A bionic bouncing robot dedicated to exploration reconnaissance

Abstract

The utility model discloses a kind of bionic bouncing robots dedicated to exploration reconnaissance, including tail drive assembly, tail bionic structure, series elastic driver, leg bionic structure and external frame, the tail drive passes through cable control tail structure adjustment tail bending degree to keep fuselage stability in the stage of being in the air, the series elastic driver is used to drive leg bionic structure, this driver has the effect of absorbing external impact, so that the stability of robot is further improved, the device is through the leg structure of bionic jumping mouse, ensure that the movement track of connecting rod end presents an approximate straight line, will not give the overall increase of robot improper take-off angle momentum, motor adjusts the bending degree of tail by cable, more accurate and convenient adjustment fuselage stability in the stage of being in the air, since spring is provided in driving device, can prevent huge ground reaction force to cause structural damage to connecting rod mechanism.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of bouncing robot technology, specifically a bouncing robot that mimics a jumping mouse. Background Technology

[0002] With the increasing demands of human missions such as interstellar exploration, rescue and reconnaissance, and military reconnaissance, higher requirements are being placed on the comprehensive performance of robots. Compared with tracked and wheeled mobile robots, bouncy robots have a larger spatial range between consecutive landing points, better maneuverability, and greater adaptability to complex and changing environments. Furthermore, due to their efficient energy storage mechanisms, bouncy robots possess extremely strong explosive power, enabling them to overcome very high obstacles. Therefore, bouncy robots exhibit significant advantages in mobility, environmental adaptability, and energy efficiency, and are widely used in various rescue and reconnaissance missions. This effectively reduces the technical and economic costs of robots and guides their development towards health, environmental protection, and sustainability in a comprehensive and rational manner.

[0003] Traditional jumping robots have limitations in terms of jumping height and posture stability due to problems such as low energy storage and unreasonable structure. With the development of bionics, many scholars are committed to integrating bionic principles with robot design technology. By imitating the jumping mechanism that animals have evolved over thousands of years and drawing on their unique body structure and movement, they can ensure that jumping robots can jump over obstacles in complex unstructured environments.

[0004] Currently, research on jumping bionic robots mainly focuses on the design of bionic mechanisms, efficient energy storage mechanisms, and compliant control. Mechanism bionics are designed with the skeletal structure of organisms as a guide, mimicking the movement patterns of various units within a living organism. Despite the existence of jumping organisms as a reference, designing an efficient energy storage mechanism to achieve the extremely high jumping performance of living organisms remains a current research hotspot. Early research primarily focused on installing energy storage components such as tension springs, compression springs, and torsion springs in the leg joints, while using latching devices such as ratchet pawls, incomplete gears, and cams to release and store spring energy. Because this energy release is difficult to control, it ultimately leads to instability in the jumping robot's posture during the airborne phase. Furthermore, the storage and release of jumping energy requires pre-closing and opening of latches, resulting in significant time delays, limiting most jumping robots to intermittent jumps. Series elastic actuators, by installing elastic elements between the motor and the load, can continuously amplify the output torque and buffer large contact reaction forces (Lee et al. 2019). Currently, serial elastic actuators are widely used in rehabilitation and exoskeleton robotics, and have yielded rich research results (Ghidini et al. 2019).

[0005] In 1999, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory jointly developed a hopping robot for planetary surface exploration, suitable for simple exploration tasks in low-gravity environments. The hopping robot has an eggshell-like shape and self-righting capabilities. The jumping motion is driven by elastic energy stored in springs, and motors provide orientation by aligning the center of gravity towards the next jump, allowing the robot to continuously adjust its takeoff angle (Fiorini et al. 1999). In 2002, the University of Minnesota developed a Scout robot based on a distributed robotics system platform. The robot is cylindrical with a ground-walking wheel at each end, allowing it to move on relatively flat surfaces. When the robot needs to overcome an obstacle, a winch rotates rapidly, causing the cable to contract, which in turn causes the steel spring feet to bend to a certain angle. During this process, the steel springs continuously store the enormous energy needed for the jump. When the winch suddenly releases, the stored energy is released instantaneously, causing the steel spring feet to strike the ground rapidly, generating a bouncing force (Stoeter et al. 2002).

[0006] In 2006, Umberto et al. (2007) of the IMT Lucca Advanced Research Institute in Italy developed a jumping robot, Grillo I. Inspired by frogs, Grillo I was a quadrupedal 50mm robot with elastic elements in its forelegs and tilted hind legs. Elastic energy was stored by a motor loading two springs in the hind limbs. Building on Grillo I, Li Fei et al. of Zhejiang University focused on biological analysis of the hind limbs of leafhoppers, discovering that the leg structure generates a constant contact reaction force when in contact with the ground. Based on this discovery, they designed the leg structure as a spatial four-bar linkage mechanism, and the instantaneous energy release system as a spring-segmented gear mechanism. The springs were loaded during gear engagement and released after engagement, further developing the Grillo II jumping robot. Subsequently, Li Fei (2011) added flexible wings to the Grillo II robot, which rapidly extended after takeoff to improve flight stability, resulting in the Grillo III micro-jumping robot.

[0007] In 2008, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) conducted in-depth research on the jumping mechanism and hind limb structure of grasshoppers, designing the legs as a four-bar linkage. The power output from the motor is transmitted to the cam through gear reduction, allowing the torsion spring to store huge amounts of energy. The cam structure locks and releases the energy. The robot is designed to jump intermittently, weighs only 7 grams, and can jump up to 1 meter (M. Kovac et al. 2008).

[0008] In 2009, Wang Meng (2009) of Harbin Institute of Technology observed the jumping mechanism and movement trajectory of frogs and developed a jumping robot. The robot's hind limbs have a simplified leg structure of a five-bar linkage, which can provide similar dynamic feedback as a frog's contact with the ground when jumping.

[0009] Researchers at the University of California have developed the jumping robots Salto and Salto-1p, inspired by the infant monkey. They observed that infant monkeys crouch for a considerable time after landing before attempting another jump. Inspired by this, Salto employs the SE+MA (Self-Energy Advantage) concept, resulting in takeoff power exceeding the peak power provided by the motors. The robot also incorporates a variable mechanical advantage method into its eight-link leg structure, where motors drive series torsion springs via gearboxes, releasing stored energy into the eight-link mechanism. Building upon Salto, Salto-1p adds a tail offset mass block to the side of the robot, and two small propellers further control its attitude (Haldane et al. 2016).

[0010] Bai Long et al. (2018) from Northwestern Polytechnical University proposed a bouncing robot that uses a ten-bar linkage as the bouncing actuator and stores energy in linear springs and coils through the rotation of motors. Summary of the Invention

[0011] This invention proposes to design a bouncing bionic robot for reconnaissance and surveying, capable of carrying lightweight surveying instruments and performing prolonged bouncing movements. Specifically, it includes a bionic leg mechanism, a jointed tail, an SEA series elastic actuator, and an external support frame. The robot's overall structure has a reasonable center of gravity and mass distribution, and key components and load-bearing parts possess reasonable strength, stiffness, and other mechanical properties. By studying the control algorithms of the bionic leg and tail motors, the robot's leg driving capability and tail posture adjustment effect are improved, enabling it to possess excellent bouncing performance and accurately achieve posture adjustment. This invention has significant scientific research significance and engineering application value in the fields of bionic mechanisms and rescue surveying.

[0012] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides the following technical solution: a biomimetic jumping robot for exploration and reconnaissance, comprising:

[0013] The external frame includes a motor mounting base, a connecting rod support frame, an upper frame, a lower frame, a left frame, and a right frame. The left and right frames are equipped with connecting devices for a tail bionic structure and a leg bionic structure at their rear ends.

[0014] The series elastic actuator mainly consists of an end cap, an elastic element, a support ring, a left support cap, a thin-walled bearing, a deep groove ball bearing, an output end, a cycloidal disk, a transmission plate, a cycloidal pinwheel, a right support ring, a leg motor, and a motor bracket. The support ring, left support cap, cycloidal pinwheel, thin-walled bearing, cycloidal disk, deep groove ball bearing, crankshaft, output end, transmission plate, leg motor, right support cap, and motor bracket constitute a reducer. This reducer uses a cycloidal pinwheel reducer, which does not produce significant deformation during power transmission, is not prone to fatigue failure, and features impact resistance, a large transmission ratio, and high transmission accuracy. The elastic element includes an outer ring and an inner ring; the outer ring is connected to the connecting rod end, and the inner ring is connected to the reducer output end. The leg motor is a brushless motor, which has advantages such as high motion efficiency, low energy consumption, long lifespan, stable and reliable performance, and faster response speed.

[0015] The leg-inspired structure includes an output link, a single-degree-of-freedom Stephenson six-bar linkage, a frame, and a connecting base. The frame is connected to the aforementioned external frame, the output link is connected to the aforementioned leg motor, and the connecting base supports the entire body. The six-bar linkage, through the leg structure of a biomimetic jumping mouse, has a certain proportional relationship between each link, which can keep the motion trajectory of the link end in an approximately straight line, avoiding unnecessary lateral momentum. The link connected to the connecting base mainly plays a supporting and buffering role during the robot's jumping process.

[0016] The belt drive structure includes a synchronous belt, a small pulley, and a large pulley. The synchronous belt transmission ensures a strict transmission ratio and relatively smooth transmission, providing buffering and vibration reduction. It is suitable for driving the tail release mechanism. The large pulley is fixed to the external frame via a coupling, and the winding pulley is coaxially fixed to the large pulley. Its diameter directly determines the speed of cable extension or retraction, thus affecting the bending angle of the tail joint. The small pulley is connected to a motor for driving the belt drive structure. The motor is fixed to the external frame using a motor mounting bracket within the external frame.

[0017] The tail bionic structure includes a tail connecting base, a mid-section joint, and a tail tip. The tail connecting base is connected to the left and right frames in the outer frame. The mid-section joint has cable holes, with a cable inserted through the upper and lower holes and the left and right holes, each driven by a motor. The belt drive structure retracts the cables to control each joint.

[0018] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows: This bionic jumping robot has the following advantages:

[0019] 1. Inspired by the hind limb structure of the jerking mouse, an innovative leg linkage mechanism with an end-effector trajectory that is approximately straight is proposed. This avoids the horizontal component of the center of mass caused by the lateral movement of the legs, which would otherwise add an inappropriate takeoff angular momentum to the robot as a whole. This further improves the robot's stability during takeoff and makes it easier to control.

[0020] 2. An innovative SEA series elastic actuator, consisting of a drive motor, a reducer, and a specially designed torsion spring, is proposed for driving the leg bionic structure. It can fully amplify the driving force of the joint, buffer the additional ground force during the robot's rapid movement, and fully realize high-efficiency jumping motion.

[0021] 3. An innovative articulated tail mechanism is proposed, which has excellent posture adjustment capability and can ensure that the robot can perform surveying operations maneuverably and stably during continuous jumping.

[0022] 4. The tail section is controlled by a belt conveyor retracting cable, where a synchronous belt is used. The synchronous belt conveyor can ensure a strict transmission ratio and the transmission is relatively smooth. It has the functions of buffering and vibration reduction, and is suitable for driving the tail release mechanism. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the biomimetic jumping robot of this utility model;

[0024] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the tail bionic structure of the bionic jumping robot of this utility model;

[0025] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the mid-tail joint structure of the biomimetic jumping robot of this utility model;

[0026] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the leg bionic structure of the bionic jumping robot of this utility model;

[0027] Figure 5 This is an exploded view of the series elastic actuator structure of the biomimetic jumping robot of this utility model;

[0028] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the elastic element of the biomimetic jumping robot of this utility model;

[0029] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the conveyor structure of the bionic jumping robot of this utility model.

[0030] Figure 1 The labels are shown in the figure:

[0031] 1. Series elastic actuator; 2. External frame; 3. Belt transmission structure; 4. Bionic tail structure; 5. Bionic leg structure.

[0032] Figure 2 The labels are shown in the figure:

[0033] 41. Tail connecting base; 42. Mid-tail joint; 43. Tail tip.

[0034] Figure 5 The labels are shown in the figure:

[0035] 12. End cap, 13. Elastic element, 14. Support ring, 15. Left support cap, 16. Thin-walled bearing, 17. Deep groove ball bearing, 18. Output end, 19. Cycloidal disc, 10. Transmission plate, 111. Cycloidal pinwheel, 112. Right support ring, 113. Leg motor, 114. Motor bracket.

[0036] Figure 5 The labels are shown in the figure:

[0037] 121. Outer ring; 122. Inner ring.

[0038] Figure 7 The labels are shown in the figure:

[0039] 31. Synchronous belt; 32. Small pulley; 33. Large pulley. Detailed Implementation

[0040] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present utility model, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0041] Example 1, please refer to Figure 1 5, 6, 7, This embodiment provides a technical solution: a biomimetic jumping robot for exploration and reconnaissance, including a series elastic actuator 1, an external support frame 2, a conveyor belt 3, a tail biomimetic structure 4, and a leg biomimetic structure 5.

[0042] The series elastic actuator 1 is mainly composed of an end cover 11, an elastic element 12, a support ring 13, a left support cover 14, a thin-walled bearing 15, a deep groove ball bearing 16, an output end 17, a cycloidal disc 18, a transmission plate 19, a cycloidal pinwheel 110, a right support ring 111, a leg motor 112, and a motor bracket 113.

[0043] The support ring 13, left support cover 14, thin-walled bearing 15, deep groove ball bearing 16, output end 17, cycloidal disc 18, transmission plate 19, cycloidal pinwheel 110, right support ring 111, leg motor 112 and motor bracket 113 are assembled together to form a reducer, which is a cycloidal pinwheel reducer.

[0044] The elastic element 12 is cylindrical and includes an outer ring 121 and an inner ring 122. The outer ring is connected to the connecting rod end, and the inner ring is connected to the output end of the reducer.

[0045] The drive system consists of a motor, a reducer, and a series spring. The series elastic actuator 1 can absorb some of the impact from the actuator and the landing process, and has the ability to store and release energy stably. In addition, the addition of the elastic element 12 can precisely control the torque acting on the load, and can also provide a sufficiently large driving torque for the linkage actuator. Furthermore, the storage of elastic potential energy can maximize the output power of the actuator, making the peak power of the actuator much higher than the power provided by the motor alone.

[0046] The external support frame 2 includes a motor mounting base, a connecting rod support frame, an upper frame, a lower frame, a left frame, and a right frame. The rear ends of the left and right frames are equipped with connecting devices for the tail bionic structure 4 and the leg bionic structure 5, and can also be used to install other accessory equipment.

[0047] Example 2, please refer to Figures 2 to 4 This embodiment provides a technical solution: a biomimetic jumping robot dedicated to exploration and reconnaissance. This embodiment is a further explanation of the structure of Embodiment 1.

[0048] The tail-like bionic structure 4 is a joint-hinged structure, comprising a tail connection base 41, a mid-section tail joint 42, and a tail tip 43. The tail connection base 41 is connected to the aforementioned external support frame. This joint-hinged structure can exhibit a certain curvature in three-dimensional space. Driven by the power system, it can continuously change the overall bending angle in the tail space behind the robot. Because the tail connection base 41 hinges the tail to the external support frame, the continuous tail can generate a certain amount of force in the X, Y, and Z directions, assisting the robot in achieving stable jumps in multiple directions and possessing extremely strong posture adjustment capabilities. The mid-section tail joint 42 has a hole on each of the top, bottom, left, and right sides. Cables pass through these holes to control the joint. A motor drives a winding wheel to retract and extend the cable, thereby causing the multi-jointed tail to continuously swing at different angles in space, adjusting the degree of tail bending to adjust the body's pitch. The roll and yaw attitude angles give the machine strong stability. When adjacent joints rotate, once the rotation angle reaches a certain threshold, the joints will make contact. The bending angle of adjacent joints in this structure can reach 20°. Therefore, theoretically, the bending angle of the entire tail can reach 20° × 4 = 80°.

[0049] This series-driven elastic actuator actuates the bionic leg structure, providing it with an upward vertical force. This results in the link's end trajectory being approximately a straight line, without increasing the uncontrollable lateral momentum. Because the series-driven actuator incorporates elastic elements, the obstacle-crossing height of the bionic jumping robot is ≤0.6m.

[0050] The leg bionic structure 5 is evolved from a single-degree-of-freedom Stephenson six-bar linkage. It includes an output link, a single-degree-of-freedom Stephenson six-bar linkage, a frame, and a connecting rod base. This leg bionic structure mimics the leg structure of a jerboa. The length ratio of the femur, tibia, fibula, and tarsal bones of a jerboa is 1:1.6:1.3. Therefore, the links of this six-bar linkage also have this proportional relationship. This structure can keep the motion trajectory of the link ends in an approximately straight line and will not increase the lateral momentum that is difficult to control. The link connected to the connecting rod base mainly plays a supporting and buffering role during the robot's jumping process. The frame is connected to the aforementioned external frame, the output link is connected to the leg motor, and the connecting rod base is used to support the entire body.

[0051] The single-cycle jump of this biomimetic jumping robot can be composed of two phases, including the standing phase and the airborne phase. The standing phase can be further subdivided into the take-off and landing processes.

[0052] During the standing phase, the connecting rod base contacts the ground, while the tail is in a drooping position to maintain the stability of the aircraft.

[0053] During the takeoff phase, the leg mechanism is first driven by a brushless motor in a series of elastic actuators, generating upward force. After the mechanism leaves the ground, the conveyor belt adjusts the bending of the tail by retracting the cable to control the forward direction of the bionic jumping robot and adjust the pitch, roll, and yaw angles of the body, thus achieving stable takeoff. During landing, the elastic element 12 in the leg actuators can buffer the large external forces during landing, thus achieving stable landing characteristics. The tail structure continues to adjust the body's attitude during this process, further improving the stability of the landing.

[0054] Design features:

[0055] 1. Compared with existing technologies, the leg structure of this bionic jumping robot is inspired by the jumping mouse. The end trajectory of its leg linkage mechanism is approximately a straight line, which avoids the horizontal component of the mass caused by the lateral movement of the legs, thus avoiding adding inappropriate takeoff angular momentum to the robot as a whole. This further improves the stability of the robot during the takeoff phase and makes it easier to control the robot's movement.

[0056] 2. Compared with existing technologies, the leg drive assembly of this bionic jumping robot is an SEA series elastic actuator composed of a drive motor, a reducer and a specially designed torsion spring. It can fully amplify the driving force of the joints, buffer the additional ground force during the robot's rapid movement, and fully realize high-efficiency jumping motion.

[0057] 3. Compared with existing technologies, the tail mechanism of this bionic jumping robot is a joint-linked tail mechanism, which has excellent posture adjustment capabilities and can ensure that the robot can perform surveying operations maneuverably and stably during continuous jumping.

[0058] 4. Compared with existing technologies, the tail structure of this bionic jumping robot is driven by a control cable with a belt transmission structure. The synchronous belt transmission can ensure a strict transmission ratio and the transmission is relatively smooth, with buffering and vibration reduction functions, making it suitable for driving the tail release mechanism.

[0059] This utility model relates to a reconnaissance and surveying robot that can carry lightweight surveying instruments and perform prolonged jumping movements. Specifically, it includes a bionic leg mechanism, a jointed tail, an SEA series elastic actuator, and an external support frame. The robot's overall structure has a reasonable center of gravity and mass distribution, and key components and load-bearing parts possess reasonable strength, stiffness, and other mechanical properties. By studying the control algorithms of the bionic leg and tail motors, the robot's leg driving capability and tail posture adjustment effect are improved, enabling it to possess excellent jumping performance and accurately achieve posture adjustment. This has significant scientific research significance and engineering application value in the fields of bionic mechanisms and rescue surveying.

[0060] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

[0061] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A biomimetic jumping robot for exploration and reconnaissance, characterized in that... It includes: The series elastic actuator (1) includes an end cap (11), an elastic element (12), a support ring (13), a left support cap (14), a thin-walled bearing (15), a deep groove ball bearing (16), an output end (17), a cycloidal disk (18), a transmission plate (19), a cycloidal pinwheel (110), a right support ring (111), a leg motor (112), and a motor bracket (113); The external frame (2) includes a motor mounting base, a connecting rod support frame, an upper frame, a lower frame, a left frame and a right frame. The left frame and the right frame are equipped with a connecting device for a tail bionic structure and a leg bionic structure at their rear ends. The belt drive structure (3) includes a synchronous belt (31), a small pulley (32) and a large pulley (33). The synchronous belt can ensure a strict transmission ratio and the transmission is relatively smooth. It has the functions of buffering and vibration reduction and is suitable for driving the tail bionic mechanism. The large pulley is fixed to the outer frame by a coupling shaft, and the winding wheel is coaxially fixed to the large pulley. Its diameter directly determines the speed of cable extension or contraction, thereby affecting the bending angle of the tail joint. The small pulley is connected to the motor and is used to drive the belt drive structure. The motor is fixed to the outer frame by the motor mounting bracket in the outer frame. The tail bionic structure (4) includes a tail connecting base (41), a tail mid-section joint (42) and a tail tip (43). The tail connecting base (41) is connected to the left and right frames in the outer frame. The tail mid-section joint (42) has a cable hole. A cable is inserted through the upper and lower holes and the left and right holes respectively, and each is driven by a motor. The belt drive structure retracts the cable to realize the control of each joint. The leg bionic structure (5) includes an output rod, a single-degree-of-freedom Stephenson six-bar linkage, a frame, and a connecting rod base. The frame is connected to the external frame, the output rod is connected to the leg motor, and the connecting rod base is used to support the entire body.

2. The biomimetic jumping robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The support ring (13), left support cover (14), thin-walled bearing (15), deep groove ball bearing (16), output end (17), cycloidal disc (18), transmission plate (19), cycloidal pinwheel (110), right support ring (111), leg motor (112) and motor bracket (113) constitute a reducer, which is a cycloidal pinwheel reducer.

3. The biomimetic jumping robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The elastic element (12) includes an outer ring and an inner ring. The outer ring is connected to the connecting rod end, and the inner ring is connected to the output end of the reducer. The leg motor is a brushless motor, which has a series of advantages such as high motion efficiency, low energy consumption, long life, stable and reliable performance, and faster response speed.

4. The biomimetic jumping robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The series elastic actuator (1) includes a drive motor, a reducer, and a specially designed torsion spring to buffer the additional ground force during the robot's rapid movement, thereby fully realizing high-efficiency jumping motion.

5. The biomimetic jumping robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tail bionic structure (4) is a joint hinge tail mechanism that can continuously deform and bend along the tail space of the robot. It has excellent posture adjustment capability and can ensure that the robot can perform surveying operations in a mobile and stable manner during continuous jumping. The bending angle of adjacent joints can reach 20°. Therefore, theoretically, the bending angle of the entire tail can reach 20° × 4 = 80°.

6. The biomimetic jumping robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The six-bar linkage in the leg bionic structure (5) has a certain proportional relationship between each link, which ensures that the six-bar linkage is a linkage mechanism with an end trajectory that is approximately straight, thus avoiding the horizontal component of the center of mass caused by the lateral movement of the leg, and thus not adding inappropriate takeoff angular momentum to the robot as a whole.

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