Soft modular structure of transformation robot

Abstract

The utility model relates to a software modular transformation robot, in particular to a software modular structure of a transformation robot, which comprises a plurality of software transformation units, a plurality of permanent magnets and a plurality of electromagnetic coils. The adjacent soft deformation units are connected through permanent magnets, and the multiple soft deformation units and the permanent magnets can define an annular structure. The electromagnetic coil is embedded in the middle of the soft deformation unit, and the inner cylindrical surface of the electromagnetic coil is fixedly connected with the soft deformation unit. And the permanent magnets are cylindrical axially magnetized permanent magnets, and have the same magnetic poles with the permanent magnets connected to the two sides of the soft deformation unit in the axial direction. By controlling the current in any coil, the generated magnetic field attracts or repels the permanent magnets on the two sides of the soft body deformation unit, so that the soft body unit connected with the soft body deformation unit generates compression deformation of different degrees, and the robot completes shape reconstruction and movement in different directions. The robot has the moving capacity in complex environments such as pipelines, gaps and slopes, and is sensitive in response, high in flexibility and high in environmental adaptability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the field of soft robots, in particular to a soft modular deformable robot. Background Art

[0002] Soft robots are a new type of bionic continuum robot that can change its shape at will and has broad application prospects in unstructured environments. Traditional soft robots are driven by pneumatic and electromagnetic methods, but these driving methods will produce instantaneous deformation, reducing their environmental adaptability and making them unable to work in narrow spaces or complex terrain conditions.

[0003] At present, there are no soft robots that use magnetic fields to reconstruct their shapes at home and abroad, so this patent proposes a soft modular deformable robot. Magnetic fluids with high magnetic permeability can effectively increase the magnetic field strength inside the robot and increase the deformation of the soft module. Due to the thixotropic properties of the magnetic fluid, the magnetorheological effect of the magnetic fluid lags behind the robot deformation to a certain extent, which significantly enhances the shape reconstruction characteristics of the soft robot. Compared with traditional soft robots, it has absolute advantages in working in complex environments such as pipes, gaps, slopes, etc., and has broad application prospects in detection, field exploration, medical treatment, rescue and other fields. Utility Model Content

[0004] The purpose of the utility model is to propose a soft modular deformable robot and a driving method thereof, so that the soft robot has the ability to move in environments such as pipelines, planes, and narrow spaces, and has sensitive response, strong adaptability, stable crawling, and high efficiency during movement.

[0005] In order to achieve the above purpose, the utility model provides the following technical solutions:

[0006] A modular structure of a deformable robot software, including: a soft body deformation unit, an electromagnetic coil, and a permanent magnet, wherein the soft body deformation unit, the electromagnetic coil, and the permanent magnet are provided in plurality; adjacent soft body deformation units are connected by permanent magnets, and the plurality of soft body deformation units and the permanent magnets can form a ring structure; the electromagnetic coil is embedded in the middle of the soft body deformation unit, and the inner cylindrical surface of the electromagnetic coil is fixedly connected to the soft body deformation unit. The soft body deformation unit includes: a magnetic liquid, a porous medium elastomer, and a protective film; the magnetic liquid is evenly dispersed in the porous medium elastomer, and the protective film is fitted with the outer surface of the porous medium elastomer to seal the magnetic liquid in the elastomer.

[0007] The soft deformation unit of the utility model deforms in the form of compression or elongation, wherein the porous medium elastic body adopts a compressible deformation material such as polyurethane sponge or a stretchable deformation material such as foamed silica gel, with a compression modulus of less than 30Mpa or a stretch modulus of less than 60Mpa. With the magnetic liquid to complete the deformation action, it can maintain flexible movement and stable performance in most application environments.

[0008] The permanent magnet is a cylindrical axially magnetized permanent magnet, and has the same axial magnetic poles as the permanent magnets connected to both sides of the soft deformation unit.

[0009] The magnetic particles of the magnetic liquid are made of any one of carbonyl iron powder, nickel and cobalt, and the average particle size of the magnetic particles is not higher than 50nm; the base carrier liquid of the magnetic liquid is any one of mineral oil, silicone oil and fluoroether oil; any one of organic bentonite, hydrogenated castor oil and silicon dioxide is added to the magnetic liquid to enhance its thixotropy.

[0010] The magnetic liquid of the utility model has viscoelasticity and thixotropy, and can realize liquid-solid transformation under a magnetic field. When the electromagnetic coil is energized, the magnetic field is non-uniformly distributed in space, causing the magnetic liquid to flow, and the magnetic particles move toward the gradient with high magnetic field intensity, thereby enhancing the magnetic permeability and making the soft deformation unit act as the flexible iron core of the electromagnetic coil. After the magnetic field is removed, the columnar structure formed inside is destroyed to restore the initial viscosity and fluidity, and has the characteristics of high magnetic permeability, strong thixotropy, and strong shape reconfigurability, which effectively enhances the movement effect of the deformation module.

[0011] The number of the soft body deformation unit is N, where N≥3. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the modular structure of the deformable robot software.

[0013] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the modular structure of the deformable robot software.

[0014] Figure 3 It is a compressed schematic diagram of the modular structure of the deformable robot software.

[0015] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the stretching of the modular structure of the deformable robot software.

[0016] Figure 5 It is a deformation schematic diagram of the modular structure of the deformable robot software.

[0017] Figure 6 It is a moving schematic diagram of the modular structure of the deformable robot software.

[0018] Reference numerals

[0019] Soft deformation unit 1, permanent magnet 2, electromagnetic coil 3, protective film 11, magnetic liquid 12, porous medium elastomer 13. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0021] like Figure 1 As shown, the modular structure of the soft body of the deformable robot described in the utility model includes: a soft body deformation unit 1, a permanent magnet 2, and an electromagnetic coil 3. The soft body deformation unit 1, the permanent magnet 2, and the electromagnetic coil 3 are provided in plurality; adjacent soft body deformation units 1 are connected by the permanent magnet 2, and the plurality of soft body deformation units 1 and the permanent magnet 2 can form a ring structure; the electromagnetic coil 3 is embedded in the middle part of the soft body deformation unit, and the inner cylindrical surface of the electromagnetic coil 3 is fixedly connected to the soft body deformation unit 1. The permanent magnet is a cylindrical axially magnetized permanent magnet, and has the same axial magnetic pole as the permanent magnets connected to both sides of the soft body deformation unit.

[0022] like Figure 2 As shown, the soft deformation unit of the modular structure of the deformable robot software of the utility model includes: a protective film 11, a magnetic liquid 12, and a porous medium elastomer 13; the magnetic liquid 12 is evenly dispersed in the porous medium elastomer 13, and the protective film 11 is fitted with the outer surface of the porous medium elastomer 13 to seal the magnetic liquid in the elastomer.

[0023] like Figure 3 As shown, a compression schematic diagram of the soft modular structure of the deformable robot is shown. When all the electromagnetic coils are energized in the positive direction, the electromagnetic coils generate an electromagnetic field with the N pole at the counterclockwise end and the S pole at the clockwise end, which attracts the permanent magnets at both ends of the porous medium elastomer to approach the electromagnetic coils. The porous medium elastomer is compressed, the length of the soft deformation unit becomes shorter, and the overall compression of the soft modular deformable robot becomes smaller.

[0024] like Figure 4 As shown, the stretching schematic diagram of the soft modular structure of the deformable robot is that when all the electromagnetic coils are energized in the negative direction, the electromagnetic coils generate an electromagnetic field with the N pole at the clockwise end and the S pole at the counterclockwise end, which attracts the permanent magnets at both ends of the porous medium elastomer to repel the electromagnetic coils, and the porous medium elastomer is stretched, the length of the soft deformation unit becomes longer, and the overall stretching of the soft modular deformable robot becomes larger.

[0025] like Figure 5As shown, the schematic diagram of the stretching and compression deformation of the modular structure of the deformable robot software is shown. When the a electromagnetic coil is energized in the positive direction, the a electromagnetic coil generates an electromagnetic field with the N pole at the counterclockwise end and the S pole at the clockwise end, attracting the permanent magnets at both ends of the a porous medium elastic body to approach the a electromagnetic coil, the a porous medium elastic body is compressed, the length of the a soft body deformation unit is shortened, and local contraction occurs. When the d electromagnetic coil is energized in the negative direction, the d electromagnetic coil generates an electromagnetic field with the N pole at the clockwise end and the S pole at the counterclockwise end, attracting the permanent magnets at both ends of the d porous medium elastic body to repel the d electromagnetic coil, the d porous medium elastic body is stretched, the length of the d soft body deformation unit is lengthened, and local stretching occurs. The robot is deformed as a whole.

[0026] By passing currents of different directions and magnitudes through different coils, different parts of the soft modular structure of the transformable robot will be deformed differently, giving it different shapes as a whole.

[0027] like Figure 6 As shown in FIG. 1 , the stretching, compression and movement diagram of the modular structure of the deformable robot software is shown. Figure 6 As shown in (a), when the a electromagnetic coil is energized in the positive direction, the a electromagnetic coil generates an electromagnetic field with the N pole at the counterclockwise end and the S pole at the clockwise end, which attracts the permanent magnets at both ends of the a porous medium elastomer to approach the a electromagnetic coil, and the a porous medium elastomer is compressed. The length of the a soft body deformation unit becomes shorter, resulting in local contraction. When the c and d electromagnetic coils are energized in the negative direction, the c and d electromagnetic coils generate an electromagnetic field with the N pole at the clockwise end and the S pole at the counterclockwise end, which attracts the permanent magnets at both ends of the c and d porous medium elastomers to repel the c and d electromagnetic coils, and the c and d porous medium elastomers are stretched. The length of the c and d soft body deformation units becomes longer, resulting in local stretching. As one soft body deformation unit is compressed, the two soft body deformation units are stretched. This makes the compressed soft body deformation unit locally close to the center of the robot, and the stretched soft body deformation unit locally away from the center of the robot. As shown Figure 6 As shown in (b), when the electromagnetic coil a is energized in the negative direction, the electromagnetic coil a generates an electromagnetic field with the N pole at the clockwise end and the S pole at the counterclockwise end, which attracts the permanent magnets at both ends of the porous medium elastic body a to repel the electromagnetic coil a, and the porous medium elastic body a is stretched, and the length of the soft body deformation unit a becomes longer, resulting in local stretching. When the electromagnetic coils c and d are energized in the positive direction, the electromagnetic coils c and d generate an electromagnetic field with the N pole at the counterclockwise end and the S pole at the clockwise end, which attracts the permanent magnets at both ends of the porous medium elastic body c and d to approach the electromagnetic coils c and d, and the porous medium elastic body c and d are compressed, and the length of the soft body deformation units c and d becomes shorter, resulting in local contraction. This causes the compressed soft body deformation unit to be locally away from the center of the robot, and the stretched soft body deformation unit to be locally close to the center of the robot.

[0028] like Figure 6As shown in (a) and (b), firstly, positive power is applied to coil a, and negative power is applied to coils c and d; then negative power is applied to coil a, and positive power is applied to coils c and d. Local deformation accumulates, causing the robot as a whole to move in the direction with more soft deformation units.

Claims

1. A modular structure of a deformable robot software, characterized in that: include: A soft body deformation unit (1), a permanent magnet (2), and an electromagnetic coil (3), wherein the soft body deformation unit (1), the permanent magnet (2), and the electromagnetic coil (3) are provided in plurality; adjacent soft body deformation units (1) are connected via the permanent magnet (2), and the plurality of soft body deformation units (1) and the permanent magnet (2) can form a ring structure; the electromagnetic coil (3) is embedded in the middle of the soft body deformation unit (1), and the inner cylindrical surface of the electromagnetic coil (3) is fixedly connected to the soft body deformation unit (1); the soft body deformation unit (1) comprises: a protective film (11), a magnetic liquid (12), and a porous medium elastomer (13); the magnetic liquid (12) is evenly dispersed in the porous medium elastomer (13), and the protective film (11) is in contact with the outer surface of the porous medium elastomer (13), so that the magnetic liquid (12) is sealed in the porous medium elastomer (13).

2. A modular structure of a deformable robot software according to claim 1, characterized in that: The permanent magnet (2) is a cylindrical axially magnetized permanent magnet, and has the same axial magnetic poles as the permanent magnets (2) connected to both sides of the soft deformation unit (1).

3. The modular structure of a deformable robot software according to claim 1, characterized in that: The deformation unit (1) is deformed in the form of compression, and the porous medium elastic body (13) is a compressible and deformable material with a compression modulus of less than 30 MPa.

4. The modular structure of a deformable robot software according to claim 1, characterized in that: The soft deformation unit (1) is deformed in the form of stretching, and the porous medium elastic body (13) is a stretchable and deformable material with a tensile modulus of less than 60 MPa.

5. A deformable robot software modular structure according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: The number of the soft deformation unit (1) is N, where N≥3.

Images