Service Robot Winch for Taut Cable Tracking and Length Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in managing the winding and unwinding of cables connecting mobile service robots to drones, particularly in maintaining cable tautness to prevent entanglement and ensuring accurate determination of cable length for drone altitude control, while minimizing energy consumption and preventing cable damage.
Innovation Solution
A winch system with a cable receiving device, transport device, and encoder mechanisms to ensure smooth winding and unwinding, incorporating encoders on wheel pairs and a ring-laying guide element to measure cable length accurately, and spring-loaded guide elements to control winding and unwinding processes, along with ventilation systems to manage cable temperature and length.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If the drone is powered by a service robot via cable, then continuous power supply is achieved, but the cable management becomes complex and reliability decreases due to tangling and wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the winch system movable and adjustable rather than fixed. The winch is mounted on the service robot's movable structure, allowing it to dynamically track and follow the drone's position in three-dimensional space. This dynamic positioning capability prevents cable tangling and maintains optimal cable tension throughout the drone's flight operations, thereby improving reliability while enabling continuous power supply.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a winch system as an intermediary device between the service robot and the drone. This winch acts as a mediator that manages the power cable, controlling its winding and unwinding to prevent direct contact and tangling between the cable and the moving drone. The winch system also includes guiding rollers and tension control mechanisms that further mediate the cable's path, reducing wear and improving operational reliability.
2Ease of operation
If a winch is used for cable management, then cable winding and unwinding is improved, but the complexity of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the winch system with the service robot's existing movable structure and control systems. The winch is integrated into the robot's framework, sharing mechanical components, power supply, and control electronics. This merging approach allows the winch to benefit from the robot's existing degrees of freedom and control capabilities, reducing the need for separate, redundant systems and thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The winch system is designed with multi-functionality, serving not only for cable winding and unwinding but also for cable tension control, positioning assistance, and protection against cable damage. By consolidating multiple functions into a single integrated system, the patent avoids the need for separate mechanisms for each function, thereby improving ease of cable management while limiting the increase in device complexity.
3Reliability
If the cable length is not accurately determined, then the drone control becomes unreliable, but measurement methods increase system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by using sensors to continuously measure the cable length and this information is fed back to the control system. The control system uses this feedback to accurately determine the drone's position and adjust the winch operation accordingly. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures reliable drone control through accurate cable length determination without requiring complex open-loop measurement systems, as the feedback provides real-time correction and verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical measurement systems with electronic and optical sensing methods. Instead of using mechanical encoders or physical markers on the cable, the system uses sensors (such as optical encoders, ultrasonic sensors, or RFID tags) to electronically determine cable length. This substitution reduces mechanical complexity while improving measurement accuracy and reliability for drone control.
Data Source
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AI summary
In the logistics sector, mobile service robots are used for inventory purposes, for example, by recording stock levels using cameras. In warehouse facilities, drones are sometimes used for this purpose, powered by a service robot. If this power supply is provided via cable, a winch is necessary for the efficient operation of the drones, allowing the cable to be wound and unwound as smoothly as possible. The invention comprises a service robot with such a winch, and in particular the winch design as well as a method for reliably determining the length of the wound or unwound cable.