Disk-brush-type photovoltaic cleaning robot and movement control mode therefor

Abstract

Disclosed in the present invention are a disk-brush-type photovoltaic cleaning robot and a movement control mode therefor, the robot comprising a chassis, four electric motor supports, four driving electric motors, four couplings, four disk brushes, a control circuit board and a battery, wherein there is an included angle between each disk brush and a surface of a photovoltaic assembly to be cleaned; the disk brushes and robot driving wheels are integrated into a whole, and during a movement process of the robot, the surface of the photovoltaic assembly is synchronously cleaned, so that the overall structure of the robot is more compact; and the included angle between each disk brush and the surface of the photovoltaic assembly can be changed by means of replacing electric motor supports having different bending angles, so that cleaning operations being performed in photovoltaic arrays having various mounting inclination angles is realized. The present invention is applicable to a wide range of photovoltaic power station scenarios.

Description

A disk-brush photovoltaic cleaning robot and its motion control method Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of photovoltaic automated cleaning equipment, and in particular relates to a disc-brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot and a motion control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Photovoltaic modules are installed outdoors and are prone to sand and dust adhesion, which reduces the power generation performance. Photovoltaic modules in photovoltaic power stations must be cleaned and maintained. The current types of photovoltaic cleaning robots mainly include rail-type, adsorption-type, crawler-type photovoltaic cleaning robots: Rail-type cleaning robots use the module frame as a motion track and are suitable for cleaning photovoltaic arrays with relatively consistent module specifications and layouts on the bracket. Therefore, they are not very flexible and have limited site adaptability. The main structure of the adsorption-type photovoltaic cleaning robot includes an adsorption mechanism and a brush. Its working principle is to rely on an internal multi-duct fan to achieve negative pressure adsorption, and a brush is installed on the edge. The brush can use its adsorption capacity to clean the surface of photovoltaic panels with a large inclination angle, but the multi-duct fan structure makes the overall size of the robot relatively large, and when the adsorption force is large, it may cause hidden cracks in the solar cells; the crawler-type photovoltaic cleaning robot uses crawlers as the robot drive mechanism, and a roller brush is installed at the front end of the robot, which can realize the synchronous cleaning of the components during the driving process. It is suitable for photovoltaic arrays with lower roof inclination angles and does not require modification or adjustment of the component frame, but the overall size and weight of the robot are larger, and there is also a risk of fracturing the solar cells; it can be seen that the existing photovoltaic cleaning robots are not compact in structure, are relatively large in size, and their movement flexibility needs to be improved.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] Purpose of the invention: The purpose of the present invention is to provide a disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot and its motion control method, which integrates the cleaning disc brush and the robot drive wheel into one, making the structure more compact, reducing the size of the photovoltaic cleaning robot, and realizing cleaning operation on photovoltaic arrays with various installation inclination angles.

[0005] Technical solution: A disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot of the present invention comprises a chassis 101, four sets of motor brackets 102, four sets of drive motors 103, four sets of couplings 104, four sets of disc brushes 105, a control circuit board 106, and a battery 107; the four sets of motor brackets are symmetrically fixed to the four vertices of the chassis by screws, the four sets of motors are respectively fixed to the four sets of motor brackets by screws, the motor shafts of the four sets of motors are respectively fixed to the four sets of disc brushes by four sets of couplings, the bottom surface of each disc brush is a cleaning brush, the control circuit board is fixed to the upper side of the chassis by screws, and the battery is fixed to the lower side of the chassis by a nylon belt; the four sets of disc brushes 105 are characterized in that the angle between each disc brush and the surface of the photovoltaic module being cleaned is an angle θ. Preferably, the relationship between the angle θ and the photovoltaic module installation inclination angle α is determined by experiment as follows:

[0006] Furthermore, the control circuit board 106 includes a microcontroller 201, a power supply circuit 202, a DC motor drive circuit 203, an encoder interface circuit 204, a USB serial port circuit 205, and a Bluetooth module 206. The microcontroller 201 outputs a drive signal connected to the DC motor drive circuit 203, the encoder interface circuit 204 outputs each motor encoder signal connected to the microcontroller 201, the microcontroller 201 is connected to the USB serial port circuit 205 and the Bluetooth module 206 via serial port signals, and the power supply circuit 202 is connected to the microcontroller 201, the DC motor drive circuit 203, the encoder interface circuit 204, the USB serial port circuit 205, and the Bluetooth module 206. The control circuit board 106 is connected to the four drive motors 103 via drive signal lines; the battery 107 is connected to the power supply circuit 202 in the control circuit board 106 via a power line.

[0007] Furthermore, the four groups of motor brackets 102 are all bent rectangular sheet metal parts with rounded corners, the bending position is at the midline of the long side of the rectangular sheet metal part, and the bending angle is 180°-θ.

[0008] Furthermore, the four motor brackets 102 are symmetrically fixed to the four vertices of the chassis 101 by screws, and the four drive motors 103 are fixed to the four motor brackets 102 by screws.

[0009] Furthermore, the battery 107 is fixed to the lower side of the chassis 101 via a nylon strap.

[0010] The present invention also discloses a motion control method for a disc-brush photovoltaic cleaning robot. When the robot moves forward, the two motors on the left side of the four drive motors 103 in the forward direction are controlled to rotate counterclockwise, and the two motors on the right side are controlled to rotate clockwise; when the robot turns left, the four drive motors 103 are controlled to rotate counterclockwise; when the robot turns right, the four drive motors 103 are controlled to rotate clockwise.

[0011] Beneficial effects: Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following significant advantages: the present invention integrates the disc brush and the robot driving wheel into one, and realizes the cleaning of the photovoltaic module surface synchronously during the movement of the robot. The overall structure of the robot is more compact, and the volume and weight of the robot are reduced, so as to avoid the photovoltaic cleaning robot's own weight from crushing the photovoltaic cell. By replacing the motor bracket with different bending angles, the angle between the disc brush and the photovoltaic module surface can be changed, so as to realize the cleaning operation of photovoltaic arrays with various installation inclination angles, which is suitable for a wide range of photovoltaic power station scenarios. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG1 is a structural diagram of a disc-brush photovoltaic cleaning robot according to the present invention;

[0013] FIG2 is a front view of the disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot of the present invention;

[0014] FIG3 is a motion pattern diagram of the disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot of the present invention;

[0015] FIG4 is a block diagram of a control circuit board of a disk-brush photovoltaic cleaning robot according to the present invention;

[0016] FIG5 is a cleaning diagram of the prototype developed on site according to a specific embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more clear, the technical solutions of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them. All other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on the embodiments of the present invention without making any creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0018] The present invention is further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples: a disc-brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot structure and a motion controller thereof, wherein the disc-brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot structure, as shown in FIG1 , comprises a chassis 101, four sets of motor brackets 102, four sets of drive motors 103, four sets of couplings 104, four sets of disc brushes 105, a control circuit board 106, and a battery 107; preferably, the chassis 101 is made of aluminum alloy, the motor brackets are made of 304 stainless steel, the drive motor model is JGB-520, with a rated torque of 0.637 Nm, the bottom of the disc brush is a cleaning cloth, and the friction coefficient between the cleaning cloth and the smooth surface of the photovoltaic module is 0.64;

[0019] Four motor brackets are symmetrically fixed to the four vertices of the chassis with screws. Four motors are also fixed to the four motor brackets with screws. The motor shafts of the four motors are fixed to the four disc brushes with four couplings. The control circuit board is fixed to the upper side of the chassis with screws, and the battery is fixed to the lower side of the chassis with nylon straps. The robot structure weighs 2kg, with a reserved load of 3kg.

[0020] For a photovoltaic module with an installation inclination angle α of 28°, preferably, the angle θ between the disk brush and the surface of the photovoltaic module being cleaned is 6°, as shown in FIG2 .

[0021] The motor brackets 102 and the four groups of motor brackets are all bent rectangular sheet metal parts with rounded corners, as shown in FIG2 . The bending position is at the midline of the long side of the rectangular sheet metal part, and the bending angle is 180°-θ, that is, 174°.

[0022] The movement mode of the disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot is shown in Figure 3. When the robot moves forward, the two motors on the left side of the four drive motors 103 in the forward direction are controlled to rotate counterclockwise, and the two motors on the right side are controlled to rotate clockwise; when the robot turns left, the four drive motors 103 are controlled to rotate counterclockwise; when the robot turns right, the four drive motors 103 are controlled to rotate clockwise; the control circuit board 106 drive signal line is connected to the four drive motors 103; the battery 107 power line is connected to the power supply circuit 202 in the control circuit board 106.

[0023] The control circuit board 106, as shown in Figure 4, includes a microcontroller 201, a power supply circuit 202, a DC motor drive circuit 203, an encoder interface circuit 204, a USB serial port circuit 205, and a Bluetooth module 206; the microcontroller 201 outputs a drive signal connected to the DC motor drive circuit 203, the encoder interface circuit 204 outputs each motor encoder signal connected to the microcontroller 201, the microcontroller 201 is connected to the USB serial port circuit 205 and the Bluetooth module 206 via serial port signals, the power supply circuit 202 is connected to the microcontroller 201, the DC motor drive circuit 203, the encoder interface circuit 204, the USB serial port circuit 205, and the Bluetooth module 206 power supply; the host computer can wirelessly control the robot's cleaning movement via Bluetooth.

[0024] As shown in FIG5 , the disk-brush photovoltaic cleaning robot prototype developed in accordance with the above-mentioned specific embodiment of the present invention can perform cleaning tasks on the surface of photovoltaic modules installed at an inclination angle of 28°.

[0025] With the above-described preferred embodiments of the present invention as a guide, and with reference to the above description, relevant personnel are fully capable of making various changes and modifications without departing from the technical scope of this invention. The technical scope of this invention is not limited to the contents of the specification and must be determined according to the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot, characterized in that: The invention comprises a chassis (101), four groups of motor brackets (102), four groups of drive motors (103), four groups of couplings (104), four groups of disc brushes (105), a control circuit board (106) and a battery (107); the four groups of motor brackets (102) are symmetrically fixed at four vertices of the chassis (101), the four groups of drive motors (103) are fixed on the four groups of motor brackets (102), the motor shafts of the four groups of drive motors (103) are fixed to the disc brushes (105) through the couplings (104), the bottom surface of the disc brush (105) is a cleaning brush, the control circuit board (106) is fixed on the upper side of the chassis (101), the battery (107) is fixed on the lower side of the chassis (101), and the angle between the four groups of disc brushes (105) and the surface of the photovoltaic module to be cleaned is an angle θ.

2. A disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The relationship between the angle θ and the photovoltaic module installation inclination angle α is:

3. A disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control circuit board (106) comprises a microcontroller (201), a power supply circuit (202), a DC motor drive circuit (203), an encoder interface circuit (204), a USB serial port circuit (205) and a Bluetooth module (206); the microcontroller (201) outputs a drive signal connected to the DC motor drive circuit (203); the encoder interface circuit (204) outputs encoder signals of each motor connected to the microcontroller (201); the microcontroller (201) is connected to the USB serial port circuit (205) and the Bluetooth module (206) via serial port signals; the power supply circuit (202) supplies power to the microcontroller (201), the DC motor drive circuit (203), the encoder interface circuit (204), the USB serial port circuit (205) and the Bluetooth module (206) respectively; the control circuit board (106) is connected to the four groups of drive motors (103) via a drive signal line; and the battery (107) is connected to the power supply circuit (202) in the control circuit board (106) via a power line.

4. A disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The four groups of motor brackets (102) are all bent rectangular sheet metal parts with rounded corners, the bending position is at the midline of the long side of the rectangular sheet metal part, and the bending angle is 180°-θ.

5. A disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The four groups of motor brackets (102) are symmetrically fixed to the four vertices of the chassis (101) by screws, and the four groups of drive motors (103) are fixed to the four groups of motor brackets (102) by screws.

6. A disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: The battery (107) is fixed to the lower side of the chassis (101) via a nylon belt.

7. A motion control method of the disc brush type photovoltaic cleaning robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the robot moves forward, the two motors on the left side of the four drive motors (103) in the forward direction are controlled to rotate counterclockwise, and the two motors on the right side are controlled to rotate clockwise; when the robot turns left, the four drive motors (103) are controlled to rotate counterclockwise; when the robot turns right, the four drive motors (103) are controlled to rotate clockwise.

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