Bionic tail and bionic robot

Abstract

The utility model relates to animal bionics technical field, especially a bionic tail and bionic robot. Bionic tail includes: flexible round ring chain, including: flexible main shaft, a plurality of disc, the center through -hole is set up in the center of each disc, and the flexible main shaft passes the center through -hole of each disc in proper order, so that a plurality of disc laminatedly is equipped with on the flexible main shaft, the edge through -hole is set up in the edge of each disc at least three, spring, set up between two adjacent discs, at least three drive steel wire ropes, each drive steel wire rope passes the edge through -hole of at least two discs, so that drive steel wire rope all with flexible main shaft parallel, drive motor, connect flexible main shaft and at least three drive steel wire ropes, can independently control each drive steel wire rope. The application can effectively improve the bionic effect of bionic tail.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of animal bionics technology, and in particular to a bionic tail and a bionic robot. Background Technology

[0002] Animal tails typically have multiple joints and muscles, enabling complex three-dimensional movements. For example, an animal's tail can swing horizontally, vertically, and even twist. This multi-degree-of-freedom movement allows the tail to flexibly assist in body balance, posture adjustment, and complex movements.

[0003] Current biomimetic robots mostly use a single rigid body model for their tails. Due to this simplified structure, they can only move in one direction (usually swinging up and down) and cannot simulate the multi-degree-of-freedom movements of a biological tail. While this simplification makes design and manufacturing relatively simple, it sacrifices the tail's flexibility and fails to accurately simulate the complex movements of a biological tail, thus reducing the biomimetic effect of the robot. Utility Model Content

[0004] This utility model provides a bionic tail and a bionic robot to solve the problems of poor flexibility and low bionic effect of bionic tails.

[0005] This utility model discloses a bionic tail, comprising: Flexible circular link chains, including: Flexible spindle; Multiple disks, each disk having a central through hole, the flexible spindle passing sequentially through the central through hole of each disk, so that the multiple disks are stacked on the flexible spindle; each disk has at least three edge through holes on its edge; A spring is positioned between any two adjacent disks; At least three drive wire ropes, each of which passes through at least two edge through holes of the disk, such that the drive wire ropes are all parallel to the flexible spindle; A drive motor is connected to the flexible spindle and at least three drive wire ropes, and each drive wire rope can be controlled independently.

[0006] Optionally, at least two of the at least three edge through holes are arranged symmetrically along the axis of the central through hole.

[0007] Optionally, the edge through holes arranged symmetrically are designated as symmetrical through holes, and the remaining edge through holes are designated as asymmetrical through holes. At least two of the drive wire ropes pass through the symmetrical through holes of the front-end disks and the rear-end disks of the flexible circular chain; At least one of the drive wire ropes passes through the asymmetric through holes of the plurality of disks located at the rear end of the flexible circular chain.

[0008] Optionally, the number of disks is M+N, and the first N and N+M disks of the flexible circular chain are passed through the symmetrical through holes by at least two of the driving steel wire ropes, while the last M disks are passed through the asymmetrical through holes by at least one of the driving steel wire ropes.

[0009] Optionally, the number of edge through holes is 2n, where n is an integer greater than 1; the 2n edge through holes are symmetrical about each other with respect to the central through hole. The number of drive wire ropes is also 2n, and each drive wire rope passes through an edge through hole of each disk, so that all the drive wire ropes are parallel to each other.

[0010] Optionally, an outwardly extending annular flange is provided along the edges on both sides of the central through hole, and the spring is sleeved on the annular flange.

[0011] Optionally, each of the disks is further provided with at least one counterweight through hole; the at least one counterweight through hole is arranged symmetrically along the axis of the central through hole.

[0012] Optionally, the bionic tail further includes: A rigid support, wherein the flexible circular chain is mounted on one side of the rigid support, and the drive motor is located on the other side of the rigid support; The rigid bracket has bracket through holes corresponding to the central through hole and the edge through hole, so that the flexible spindle and at least three drive steel wire ropes can pass through the corresponding bracket through holes and connect to the drive motor.

[0013] Optionally, the rigid support includes a horizontally arranged base and a vertically arranged support frame; The support frame has a receiving groove on the side facing the flexible circular chain, so that the disk at the end of the flexible circular chain can be embedded in the receiving groove.

[0014] This utility model also discloses a bionic robot, including the bionic tail described above.

[0015] The beneficial effects of the bionic tail and bionic robot provided by this utility model embodiment are as follows: a flexible main shaft is arranged in series with stacked disks, and springs are set between the disks. The springs between each adjacent disk provide adaptive deformation space; each disk has at least three circumferentially distributed edge through holes and at least three drive steel wires. Each drive steel wire passes through at least two edge through holes of the disks. A drive motor is connected to the flexible main shaft and at least three drive steel wires. The drive steel wires can be independently and precisely controlled by the motor, forcing the corresponding side spring to compress and store energy while the opposite spring stretches and stores energy. The multi-joint spring linkage amplifies the local tilt step by step into a continuous spatial curve (such as S-shaped swing, spiral curl). Its motion dimension, amplitude and frequency can be controlled by the combination of steel wires, approximating the dynamic characteristics of a biological tail. Attached Figure Description

[0016] The technical solution of this utility model will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first embodiment of the bionic tail provided by this utility model; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the second embodiment of the bionic tail provided by this utility model; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a structure of an embodiment of the flexible circular link chain provided by this utility model; Figure 4 This is a top view schematic diagram of an embodiment of the disc provided by this utility model; Figure 5 This is a side view schematic diagram of an embodiment of the disc provided by this utility model; Figure 6 This is a partial schematic diagram of an embodiment of the flexible circular link chain provided by this utility model.

[0017] The labels for the attached figures are as follows: 10. Bionic tail; 11. Flexible circular link chain; 111. Flexible spindle; 1111. Spindle lock; 112. Disc; 1121. Central through hole; 1122. Edge through hole; 1123. Annular flange; 1124. Counterweight through hole; 113. Spring; 114. Drive wire rope; 1141. Wire rope lock; 114a. Upper drive wire rope; 114b. Lower drive wire rope; 114c. Left drive wire rope; 114d. Right drive wire rope; 12. Drive motor; 13. Rigid bracket; 131. Base; 132. Support frame; 1321. Receiving groove. Detailed Implementation

[0018] It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in this application can be combined with each other. The preferred embodiments of this utility model will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0019] Please refer to the following: Figures 1-6 , Figure 1 This is a structural schematic diagram of the first embodiment of the bionic tail provided by this utility model. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the second embodiment of the bionic tail provided by this utility model. Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a structure of an embodiment of the flexible circular link chain provided by this utility model. Figure 4 This is a top view schematic diagram of an embodiment of the disc provided by this utility model. Figure 5 This is a side view schematic diagram of an embodiment of the disc provided by this utility model. Figure 6 This is a partial schematic diagram of an embodiment of the flexible circular link chain provided by this utility model.

[0020] The bionic tail 10 provided by this utility model includes a flexible circular chain 11 and a drive motor 12 connected to the flexible circular chain 11. The drive motor 12 is used to drive the flexible circular chain 11 to deform, so that the bionic tail 10 can simulate the movement of a biological tail. The flexible circular chain 11 includes a flexible main shaft 111, which can be a soft steel wire rope or a shaft made of other elastic materials; multiple discs 112, each of which has a central through hole 1121. The flexible main shaft 111 passes through the central through hole 1121 of each disc 112 in sequence, so that multiple discs 112 are stacked on the flexible main shaft 111; and a spring 113 is disposed between each two adjacent discs 112 to provide axial elastic support and deformation recovery capability. At least three drive wire ropes 114 are provided. Each of the discs 112 has at least three edge through holes 1122 on its edge. Each drive wire rope 114 passes through at least two edge through holes 1122 of the discs 112. When multiple discs 112 are fitted onto the flexible spindle 111, the at least three edge through holes 1122 of each disc 112 are arranged one-to-one, so that the corresponding edge through holes 1122 are coaxially aligned, and the drive wire ropes 114 inserted into the edge through holes 1122 are all parallel to the flexible spindle 111. The flexible spindle 111 and the at least three drive wire ropes 114 are all connected to the drive electrode. The drive motor 12 selectively pulls the drive wire ropes 114 or twists the flexible spindle 111, causing the flexible circular chain 11 to deflect relatively. The spring 113 cooperates to suppress axial displacement and assist in reset, realizing multi-degree-of-freedom biomimetic motion (such as swinging and curling).

[0021] The top end of the flexible spindle 111 is provided with a spindle lock 1111, and the top end of each drive wire rope 114 is provided with a wire rope lock 1141. The spindle lock 1111 and the wire rope lock 1141 are located on the side of the first disc 112 away from the other discs 112, so that the wire rope lock 1141 can control the movement of each disc 112 in the flexible circular chain 11 together with the drive wire rope 114.

[0022] The number of edge through holes 1122 is 2n, where n is an integer greater than 1; the 2n edge through holes 1122 are symmetrical about each other with the center through hole 1121 as the center; the number of drive wire ropes 114 is also 2n, and each drive wire rope 114 passes through one edge through hole 1122 of each disk 112, so that all the drive wire ropes 114 are parallel to each other.

[0023] Please refer to the following: Figure 1 There are four disks 112, all of the same size. Each disk 112 has four edge through holes 1122 on its edge. These four edge through holes 1122 are symmetrical about each other with respect to the central through hole 1121 and are evenly distributed along the edge of the disk 112. Correspondingly, four drive steel wire ropes 114 are installed. Each drive steel wire rope 114 can pass through one edge through hole 1122 of the four disks 112. The pair of centrally symmetrical drive steel wire ropes 114 serves as the vertical drive steel wire ropes 114b, and the other pair serves as the horizontal drive steel wire ropes 114d. The four disks are connected in series on the flexible main shaft 111 by springs 113, simulating the segmented structure of a biological spine, and achieving distributed motion transmission through elastic connection. The four parallel drive steel wire ropes 114 mimic the parallel arrangement of biological tendons and achieve multi-directional bending through differential pulling; the central soft steel wire rope is similar to the ligament of the spine, providing torsional stiffness.

[0024] In one implementation scenario, the stiffness gradient design of spring 113 (such as gradually stiffening or gradually softening) can control the motion attenuation / amplification effect, achieving the bio-motion characteristics of "proximal rigidity - distal flexibility".

[0025] In one implementation scenario, the drive motor 12 selectively winds a drive steel wire rope 114 in a specific direction, pulling the corresponding set of discs 112 to deflect in the direction of wire rope contraction. This causes the springs 113 between adjacent discs 112 on that side to compress and store energy. Simultaneously, the reverse steel wire rope is released synchronously, and the springs 113 on the opposite side stretch and store energy due to the increased spacing between the discs 112. The antagonistic compression-stretching effect of the springs 113 forces the discs 112 to tilt around the flexible main shaft 111. The tilt angle of the multi-stage discs 112 is transmitted step by step through the linkage of the springs 113, ultimately forming the continuous bending deformation of the biomimetic tail 10, realizing biological movements such as swinging and curling.

[0026] The upper drive wire rope 114a and the lower drive wire rope 114b are used to control the flexible circular link chain 11 to move upward or downward, respectively. The left drive wire rope 114c and the right drive wire rope 114d are used to control the flexible circular link chain 11 to move left or right, respectively. The drive motor 12 can independently control each drive wire rope 114. For example, the drive motor 12 pulls one of the upper and lower drive wire ropes 114b, such as the upper drive wire rope 114a, which tightens the upper drive wire rope 114a, causing the upper side of the first disc 112 to contract inward. Since the discs 112 are connected by springs 113, the upper spring 113 is compressed and the lower spring 113 is stretched, causing the first disc to tilt backward (pitch motion). This tilt is transmitted to the next disc via spring 113 and then sequentially backward, eventually causing the entire flexible circular chain 11 to bend upward. If the drive wire rope 114a is pulled continuously and periodically (e.g., by alternating tension and relaxation), the bionic tail 10 will swing up and down.

[0027] For example, when the drive motor 12 pulls the left drive wire rope 114c, the left drive wire rope 114c tightens, causing the left side of the first disc to contract inward, compressing the left spring 113, and stretching the right spring 113. The first disc 112 tilts to the left (yaw motion). Similar to the up-and-down swinging motion mentioned above, the left tilting will be transmitted sequentially, causing the entire flexible circular chain 11 to bend to the left, continuously and periodically pulling the left drive wire rope 114c (such as alternating tightening and loosening), forming a left-right swinging motion.

[0028] For example, if the upper drive wire rope 114a and the left drive wire rope 114c are pulled simultaneously (e.g., the upper drive wire rope 114a applies 70% force and the left drive wire rope 114c applies 30% force), the first disc 112 will tilt backward and to the left simultaneously. Due to the superposition of forces in the two directions, the disc 112 will deflect obliquely, forming a "torsional" motion. This torsion is transmitted through the spring chain 113, causing the entire flexible circular chain 11 to exhibit a spiral oscillation (similar to the complex movement of a cat's tail).

[0029] In another implementation scenario, the four drive steel wire ropes 114 can be distributed in the directions of upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right. If the diagonal steel wire ropes are pulled simultaneously (e.g., upper left + lower right) and the tension is unequal, the first disc 112 will be subjected to asymmetrical tension, causing the first disc 112 to rotate around the central axis. Based on a similar principle as described above, this rotation is transmitted to the subsequent rings, causing the entire flexible circular chain 11 to tumble like a "wringing out a towel".

[0030] Based on the above description, it can be seen that the first disc 112 has a large amplitude of movement, while the amplitude of movement of the disc 112 becomes smaller as it approaches the end (similar to the attenuation of the swing of a real tail). Furthermore, due to the elasticity of the spring 113, the movement of the end disc 112 is slightly slower than that of the first disc 112, which can create a more natural undulation.

[0031] As described above, the flexible spindle consists of stacked disks arranged in series, with springs between the disks. Each adjacent disk has a spring that provides adaptive deformation space. Each disk has at least three circumferentially distributed edge through holes and at least three drive steel wire ropes. Each drive steel wire rope passes through at least two edge through holes of the disks. A drive motor connects the flexible spindle and the at least three drive steel wire ropes. The drive steel wire ropes can be independently and precisely controlled by the motor, forcing the corresponding side spring to compress and store energy while the opposite spring stretches and stores energy. The multi-joint spring linkage amplifies the local tilt into a continuous spatial curve (such as S-shaped swing or spiral curl). The motion dimension, amplitude, and frequency can all be controlled by the combination of steel wire ropes, approximating the dynamic characteristics of a biological tail.

[0032] In one implementation scenario, at least two of the at least three edge through holes 1122 are symmetrically arranged along the axis of the central through hole 1121, serving as symmetrical through holes, while the remaining edge through holes 1122 are independently arranged, serving as asymmetrical through holes. Please refer to the relevant documentation. Figure 3 ,exist Figure 3 In the illustrated scenario, each disk 112 has three edge through holes 1122, two of which are symmetrically arranged along the central through hole 1121, serving as symmetrical through holes, while the remaining edge through hole 1122 serves as an asymmetrical through hole. At least two drive wire ropes 114 pass through the symmetrical through holes of the front and rear disks 112 of the flexible circular chain 11; at least one drive wire rope 114 passes through the asymmetrical through holes of the rear disks 112 of the flexible circular chain 11.

[0033] Specifically, the number of disks 112 is M+N. The first N and N+M disks 112 of the flexible circular chain 11 are passed through the symmetrical through holes by at least two of the driving steel wire ropes 114, while the last M disks 112 are passed through the asymmetrical through holes by at least one of the driving steel wire ropes 114. Figure 3In the scenario shown, the asymmetric through-hole is located at the top, and the driving wire passing through the asymmetric through-hole is the upper driving wire rope 114a. The latter M discs 112 retain only the upper driving wire rope 114a, relying on their own weight to droop, while saving a lower driving wire rope 114b. When the upper driving wire rope 114a is tightened, the asymmetric through-hole of the latter M discs 112 generates an eccentric tension, causing the flexible circular chain 11 of the latter half of the latter M discs to curl and deform upwards. Since there is no wire constraint at the bottom of the discs 112, their own weight causes the flexible circular chain 11 to deform into a natural arc. The first N discs 112 droop downwards, while the latter M discs 112 bend upwards, achieving a shape with a gentle root, a sharp bend in the middle, and a drooping tail tip. The bionic tail 10 can more realistically simulate the upward-curving posture of a cat's tail.

[0034] When stationary, the simulated tail hangs down naturally due to its own weight, eliminating the need for active control energy consumption. When in motion, the upper drive wire only needs to overcome part of the gravity of the disc 112, which also reduces the tension control requirements of the drive motor 12. The front half of the dual drive wire rope 114 can maintain the stability of the main body by the flexible circular chain 11, ensuring that the flexible circular chain 11 does not lose control when moving.

[0035] As described above, in this embodiment, the single-drive steel wire asymmetrically drives the flexible circular chain to move, accurately replicating the non-uniform bending characteristics of a biological tail. The first half is precisely controlled by two drive steel wires, reducing the number of steel wires without sacrificing degrees of freedom.

[0036] In one implementation scenario, outwardly extending annular flanges 1123 are provided along the edges on both sides of the central through hole 1121, and the spring 113 is sleeved on the annular flanges 1123. The two ends of the spring 113 are respectively engaged with the annular flanges 1123 of the adjacent discs 112, forming an axial mechanical limit. The annular flanges 1123 make the deformation of the spring 113 controllable and the point of force fixed, thereby making the movement of the flexible circular chain 11 more controllable. The annular flanges 1123 also make the assembly of the spring 113 more convenient.

[0037] In one implementation scenario, each of the disks 112 is also provided with at least one counterweight through hole 1124; the at least one counterweight through hole 1124 is arranged symmetrically along the central through hole 1121, which can ensure that the center of mass of each disk 112 is strictly located in the central through hole 1121, and can avoid the additional torque caused by mass eccentricity during high-speed oscillation, thereby making the movement of the flexible circular chain 11 more controllable.

[0038] In one implementation scenario, the bionic tail 10 further includes a rigid support 13. The flexible circular chain 11 is mounted on one side of the rigid support 13, and the drive motor 12 is located on the other side of the rigid support 13. The rigid support 13 has support through holes corresponding to the central through hole 1121 and the edge through hole 1122, so that the flexible spindle 111 and at least three drive steel wire ropes 114 can pass through the corresponding support through holes and connect to the drive motor 12. The support through holes can ensure that the steel wire ropes are transmitted without deviation, thereby making the movement of the flexible circular chain 11 more controllable.

[0039] The support frame acts as a load-bearing framework, transmitting the dynamic swing load of the flexible circular chain 11 to the robot body, avoiding direct deformation of the flexible components, and bearing the biological flexibility with mechanical determinism, thus becoming a key carrier for rigid-flexible transformation.

[0040] Furthermore, the rigid support 13 includes a horizontally arranged base 131 and a vertically arranged support frame 132; the support frame 132 has a receiving groove 1321 on the side facing the flexible circular chain 11, so that the disc 112 at the end of the flexible circular chain 11 can be embedded in the receiving groove 1321. The groove wall of the receiving groove 1321 can restrict the radial movement of the end disc 112, eliminate tail vibration during swinging, and the bottom contact surface of the groove disperses the impact load, protecting the counterweight hole structure of the disc 112. By replacing traditional fasteners with geometric containment, the biomimetic motion freedom of the flexible chain is preserved while ensuring rigidity.

[0041] In this embodiment, the bottom area of ​​the receiving groove 1321 is designed to be slightly larger than the area of ​​the disk 112 (e.g., a single-sided gap of 0.5-1mm), which allows the end disk 112 to generate a small-angle adaptive deflection when swinging, absorbing the impact of motion.

[0042] This utility model also provides a bionic robot, including the bionic tail described above.

[0043] It should be understood that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this utility model, and are not intended to limit it. Those skilled in the art can modify the technical solutions described in the above embodiments, or make equivalent substitutions for some of the technical features; and all such modifications and substitutions should fall within the protection scope of the appended claims of this utility model.

Claims

1. A biomimetic tail, characterized in that, include: Flexible circular chain, including: Flexible spindle; Multiple disks, each disk having a central through hole, the flexible spindle passing sequentially through the central through hole of each disk, so that the multiple disks are stacked on the flexible spindle; each disk has at least three edge through holes on its edge; A spring is positioned between any two adjacent disks; At least three drive wire ropes, each of which passes through at least two edge through holes of the disk, such that the drive wire ropes are all parallel to the flexible spindle; A drive motor is connected to the flexible spindle and at least three drive wire ropes, and each drive wire rope can be controlled independently.

2. The bionic tail according to claim 1, characterized in that, Of the at least three edge through holes, at least two are arranged symmetrically along the axis of the central through hole.

3. The bionic tail according to claim 2, characterized in that, The edge through holes that are set symmetrically are designated as symmetrical through holes, and the remaining edge through holes are designated as asymmetrical through holes. At least two of the drive wire ropes pass through the symmetrical through holes of the front-end disks and the rear-end disks of the flexible circular chain; At least one of the drive wire ropes passes through the asymmetric through holes of the plurality of disks located at the rear end of the flexible circular chain.

4. The bionic tail according to claim 3, characterized in that, The number of disks is M+N. The first N and N+M disks of the flexible circular chain are passed through the symmetrical through holes by at least two of the driving steel wire ropes, and the last M disks are passed through the asymmetrical through holes by at least one of the driving steel wire ropes.

5. The bionic tail according to claim 2, characterized in that, The number of edge through holes is 2n, where n is an integer greater than 1; the 2n edge through holes are symmetrical about each other with respect to the central through hole. The number of drive wire ropes is also 2n, and each drive wire rope passes through an edge through hole of each disk, so that all the drive wire ropes are parallel to each other.

6. The bionic tail according to claim 1, characterized in that, An outwardly extending annular flange is provided along both sides of the central through hole, and the spring is sleeved on the annular flange.

7. The bionic tail according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the disks is also provided with at least one counterweight through hole; the at least one counterweight through hole is arranged symmetrically along the axis of the central through hole.

8. The bionic tail according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The bionic tail also includes: A rigid support, wherein the flexible circular chain is mounted on one side of the rigid support, and the drive motor is located on the other side of the rigid support; The rigid bracket has bracket through holes corresponding to the central through hole and the edge through hole, so that the flexible spindle and at least three drive steel wire ropes can pass through the corresponding bracket through holes and connect to the drive motor.

9. The bionic tail according to claim 8, characterized in that, The rigid support includes a horizontally arranged base and a vertically arranged support frame; The support frame has a receiving groove on the side facing the flexible circular chain, so that the disk at the end of the flexible circular chain can be embedded in the receiving groove.

10. A biomimetic robot, characterized in that, Including the bionic tail as described in any one of claims 1-9.

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