the extraction of the monitoring target, and the mechanical arm unit includes a front claw, a servo motor and a control unit. The robot comprises a server, a hexagonal linkage wheel, a connecting rod, a support arm, a disc connector and a right-angle fixed base; the connecting rod drives the hexagonal linkage wheel through the servo to realize the movement of the robot arm unit in the y-axis direction; the servo is suitable for driving the front claw to rotate and / or grasp, and is also suitable for driving the disc connector to realize the rotation of the entire robot arm unit, and the movement of the robot arm in the x, y and z three-axis directions is realized through the mutual joint operation of the hexagonal linkage wheel, the connecting rod, the support arm and the disc connector; one end of the support arm is connected to the disc connector, and the other end is connected to the connecting rod; the disc connector is arranged on the right-angle fixed base.

[0017] Next, combine Figure 1 To describe an example of the above-mentioned water oil spill robot.

[0018] like Figure 1 As shown, the water oil spill robot includes two parts, one part is the main hull unit 1, and the other part is other components arranged on the main hull unit 1, see Figure 1 The main hull unit 1 is provided with a camera unit 2, a radar unit 3 and a mechanical arm unit 4.

[0019] The camera unit 2 can be provided at the head of the main hull unit 1, or at other locations. The head of the main hull unit 1 is, for example, the portion from the front end of the hull to the front 1 / 3 of the hull length. The camera unit 2 is used to obtain image data within a predetermined range of the main hull unit 1 in real time and send it to the control center.

[0020] The camera unit 2 may include, for example, one camera module, or may include multiple camera modules.

[0021] As an example, the camera module can be installed on the main hull unit 1 in a liftable manner, so that different ranges of vision can be obtained by adjusting the height of the camera module. The camera module can be, for example, a panoramic camera, a high-definition camera, an infrared camera, etc., or a combination of several of them.

[0022] As an example, the camera unit 2 may include one or more camera subunits. In the case where the camera unit 2 includes multiple camera subunits, the multiple camera subunits may be respectively arranged at multiple positions of the main hull unit 1, such as the front end, the rear end, the side, etc. The image data collected by each camera subunit of the camera unit 2 are transmitted to the control center in real time. The control center is, for example, a command center arranged at sea or on land. After receiving the image data from each camera subunit, a complete image within a certain range near the main hull unit 1 may be obtained based on an existing image stitching algorithm, thereby avoiding monitoring blind spots.

[0023] Each camera subunit may include, for example, a camera module.

[0024] Alternatively, each camera subunit may also include two or more camera modules.

[0025] Taking the case where each camera subunit includes two camera modules as an example, each camera subunit may include, for example, a panoramic camera and a high-definition camera. The panoramic camera is used to capture images within a larger field of view, while the high-definition camera is used to capture high-definition images within a relatively smaller field of view. The image resolution captured by the panoramic camera is lower than that captured by the high-definition camera. Thus, for example, by default, when the panoramic camera is turned on to detect the sea area, the captured image resolution is lower, the storage space occupied is smaller, and the transmission is faster. When the commander of the control center finds a suspicious situation, such as suspected oil spill, he can switch to using a high-definition camera for collection and transmission to further determine whether there is an oil spill (or, two cameras can be used for collection at the same time).

[0026] As an indication, Figure 1 An example is given in which the camera unit 2 includes only one camera module, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

[0027] See also Figure 1 The radar unit 3 can be arranged at the tail of the main hull unit 1, or at other locations. The radar unit 3 is used to receive the echo signal of the electromagnetic beam actively emitted by the radar antenna to obtain the recognition and analysis results of the object and send them to the control center. The radar unit 3 can, for example, adopt a pulse compression radar, which adopts solid-state pulse compression technology and can have a beam sharpening function. For example, the radar unit 3 can be equipped with a 24-inch dome antenna, with a range of, for example, 48 to 72 nautical miles, a rotation speed of, for example, 60 RPM, and a shortest detection distance of, for example, 6 kilometers. It should be noted that the above-mentioned radar unit 3 in the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this, and other types of radars can also be used.

[0028] As an example, the radar unit 3 may include, for example, a radar transmitter, a radar receiver, a radar antenna, a radar processor, and an indicator.

[0029] The radar transmitter is used to generate high-power radio frequency energy pulses to be transmitted to the sea surface through the radar antenna. The radar receiver is used to receive the echo signal reflected from the air through the radar antenna. The radar processor is used to process the echo signal to determine the location and area of ​​the oil spill on the sea surface. The indicator is used to display the processing results of the radar processor in the form of video images.

[0030] In this way, the control center can determine whether an oil spill occurs based on the processing results of the radar unit 3 and the image data of the camera unit 2, and then determine whether to issue a command to the water oil spill robot to allow the extraction of monitoring targets according to the determined situation.

[0031] See also Figure 1 The mechanical arm unit 4 is used to extract the detection target when receiving the control center's instruction to allow the extraction of the monitoring target, and can be set in the middle of the main hull unit 1. Alternatively, the mechanical arm unit 4 can also be set at the front end, tail end or side of the main hull unit 1, etc.

[0032] As an example, the water oil spill robot may also include multiple robotic arm units 4, so that the multiple robotic arm units 4 can cooperate with each other to achieve the extraction of targets in more locations, avoiding blind spots and dead angles where extraction cannot occur.

[0033] As an indication, Figure 1 An example is given in which only one robot arm unit 4 is included, but the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to this.

[0034] Figure 2 A possible structure of the above-mentioned robot arm unit 4 is shown, but it should be understood that the structure of the robot arm unit 4 is not limited thereto, and robots with other structures may also be used.

[0035] like Figure 2 As shown, the robot arm unit 4 includes a front claw 41 , a servo 42 , a hexagonal linkage wheel 43 , a connecting rod 44 , a supporting arm 45 , a disc connecting member 46 and a right-angle fixing base 47 .

[0036] The right-angle fixed base 47 is arranged on the main hull unit 1 and is used to connect the main hull unit 1 and the disc connector 46; the disc connector 46 is connected to one end of the support arm 45, and the other end of the support arm 45 is connected to the connecting rod 44.

[0037] Among them, the xyz three-axis coordinate system of the robot unit 4 is established based on the disc connector 46 on the seat surface of the right-angle fixed base 47, and is a relative coordinate system. The disc surface of the disc connector 46 is used as the xy plane, wherein the x-axis is the horizontal axis of the robot unit 4, and the y-axis is the longitudinal axis of the robot unit 4. When the disc rotates, the x-axis and y-axis also move accordingly; the z-axis is the direction perpendicular to the above-mentioned disc surface, that is, the height direction of the robot unit 4.

[0038] The disk connector 46 can rotate around a predetermined center axis, for example, and the predetermined center axis is, for example, a straight line that coincides with or is parallel to the z-axis of the robot arm unit 4 .

[0039] The connecting rod 44 drives the hexagonal linkage wheel 43 through the servo 42 to realize the movement of the robot arm unit 4 in the y-axis direction; the servo 42 is suitable for driving the front claw 41 to rotate and / or grasp, and is also suitable for driving the disc connector 46 to realize the rotation of the entire robot arm unit 4. Through the mutual joint operation of the hexagonal linkage wheel 43, the connecting rod 44, the support arm 45, and the disc connector 46, the movement of the robot arm in the x, y, and z three-axis directions is realized, and it can operate freely in all dimensions; one end of the support arm 45 is connected to the disc connector 46, and the other end is connected to the connecting rod 44; the disc connector 46 is arranged on a right-angle fixed base 47.

[0040] In the prior art, large-scale satellite monitoring radars are expensive, have high maintenance costs, are easily disturbed by oil film-like information, have requirements for the sea surface wind speed environment, and have a long revisit period; moreover, the above-mentioned satellite monitoring radars have high precision, but when encountering harsh environments, they are easily disturbed by waves, which will lead to reduced detection accuracy and limited range. In contrast, the utility model provides an intelligent patrol robot solution for oil spills on water based on a radar oil spill monitoring device. The solution cooperates with a mechanical arm and a camera to monitor oil spill targets on the sea surface, works under harsh weather conditions, and does not require personnel to directly enter dangerous waters, which greatly improves the efficiency of monitoring and cleaning work; in addition, the robot can monitor in real time, quickly and accurately locate oil pollution, and help to take timely countermeasures to avoid the spread of oil pollution and cause greater environmental damage.

[0041] Next, an application example of the above-water oil spill robot of the present invention is described.

[0042] In this example, the camera unit 2 is, for example, a camera module capable of color display, which is used for monitoring and recording, performing real-time monitoring, and transmitting image data to a control center (ie, a command center) for analysis.

[0043] The front claw 41, the server 42, the hexagonal linkage wheel 43, the connecting rod 44, the support arm 45, the disk connector 46, and the right-angle fixed base 47 form a mechanical arm structural frame. The connecting rod 44 drives the hexagonal linkage wheel 43 through the server 42 to realize the movement of the mechanical arm in the y-axis direction, the front claw 41 is driven by the server 42 to realize the circular motion and grasping working state, and the mechanical arm drives the disk connector 46 through the server 42 to realize the rotation of the entire mechanical arm. Through the joint operation of each matching body, the mechanical arm can be freely operated in the x, y, and z dimensions.

[0044] The main hull unit 1 is also provided with a sample storage bin 5 for holding a sampling box. In the embodiment of the present invention, the front claw 41 is driven and controlled by the servo 42 to complete the sampling process. For example, the front claw 41 can be moved to the sample storage bin to take out the sampling box, and then moved to the approaching sea area (target area) for sampling. After the sampling is completed, the sampling box is put back into the sample storage bin.

[0045] As an example, one or more sampling boxes may be provided in the sample storage chamber 5 to meet the needs of multi-point sampling.

[0046] The radar unit 3 is composed of a radar transmitter, a radar receiver, a radar antenna, a radar processor, and an indicator. It identifies and analyzes objects by receiving echo signals of the electromagnetic wave beam actively emitted by the radar antenna.

[0047] The main hull unit 1 is constructed of, for example, steel material to construct the main structure, and the outer coating may be made of, for example, chlorinated rubber paint, epoxy paint, alkyd paint, polyurethane paint or other waterproof materials, which have the advantages of high temperature resistance and corrosion resistance.

[0048] Radar transmitters generate high-power radio frequency energy pulses, which are transmitted through antennas to the sea surface.

[0049] The radar receiver receives the echo reflected from the air through the antenna (i.e. receives electromagnetic waves), performs some simple processing, and then sends it to the radar processor. For example, the primary processing task of the receiver is to amplify the received weak echo signal with low noise, otherwise the subsequent signal processor will not be able to process such weak and difficult to identify signals.

[0050] The radar antenna transmits the energy signal of the transmitter to the sea surface, and similarly, it can also receive the energy signal reflected by the sea surface back to the receiver. The radar antenna can switch the working state through a transceiver switch, for example.

[0051] The radar processor can eliminate unnecessary sea surface signal clutter and interference, and strengthen the echo signal generated by the sea surface target. At the same time, some algorithms are involved to make a judgment on the clutter (interference) and the echo generated by the real target, so as to determine the location and area of ​​the oil spill on the sea surface. The radar processor sends the processing results to the indicator, such as a display device, which can convert the received data into an easy-to-understand video image and then send it to the command center.

[0052] On the other hand, the camera module transmits the real-time image to the shore-based central command room after shooting, and optionally, it can be stored in the robot memory, for example.

[0053] Workers at the command center can, for example, determine whether to issue an instruction to allow the extraction of a monitoring target based on the radar data and camera data they receive.

[0054] After the robotic arm receives the command from the central command room allowing it to extract the monitoring target, the server starts and drives the robotic arm to extract the monitoring target and extract the spilled oil into the collection chamber.

[0055] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and that the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A water oil spill robot, characterized in that: The above-water oil spill robot comprises a main hull unit (1), on which a camera unit (2), a radar unit (3) and a mechanical arm unit (4) are provided; The camera unit (2) comprises one or more camera modules, which are used to obtain image data within a predetermined range of the main hull unit (1) in real time and send the image data to the control center; The radar unit (3) is used to receive the echo signal of the electromagnetic wave beam actively emitted by the radar antenna to obtain the recognition and analysis results of the object and send them to the control center; The mechanical arm unit (4) is used to extract the detection target when receiving the control center's instruction to allow the extraction of the monitoring target, and the mechanical arm unit (4) comprises a front claw (41), a server (42), a hexagonal linkage wheel (43), a connecting rod (44), a support arm (45), a disc connecting piece (46) and a right-angle fixing base (47); The connecting rod (44) drives the hexagonal linkage wheel (43) through the servo (42) to realize the movement of the robot arm unit (4) in the y-axis direction; the servo (42) is suitable for driving the front claw (41) to rotate and / or grasp, and is also suitable for driving the disc connecting member (46) to realize the rotation of the entire robot arm unit (4), and the movement of the robot arm in the x, y, and z directions is realized through the mutual joint operation of the hexagonal linkage wheel (43), the connecting rod (44), the support arm (45), and the disc connecting member (46); one end of the support arm (45) is connected to the disc connecting member (46), and the other end is connected to the connecting rod (44); the disc connecting member (46) is arranged on a right-angle fixed base (47).

2. The oil spill robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The disk connector (46) is suitable for rotating around a predetermined central axis, and the predetermined central axis is a straight line that coincides with or is parallel to the z-axis of the robot arm unit (4).

3. The oil spill robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The camera unit (2) comprises one or more camera sub-units.

4. The oil spill robot according to claim 3, characterized in that: Each camera subunit includes one or more camera modules.

5. The oil spill robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The radar unit (3) comprises a radar transmitter, a radar receiver, a radar antenna, a radar processor and an indicator; The radar transmitter is adapted to generate high power radio frequency energy pulses for transmission to the sea surface via the radar antenna; The radar receiver is adapted to receive an echo signal reflected from the air through the radar antenna; The radar processor is suitable for processing the echo signal to determine the location and area of ​​the oil spill on the sea surface; The indicator is suitable for displaying the processing result of the radar processor in the form of video images.

6. An oil spill robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The number of the robot arm units (4) is one or more.

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