A food delivery robot designed for soft sandy environments

Abstract

This utility model relates to a food delivery robot designed for soft sandy environments, comprising a base, a storage cabinet, a moving module, and a drive module. The storage cabinet is positioned above the base and connected via a lifting column. The moving module includes a foot linkage assembly, consisting of a rotating disk, a front moving assembly, a rear moving assembly, and a synchronizing rod, with the front and rear assemblies arranged symmetrically at the eccentric hinge of the rotating disk. The drive module transmits power through a drive gear meshing with a driven gear on the outer periphery of the rotating disk. This utility model is adaptable to soft sandy terrain, effectively dispersing ground pressure through discrete point contact and phase-complementary alternating periodic gait, fundamentally preventing sinking and slippage, and features a simplified drive system and simple structure.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of robotics technology, specifically relating to a food delivery robot designed for soft sandy environments. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of the national economy and the upgrading of consumption structure, the demand for high-quality and personalized seaside vacations in my country has emerged rapidly, and high-end private beaches and seaside resort hotels have become important carriers of luxury tourism experiences. In this booming niche market, guests have very high requirements for service quality, environmental privacy, and undisturbed experiences. However, the traditional manual beach catering service model has encountered significant limitations: service personnel walking on the soft sand are inefficient and physically demanding; there are inconsistencies in the standards of manual service; and the frequent movement of service personnel can disrupt the original tranquility, exclusivity, and privacy of the beach.

[0003] Faced with changes in the labor force structure and rising labor costs, the adoption of intelligent service robots to replace repetitive manual labor has become an important means to promote the intelligent and digital transformation of private beach operations. Currently, commercial service robots, such as food delivery robots, have been widely used in indoor hard-surface environments such as restaurants, hotel corridors, and office buildings. However, when existing commercial food delivery robots and multi-legged bionic mobile platforms are directly transplanted to outdoor soft sandy beach scenarios, the following insurmountable technical bottlenecks are exposed:

[0004] 1. Traditional continuous contact mobile chassis are prone to failure: Almost all existing commercial food delivery robot mobile chassis are designed for flat, hardened indoor floors. When placed on soft, uneven, unstructured surfaces like beaches, traditional wheeled platforms, due to continuous contact and concentrated ground pressure, are prone to slipping, sinking, and malfunctioning in soft sand lacking sufficient shear force. While tracked platforms extend the ground contact range, they still experience severe "sand-digging" when rotating in dry, fine sand, leading to a significant increase in rotational resistance and making it extremely easy for fine sand particles to become embedded in the mechanical moving parts, causing the chassis to jam and become unable to move. Therefore, traditional chassis relying on continuous contact for movement cannot adapt well to fragmented and uneven sandy surfaces.

[0005] 2. Existing legged locomotion platforms suffer from redundant structures and low commercial viability: To overcome the challenges of movement in unstructured terrain, the robotics community has focused on multi-legged biomimetic robots with advantages in discrete point contact and active footing (such as eight-legged spider or scorpion robots for extreme professional scenarios like space exploration and military rescue). However, existing joint configurations often prioritize obstacle-crossing performance in extreme environments, typically employing complex five-link, six-link, or even multi-joint independent motor-driven multi-degree-of-freedom schemes. This not only results in a complex overall robot structure and a high failure rate but also significantly increases the robot's weight, energy consumption efficiency, and manufacturing cost due to the excessive number of drive motors.

[0006] 3. The motion stability of existing equipment cannot guarantee the requirements of food delivery: When multi-legged robots take dynamic steps and lift their legs, they are often accompanied by relatively violent multi-dimensional swaying and periodic bumps. This can easily cause regular food items such as soup and drinks inside their static functional body to spill at large angles, slide or collide with each other, which seriously deviates from the core integrated requirements of food delivery services for lightweight, high operational reliability, stable motion and economical operation.

[0007] In view of this, this solution was developed. Utility Model Content

[0008] In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, the technical problem to be solved by this utility model is to provide a food delivery robot for soft sandy environments, which can be used in soft sandy environments and has a simple structure.

[0009] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the technical solution adopted by this utility model is: a food delivery robot for soft sandy environments, including a base, a storage cabinet, a moving module and a drive module;

[0010] Mounting plates are formed on both sides of the base, and the storage cabinet is installed above the base and connected by a lifting column;

[0011] The mobile module includes foot linkage assemblies disposed on both sides of the mounting plate. The foot linkage assembly includes a rotating disk, a front moving group, a rear moving group, and a synchronizing rod. The mounting plate has mounting holes, and the rotating disk is rotatably disposed at the mounting holes.

[0012] The front moving assembly includes a first short plate, a second short plate, a third short plate, and an outer arc-shaped plate. The first short plate is located on the front side above the rotating disk, with one end rotatably connected to the mounting plate and the other end hinged to the upper end of the outer arc-shaped plate. One end of the second short plate is eccentrically rotatably connected to the front surface of the rotating disk and the other end hinged to the outer arc-shaped plate. The third short plate is located on the front side below the rotating disk, with one end rotatably connected to the mounting plate and the other end hinged to the second short plate.

[0013] The rear movable assembly includes a fourth short plate, a fifth short plate, a sixth short plate, and an inner arc-shaped plate. The fourth short plate is located on the inner side above the rotating disk, with one end rotatably connected to the mounting plate and the other end hinged to the upper end of the inner arc-shaped plate. One end of the fifth short plate is eccentrically rotatably connected to the inner surface of the rotating disk and the other end hinged to the inner arc-shaped plate. The sixth short plate is located on the inner side below the rotating disk, with one end rotatably connected to the mounting plate and the other end hinged to the fifth short plate.

[0014] The hinge points of the second short plate and the rotating disk and the fifth short plate and the rotating disk are symmetrically arranged along the center of the rotating disk in the vertical section. The first short plate and the fourth short plate are hinged to the mounting plate through a synchronous rod. The drive module is used to drive the rotating disk to rotate.

[0015] Furthermore, two mounting plates are formed on both sides of the base, and the two mounting plates are spaced apart. The rotating disk is connected to the two mounting holes.

[0016] Furthermore, the drive module includes a drive motor, the mounting center has a through hole, the output end of the drive motor is located in two through holes, and a drive gear is provided on the outer periphery of the output end of the drive motor, the drive gear being located between two mounting plates;

[0017] A driven gear is formed on the outer periphery of the rotating disk. The driven gear is located between two mounting plates, and the two driven gears mesh with the driving gear.

[0018] Furthermore, bearings are provided between the output end of the drive motor and the through hole, and between the rotating disk and the mounting hole.

[0019] Furthermore, a first notch is formed on the inward side of the upper end of the outer arc plate, and one end of the first short plate extends into the first notch and is hinged to the outer arc plate; a first fan-shaped notch is formed on the inward side of the outer arc plate, and one end of the second short plate extends into the first fan-shaped notch and is hinged to the outer arc plate.

[0020] The inner arc-shaped plate has a third notch on the inward side at the upper end, and one end of the fourth short plate extends into the third notch and is hinged to the inner arc-shaped plate; the inner arc-shaped plate has a second fan-shaped notch on the inward side, and one end of the fifth short plate extends into the second fan-shaped notch and is hinged to the inner arc-shaped plate.

[0021] Furthermore, the number of lifting columns is four, and they are arranged in a matrix.

[0022] Furthermore, the storage cabinet includes a cabinet body and a drawer; the side wall of the cabinet body has a pull-out groove, and the drawer is located in the pull-out groove and is slidably connected.

[0023] Furthermore, pull-out grooves are formed on the corresponding two side walls of the cabinet body.

[0024] Furthermore, an infrared obstacle avoidance module is also provided on the base. The infrared obstacle avoidance module includes an infrared emitting tube and a receiving tube, both of which face the direction of movement of the moving module.

[0025] Furthermore, a power supply assembly, a control panel, and a Bluetooth module are installed on the base. The power supply assembly is used to supply power to the Bluetooth module, the control panel, and the drive motor. The Bluetooth module is electrically connected to the control panel and communicates with external terminal devices.

[0026] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0027] 1. Discrete point contact and biomimetic low-pressure configuration fundamentally overcome the problems of sinking and slipping in soft sand. It abandons the traditional continuous contact wheeled or tracked chassis, innovatively configuring foot linkage assemblies containing outer and inner curved plates on both sides of the base. This reduces pressure and suppresses sinking. The foot utilizes discrete point contact between the inner and outer curved plates and the ground, along with dynamic body posture adjustment, to evenly distribute the approximately 50 kg heavy load pressure, resulting in a shallow foot sinking depth (only about 1-2 cm) during actual walking. This completely avoids the severe sand-digging or vehicle-getting-stuck failures common in wheeled structures. Highly efficient grip and low lifting resistance: The inner and outer curved plates of the foot effectively penetrate the sand upon landing to obtain ample lateral shear force and grip, and quickly detach from the sand when lifting the foot. This significantly reduces the viscous resistance of wet fine sand on the movement mechanism, ensuring smooth walking in both dry and wet sand environments.

[0028] 2. The output end of the drive motor is equipped with a single driving gear, which meshes directly with the driven gears on the outer periphery of the two rotating disks spaced apart on both sides of the base. This allows a single drive motor to synchronously actuate and coordinately control the four legs (inner and outer arc plates) on one side, which consist of the front moving group and the rear moving assembly.

[0029] 3. The robot can achieve coordinated and orderly movement of the entire vehicle using only two drive motors. While ensuring single-degree-of-freedom excitation and static walking stability, the number of hardware components in the drive system is greatly reduced, the overall power consumption is lowered, and the cumulative errors caused by multi-motor synchronous control are fundamentally avoided. Attached Figure Description

[0030] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of a food delivery robot designed for soft sandy environments according to this utility model.

[0031] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the mobile module and the drive module in this utility model;

[0032] Figure 3 This is a front view diagram of the structure of this utility model with the outer mounting plate hidden.

[0033] The diagram shows the following markings: 1. Base; 11. Mounting plate; 12. Lifting column; 2. Storage cabinet; 21. Cabinet body; 22. Drawer; 3. Moving module; 31. Rotating disk; 311. Driven gear; 32. Front moving assembly; 321. First short plate; 322. Second short plate; 323. Third short plate; 324. Outer arc plate; 33. Rear moving assembly; 331. Fourth short plate; 332. Fifth short plate; 333. Sixth short plate; 334. Inner arc plate; 34. Synchronizing rod; 4. Drive motor; 41. Driving gear. Detailed Implementation

[0034] To make the above-mentioned features and advantages of this utility model more apparent and understandable, specific embodiments are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings for detailed explanation.

[0035] like Figures 1-3 As shown, this embodiment provides a food delivery robot for soft sandy environments, including a base 1, a storage cabinet 2, a mobile module 3, and a drive module.

[0036] The base 1 extends along both sides and forms mounting plates 11. In order to improve the lateral torsional stiffness and stress stability of the whole machine, there are two mounting plates 11, and the two mounting plates 11 are parallel and spaced apart.

[0037] The storage cabinet 2 is positioned directly above the base 1 and is rigidly connected to the base 1 via lifting columns 12, thus creating a physical shock-absorbing structure between the base 1 and the storage cabinet 2. There are four lifting columns 12, arranged in a matrix at the four corners of the base 1. The vertical height of each lifting column 12 is preferably designed to be 250 mm. This height is determined based on the maximum dynamic motion limit envelope of the mobile module 3 during its stepping cycle, ensuring that even under the most severe conditions, when the robot raises its legs over a wide range, the entire mobile mechanism will never experience any spatial physical interference or collision with the storage cabinet 2 above.

[0038] The mobile module 3 includes foot linkage assemblies on both sides of the mounting plate 11, which are used to reproduce the low center of gravity and wide stride lateral walking motion of the bionic crab in a beach environment.

[0039] The foot linkage assembly includes a rotating disk 31, a front moving assembly 32, a rear moving assembly 33, and a synchronizing rod 34. The mounting plate 11 has mounting holes, and the rotating disk 31 is rotatably mounted at these mounting holes via a high-load bearing. The rotating disk 31 is connected to two mounting holes, allowing it to rotate freely around its central axis.

[0040] The front moving assembly 32 includes a first short plate 321, a second short plate 322, a third short plate 323, and an outer arc-shaped plate 324. The first short plate 321 is located on the front side above the rotating disk 31. One end of the first short plate 321 is rotatably connected to the mounting plate 11, and the other end is hinged to the upper end of the outer arc-shaped plate 324. One end of the second short plate 322 is eccentrically rotatably connected to the front surface of the rotating disk 31, and the other end is hinged to the middle of the outer arc-shaped plate 324. The third short plate 323 is located on the front side below the rotating disk 31. One end of the third short plate 323 is rotatably connected to the mounting plate 11, and the other end is hinged to the second short plate 322.

[0041] To enable the multiple rods to swing smoothly in a compact space and completely eliminate physical jamming during movement, a first notch is formed on the inward side of the upper end of the outer arc plate 324. One end of the first short plate 321 extends into the first notch and is hinged to the outer arc plate 324. At the same time, a first fan-shaped notch with a specific swing limiting angle is formed on the inward side of the outer arc plate 324. One end of the second short plate 322 extends into the first fan-shaped notch and is hinged to the outer arc plate 324.

[0042] The rear movable assembly also includes a fourth short plate 331, a fifth short plate 332, a sixth short plate 333, and an inner arc-shaped plate 334. The fourth short plate 331 is located on the inner side above the rotating disk 31. One end of the fourth short plate 331 is rotatably connected to the mounting plate 11, and the other end is hinged to the upper end of the inner arc-shaped plate 334. One end of the fifth short plate 332 is eccentrically rotatably connected to the inner surface of the rotating disk 31, and the other end is hinged to the inner arc-shaped plate 334. The sixth short plate 333 is located on the inner side above the rotating disk 31. On the inner side below the disk 31, one end of the sixth short plate 333 is rotatably connected to the mounting plate 11, and the other end is hinged to the fifth short plate 332. The upper end of the inner arc plate 334 has a third notch on the inward side. One end of the fourth short plate 331 extends into the third notch and is hinged to the inner arc plate 334. The inner arc plate 334 has a second fan-shaped notch on the inward side. One end of the fifth short plate 332 extends into the second fan-shaped notch and is hinged to the inner arc plate 334.

[0043] To achieve a complementary and coordinated gait, the hinge point between the second short plate 322 and the rotating disk 31, and the hinge point between the fifth short plate 332 and the rotating disk 31, are symmetrically arranged at 180° along the center of the rotating disk 31 in the vertical section. At the same time, the first short plate 321 and the fourth short plate 331 are hinged to the mounting plate 11 by a rigid synchronizing rod 34, thereby constraining the entire linkage assembly into a single-degree-of-freedom excitation system.

[0044] When the rotating disk 31 rotates under the drive module, the symmetrically staggered eccentric holes drive the outer arc plate 324 and the inner arc plate 334 to produce alternating periodic movements. During the walking cycle, at least four feet are in contact with the ground at any given time, achieving seamless alternating support. The maximum horizontal displacement step length is 50 mm, and the maximum vertical leg lift height is 75 mm. To resist electrochemical corrosion from beach salt spray and humid environments, the first short plate 321, the second short plate 322, the third short plate 323, the fourth short plate 331, the fifth short plate 332, the sixth short plate 333, the outer arc plate 324, and the inner arc plate 334 are all made of high-strength 316L stainless steel.

[0045] The drive module is used to drive the rotating disk 31 to rotate. The drive module includes a drive motor 4. The mounting plate 11 has a through hole in the middle, and the output end of the drive motor 4 is located in two through holes. The drive motor 4 is a high-performance DC brushless geared motor (rated power of 90W, rated voltage of 24V, rated torque of 5.67 N·m). The output shaft speed of the motor is maintained at about 300 rpm after matching design.

[0046] A drive gear 41 is provided on the outer periphery of the output end of the drive motor 4, and the drive gear 41 is precisely accommodated between two mounting plates 11. A driven gear 311 is integrally machined on the outer periphery of the rotating disk 31, and the driven gear 311 is also located between the two mounting plates 11. The two driven gears 311 maintain a direct meshing relationship with the middle drive gear 41.

[0047] The optimized design parameters for the walking transmission system are as follows: the gear module is 3 mm, the number of teeth of the driving gear 41 is designed to be 35, the number of teeth of the outer peripheral driven gear 311 is designed to be 45, and the center distance between the driving gear 41 and the driven gear 311 is strictly limited to 120 mm. This design enables a single drive motor 4 to simultaneously transmit equal-speed reverse torque to the two driven gears 311 on one side, thereby synchronously exciting and coordinating the control of the four legs on one side, which consist of the front moving group 32 and the rear moving component 33, greatly simplifying the control complexity and reducing hardware redundancy.

[0048] To provide robust support rigidity under high traction conditions, bearings are tightly embedded between the output end of the drive motor 4 and the through hole, as well as between the rotating disk 31 and the mounting hole. These bearings are 6212 deep groove ball bearings with a basic dynamic load rating far exceeding the actual radial force. All gear components are made of 45 steel and heat-treated to provide excellent resistance to bending fatigue and wear.

[0049] The locker 2 is made of weather-resistant ABS engineering plastic, which is protected against brittleness or cracking after outdoor exposure by adding UV inhibitors. The locker 2 includes a cabinet body 21 and drawers 22. The total volume of the locker 2 is designed to be 85L. The cabinet body 21 has multiple pull-out slots spaced vertically on its two corresponding side walls; in this embodiment, there are three pull-out slots. The drawers 22 are located within the pull-out slots and are slidably connected, facilitating easy access for guests to retrieve food.

[0050] To endow the robot with excellent autonomous outdoor operation and safe emergency stop response capabilities, an infrared obstacle avoidance module is also installed on the base 1. The infrared obstacle avoidance module includes an infrared emitter and a receiver, both of which face the direction of movement of the moving module 3. Its infrared detection distance can be adjusted between 2 cm and 30 cm using a potentiometer knob.

[0051] The base 1 houses a power supply assembly, a control panel, and a Bluetooth module. The power supply assembly consists of a 12V lithium-ion battery pack, providing stable power to the Bluetooth module, control panel, and drive motor 4. The control panel's core control chip is an STM32F103C8T6 32-bit microcontroller, coupled with an L298N motor drive module integrating a dual H-bridge circuit. The Bluetooth module is an HC-05 classic serial port transparent transmission module. The Bluetooth module is electrically connected to the control panel's hardware asynchronous serial communication interface and maintains a wireless communication connection with external terminal devices (such as a mobile app or dispatch console).

[0052] When the robot executes its automated task path function, it continuously emits modulated infrared light towards its direction of travel via an infrared emitter. If it encounters unexpected interference from beach obstacles or pedestrians, the reflected light is captured by the infrared receiver, and the control panel triggers an external interrupt handler via a falling-edge external interrupt (connected via a hardware interrupt pin). The system immediately sends a full-low level control signal to the motor drive module, disabling the pulse-width modulation output and enabling millisecond-level emergency braking of drive motor 4. Once the obstacle is removed, the system automatically restores the interrupted directional state and continues along the original food delivery path, achieving a highly efficient and safe fully autonomous control closed loop of "perception-decision-execution".

[0053] The foregoing has shown and described the basic principles and main features of this invention, as well as its advantages. Those skilled in the art should understand that this invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The embodiments and descriptions in the specification are merely illustrative of the principles of this invention. Various changes and modifications can be made to this invention without departing from its spirit and scope. All such changes and modifications fall within the scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A meal delivery robot for soft sand environments, characterized by: Includes base, storage cabinet, mobile module and drive module; Mounting plates are formed on both sides of the base, and the storage cabinet is installed above the base and connected by a lifting column; The mobile module includes foot linkage assemblies disposed on both sides of the mounting plate. The foot linkage assembly includes a rotating disk, a front moving group, a rear moving group, and a synchronizing rod. The mounting plate has mounting holes, and the rotating disk is rotatably disposed at the mounting holes. The front moving assembly includes a first short plate, a second short plate, a third short plate, and an outer arc-shaped plate. The first short plate is located on the front side above the rotating disk, with one end rotatably connected to the mounting plate and the other end hinged to the upper end of the outer arc-shaped plate. One end of the second short plate is eccentrically rotatably connected to the front surface of the rotating disk and the other end hinged to the outer arc-shaped plate. The third short plate is located on the front side below the rotating disk, with one end rotatably connected to the mounting plate and the other end hinged to the second short plate. The rear movable assembly includes a fourth short plate, a fifth short plate, a sixth short plate, and an inner arc-shaped plate. The fourth short plate is located on the inner side above the rotating disk, with one end rotatably connected to the mounting plate and the other end hinged to the upper end of the inner arc-shaped plate. One end of the fifth short plate is eccentrically rotatably connected to the inner surface of the rotating disk and the other end hinged to the inner arc-shaped plate. The sixth short plate is located on the inner side below the rotating disk, with one end rotatably connected to the mounting plate and the other end hinged to the fifth short plate. The hinge points of the second short plate and the rotating disk and the fifth short plate and the rotating disk are symmetrically arranged along the center of the rotating disk in the vertical section. The first short plate and the fourth short plate are hinged to the mounting plate through a synchronous rod. The drive module is used to drive the rotating disk to rotate.

2. The meal delivery robot for soft sand environment according to claim 1, characterized in that: Two mounting plates are formed on both sides of the base, and the two mounting plates are spaced apart. The rotating disk is connected to the two mounting holes.

3. The meal delivery robot for soft sand environment according to claim 2, characterized in that: The drive module includes a drive motor, the mounting center has a through hole, the output end of the drive motor is located in two through holes, and a drive gear is provided on the outer periphery of the output end of the drive motor, the drive gear being located between two mounting plates; A driven gear is formed on the outer periphery of the rotating disk. The driven gear is located between two mounting plates, and the two driven gears mesh with the driving gear.

4. The meal delivery robot for soft sand environment according to claim 3, characterized in that: Bearings are provided between the output end of the drive motor and the through hole, and between the rotating disk and the mounting hole.

5. The meal delivery robot for soft sand environment according to claim 1, wherein: The outer arc plate has a first notch on the inward side of its upper end, and one end of the first short plate extends into the first notch and is hinged to the outer arc plate; the outer arc plate has a first fan-shaped notch on the inward side, and one end of the second short plate extends into the first fan-shaped notch and is hinged to the outer arc plate. The inner arc-shaped plate has a third notch on the inward side at the upper end, and one end of the fourth short plate extends into the third notch and is hinged to the inner arc-shaped plate; the inner arc-shaped plate has a second fan-shaped notch on the inward side, and one end of the fifth short plate extends into the second fan-shaped notch and is hinged to the inner arc-shaped plate.

6. The meal delivery robot for soft sand environment according to claim 1, wherein: The number of lifting columns is four, and they are arranged in a matrix.

7. A food delivery robot for soft sandy environments according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cabinet includes a cabinet body and drawers; the side wall of the cabinet body has a pull-out groove, and the drawers are located in the pull-out groove and are slidably connected.

8. The meal delivery robot for soft sand environment according to claim 7, characterized in that: The cabinet body has pull-out grooves formed on the corresponding two side walls.

9. The meal delivery robot for soft sand environment according to claim 1, wherein: The base is also equipped with an infrared obstacle avoidance module, which includes an infrared emitting tube and a receiving tube, both of which face the direction of movement of the moving module.

10. The meal delivery robot for soft sand environment according to claim 1, wherein: The base is equipped with a power supply component, a control panel, and a Bluetooth module. The power supply component is used to supply power to the Bluetooth module, the control panel, and the drive motor. The Bluetooth module is electrically connected to the control panel and communicates with external terminal devices.

Images