CN103358305A - Closed-loop control available multifunctional in-water snake-shaped robot - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a closed-loop controllable multifunctional underwater snake-shaped robot, which mainly solves the problem that the existing underwater snake-shaped robot cannot adjust the motion posture. It includes a snake head (1), a snake tail (2) and a snake body (5). The snake body (5) is composed of a plurality of rigid joints (3) and a plurality of flexible joints (4) alternately connected; the two parts of the snake body (5) The ends are respectively connected with the snake head and snake tail to form a snake body; the snake head (1) is equipped with a camera (11), and the snake body (5) is equipped with a steering gear (51), a main controller (52), a battery pack module (53), and ten degrees of freedom. Sensor (56), steering gear controller (57), solar charging module (58) and power detection module (59); the ten-degree-of-freedom sensor sends the data measured in real time to the main controller for data fusion, and the main controller passes The steering gear controller controls the steering gear to adjust the movement posture of the snake body. The invention has the advantages of being able to correct the motion posture of the snake body, detect the airtightness of the snake body, and charge solar energy, and can be used for oil pipeline inspection, drilling platform underwater structure maintenance and military reconnaissance.

Description

Closed-loop controllable multifunctional underwater snake robot

technical field

The invention belongs to the technical field of robots, in particular to a multifunctional underwater snake-shaped robot equipped with various sensors and capable of closed-loop control, which can be used for oil pipeline inspection, drilling platform underwater structure inspection, military reconnaissance, cable inspection, Underwater archaeology, marine aquaculture and dam inspection of rivers and reservoirs and other fields.

Background technique

The underwater environment is harsh, people's diving depth is limited, and the safety factor of manned submersibles is low, so unmanned remote control submersibles have become an important tool in the fields of oil pipeline inspection, reservoir sewage inspection, underwater archaeology, marine breeding, military reconnaissance, etc. . However, traditional unmanned remote-controlled submersibles have certain limitations. Most of them are torpedo-shaped and bulky, driven by turbines. This shape not only limits their ability to enter the pipeline, but also limits their driveability, especially When passing through the coast, the propeller will roll up sediment or be entangled by seaweed, which will cause damage to the propeller. At the same time, the propeller is noisy and has low concealment, so it is easy to be discovered and captured by the enemy. In order to solve this problem, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics has developed an amphibious snake-like robot based on a multi-degree-of-freedom flexible motion unit, Chinese patent, publication (announcement) number: CN102837307A.

The underwater snake-like robot has a unique movement mode and bionic mechanical structure. It can generate forward power through the friction between the snake body and the water flow, so it has the characteristics of low noise. As a high-redundancy robot, it has more functions than determining the spatial position of the robot. And the degree of freedom required for posture, its flexible snake body can be more flexible to adapt to various complex underwater environments. However, most of the existing underwater snake robots focus on the mechanical structure of the joint module, and their functions are relatively single, and the charging problem when working in water is rarely considered, resulting in low battery life and limited continuous working time. Therefore, real-time acquisition and feedback of the motion posture of the robot cannot be carried out, so that the motion posture of the robot cannot be adjusted in time, so that when the water flow changes, the direction of travel is easy to change, which affects the normal monitoring and leads to the effect of bad.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to address the deficiencies of the above-mentioned prior art, and propose a closed-loop controllable multifunctional underwater snake robot, which can collect and feed back the motion information of the snake robot in real time, adjust the working state in time, and improve the battery life and monitoring effect. .

To achieve the above object, the present invention includes:

Snake head, snake tail and snake body. The snake body is composed of multiple rigid joints and multiple flexible joints alternately connected; the two ends of the snake body are respectively connected with the snake head and snake tail to form the snake body; The main controller, the battery pack module and the temperature and humidity sensor group are characterized in that: the snake body is also equipped with:

The ten-degree-of-freedom sensor is used to obtain the acceleration, pitch angle and internal air pressure of the snake body, so as to collect the movement posture information of the snake body in real time and monitor its airtight information;

Sixteen-way steering gear controller, used to send control information to the steering gear;

The ten-degree-of-freedom sensor sends the measured data to the main controller for data fusion. After the main controller judges the data, it controls the steering gear through the sixteen-way steering gear controller to adjust the movement posture of the snake body, thus realizing the control of the snake body. Closed-loop control of snake body.

The solar charging module is used to convert solar energy into electrical energy to charge the battery pack module;

The power detection module is used to detect the power of the battery pack module in real time. When the voltage of the battery pack module is lower than 10 volts, it sends a signal to the main controller to control the snake body to surface and charge the battery pack module through the solar charging module.

As preferably, described snakehead comprises wireless camera, snakehead shell, transparent cover and snakehead joint male; The medial side of the male head of the snake head joint.

Preferably, the snake tail includes a snake tail housing, a USB interface module, and a snake tail joint male head, the front end of the snake tail housing is fixed outside the snake tail joint male head, and the USB interface module is fixed inside the snake tail joint male head.

Preferably, each of the rigid joints is composed of a housing, two joint female heads and two aluminum alloy fixing pieces, the two joint female heads are respectively fixed at both ends of the housing, and the aluminum alloy fixing pieces are symmetrically fixed on The inner side of the female head of the joint.

As a preference, each of the flexible joints is composed of a steel wire hose, an orthogonal rudder unit and two joint male heads, the two joint male heads are respectively fixed at both ends of the steel wire hose, and the orthogonal rudder unit is placed on the steel wire In the hose, and fixed on the inner side of the joint male head.

As preferably, each of the orthogonal steering groups includes two steering gears, two steering gear brackets and two L-shaped brackets; the front end of each steering gear is fixed on a steering gear bracket, and the rear of each steering gear The end is connected with an L-shaped bracket, and the two L-shaped brackets are connected orthogonally to realize the three-dimensional movement of the snake body.

Preferably, the ten-degree-of-freedom sensor includes:

Three-axis gyroscope, used to detect the angular velocity of the snake when turning;

Three-axis accelerometer, used to detect the acceleration magnitude and direction of the snake body;

Three-axis magnetometer, used to detect the orientation of the snake;

The barometer is used to detect the air pressure inside the snake body.

Preferably, the main controller includes:

The data receiving module is used to receive the data detected by the ten-degree-of-freedom sensor, the temperature and humidity sensor group and the power detection module;

The data fusion module is used to fuse the data of the three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer and three-axis magnetometer received by the data receiving module to obtain the snake heading angle and its three-axis velocity components;

The air pressure analysis module is used to calculate the data of the barometer received by the data receiving module to obtain the air pressure value inside the snake body to detect the airtightness of the snake body;

The data sending module is used to send control commands to the wireless camera, the sixteen-way steering gear controller, and the temperature and humidity sensor group.

Preferably, the solar charging module includes a booster and six flexible solar panels. After the six flexible solar panels are connected in series, the obtained voltage is boosted by the booster and then sent to the battery pack module.

The present invention has following advantage:

1. The present invention obtains the acceleration, pitch angle and internal air pressure of the snake body due to the adoption of a ten-degree-of-freedom sensor composed of a three-axis gyroscope, a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis magnetometer and a barometer, so the motion posture of the snake body can be collected in real time information and monitor its airtight information.

2. The main controller adopted in the present invention fuses the data measured by the ten-degree-of-freedom sensor, and after judging the data, controls the steering gear through the sixteen-way steering gear controller, which can adjust the motion posture of the snake body in real time, Realize the closed-loop control of the snake body.

3. The snake body of the present invention can detect the power of the battery pack module in real time due to the power detection module adopted, and when the voltage of the battery pack module is lower than 10 volts, a signal is sent to the main controller to control the snake body to float out of the water, thereby passing solar energy The charging module charges the battery pack module to ensure sufficient battery life.

The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is the overall structural representation of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the external structure of the snakehead of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the snake head in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the external structure of the snake tail of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the snake tail;

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a rigid joint structure of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged schematic view of the joint female head in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of the external structure of the flexible joint of the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the flexible joint of the present invention;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged schematic view of the joint male in Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the orthogonal steering unit in Fig. 9;

Fig. 12 is a block diagram of the electrical principle of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Referring to Fig. 1, the present invention includes a snake head 1, a snake tail 2, a plurality of rigid joints 3 and a plurality of flexible joints 4, the rigid joints of this example are set to seven but not limited to seven, and the flexible joints are set to six but not limited to six indivual. These rigid joints 3 and these flexible joints 4 are connected alternately to form a snake body 5 ; The structure of each part is as follows:

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , the snake head 1 includes a wireless camera 11 , a snake head shell 12 , a transparent cover 13 , a snake head joint 14 and a fixed bracket 15 . Wherein the front end of the snake head joint male head 14 is provided with the snake head joint male head groove 141, the transparent cover 13 is fixed on the front end of the snake head shell 12, and is waterproofed around the transparent cover 13 with plastic cement, and the rear end of the snake head shell 12 is inserted into the snake head The snake head joint male groove 141 on the outside of the joint male head 14 is sealed with silica gel after fastening. The wireless camera 11 is fixed on the fixed bracket 15, and the fixed bracket 15 is fixed on the inner side of the male head 14 of the snake head joint.

The male head joint 14 of the snake head is made of, but not limited to, ABS engineering plastics and processed by a 3D printer; the shell of the snake head 12 is made of, but not limited to, plastic; the transparent cover 13 is made of, but not limited to, a plexiglass plate.

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , the snake tail 2 includes a snake tail housing 21 , a USB interface module 22 and a snake tail joint male 23 . Wherein the outside of the front end of the snake tail joint male head 23 is provided with a snake tail joint male head groove 231, the snake tail shell 21 is inserted into the snake tail joint male head groove 231, and sealed with silica gel after fastening; the USB interface module 22 is fastened In the inner side of the male head 23 of the snake tail joint.

The snake-tail joint male 23 is made of but not limited to ABS engineering plastics and processed by a 3D printer; the snake-tail shell 21 is made of but not limited to plastic.

Referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 , the rigid joint 3 includes a housing 31 , two joint female heads 32 and two aluminum alloy fixing pieces 33 . The outer side of each joint female head 32 is provided with a joint female head groove 321, and the inner surface is provided with a joint female head screw hole 322; the two ends of the housing 31 are respectively inserted into the joint female head grooves of the two joint female heads 32 321, and sealed with silica gel after fastening; two aluminum alloy fixing pieces 33 are symmetrically placed inside the joint female head 32, and fastened at the screw hole 322 of the joint female head with screws for placing the circuit.

The joint female head 32 is made of but not limited to ABS engineering plastic and processed by a 3D printer; the housing 31 is made of but not limited to plastic.

Referring to FIG. 8 , FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 , the flexible joint 4 includes a steel wire hose 41 , an orthogonal steering unit 42 and two joint male heads 43 . Wherein, the outer side of each joint male 43 is provided with the joint male groove 431, and the inner surface is provided with the joint male screw hole 432, and the two ends of the steel wire hose 41 are respectively inserted into the joint males on the outside of the two joint males 43. In the head groove 431, fasten with screws at the screw hole 432 of the joint male head, and seal it with silica gel;

The male joint 43 is made of, but not limited to, ABS engineering plastics and processed by a 3D printer.

Referring to FIG. 11 , the orthogonal steering unit 42 includes two steering gears 51 , two steering gear brackets 421 and two L-shaped brackets 422 . Wherein the rear end of each steering gear 51 is provided with a steering wheel 423, the front end is fastened on the steering gear bracket 421, each steering wheel 423 is fixed on an L-shaped bracket 422, and the two L-shaped brackets 422 are orthogonal connect.

The joint female head 32 on the outside of each rigid joint 3 is fixed on the joint male head 43 on the outside of each flexible joint 4, alternately connected, and the rear end of the snake head joint male head 23 is fixed on the joint female head 32 of the first rigid joint 3 The inner side of the snake tail joint male head 23 is fixed on the inner side of the joint female head 32 of the last rigid joint 3 to form a snake body 6.

Referring to Fig. 12, the circuit of the present invention includes a wireless camera 11, a ten-degree-of-freedom sensor 56, a steering gear 51, a sixteen-way steering gear controller 57, a main controller 52, a battery pack module 53, a temperature and humidity sensor group 54, a solar charging module 58 and power detection module 59. Wherein: the main controller 52 includes a data receiving module 521, a data fusion module 522, an air pressure analysis module 523 and a data sending module 524; the solar charging module 58 includes a booster 582 and a flexible solar panel 581; the ten-degree-of-freedom sensor 56 includes three three-axis gyroscope 561 , three-axis accelerometer 562 , three-axis magnetometer 563 and barometer 564 .

The data receiving module 521 adopts an asynchronous serial port communication mode to receive the data detected by the ten-degree-of-freedom sensor 56, the temperature and humidity sensor group 54, and the power detection module 59;

The data fusion module 522 is used to fuse the data received by the data receiving module 521 from the three-axis gyroscope 561, the three-axis accelerometer 562 and the three-axis magnetometer 563 in the ten-degree-of-freedom sensor 56;

The air pressure analysis module 523 is used to calculate the data of the barometer 564 received by the data receiving module 521 to obtain the air pressure value inside the snake body 6;

The data sending module 524 adopts an asynchronous serial port communication mode to send control instructions to the wireless camera 11 and the sixteen-way steering gear controller 57;

The sixteen-way steering gear controller 57 controls the steering gear 51 by sending pulse width modulation waves;

The battery pack module 53 connects the positive and negative poles to the power detection module 59, and the power detection module 59 converts the voltage information into an AD signal and sends it to the data receiving module 521;

The voltage generated by the flexible solar panel 581 irradiated by sunlight is boosted by the booster 582 and enters the battery pack module 53 to charge the battery pack module 53 .

The invention can realize the basic functions of attitude correction, air tightness detection and solar charging, and its working principle is as follows:

one. How Posture Correction Works

When the snake body 6 is operating underwater, the three-axis gyroscope 561, the three-axis accelerometer 562 and the three-axis magnetometer 563 conduct real-time information on the angular velocity of the snake body 6 when it turns, the magnitude and direction of the acceleration of the snake body 6, and the position information of the snake body 6. Collect, and output the data collected to the data receiving module 521, after the data receiving module 521 conditioning and conversion, input to the data fusion module 522, after the data fusion module 522 fuses and judges, through the data sending module 524, enter The sixteen-way steering gear controller 57, after being processed by the sixteen-way steering gear controller 57, enters the steering gear 51 to adjust the motion posture of the snake body 6, thereby realizing the closed-loop control of the snake body 6.

two. Working principle of air tightness detection:

Before launching into the water, inflate and pressurize the snake body 6, and let it stand for a period of time, the barometer 564 will collect the air pressure value inside the snake body 6 in real time, send it to the data receiving module 521, and after the data receiving module 521 adjusts and converts, enter The air pressure analysis module 523, after processing and judging the data by the air pressure analysis module, draws whether the airtightness of the snake body 6 is good. If the airtightness is good, then the snake body 6 can be launched into the water, otherwise it cannot be launched into the water.

three. How solar charging works:

During the underwater operation of the snake body 6, the power detection module 59 converts the voltage information of the battery pack module 53 into an AD signal, and then enters the data receiving module 521, and after the main controller 52 judges whether the battery pack voltage is lower than 10 volts , if it is lower than 10 volts, then send a control command to the sixteen-way steering gear controller 57, after being processed by the sixteen-way steering gear controller 57, enter the steering gear 51, and after the snake body 6 emerges from the water, the flexible solar panel 581 boosts the voltage generated by the sunlight through the booster 582 and enters the battery pack module 53 to charge the battery pack module 53 .

The above description is only a specific example of the present invention, and does not constitute any limitation to the present invention. Obviously, for those skilled in the art, after understanding the content and principles of the present invention, it is possible to make various modifications and changes in form and details without departing from the principles and structures of the present invention, but these are based on the present invention. The modification and change of the inventive concept are still within the protection scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims (9)

1. but snake-shaped robot in the multifunctional water of a closed-loop control comprises snakehead (1), ophiruid (2) and snake body (5), and snake body (5) is alternately connected to form by a plurality of rigidity joint (3) and a plurality of flexible joint (4); The two ends of snake body (5) are connected to form the snake body with snakehead (1) and ophiruid (2) respectively; Snakehead (1) is in-built wireless camera (11), and steering wheel (51), master controller (52), battery module (53) and Temperature Humidity Sensor group (54) are housed in the snake body (5), and it is characterized in that: the snake body also is equipped with in (5):

Ten free degree sensors (56) for the acceleration, the angle of pitch and the air pressure inside that obtain the snake body, with the athletic posture information of Real-time Collection snake body, are monitored its airtight information;

Ten six road steering engine controllers (57) are used for sending control information to steering wheel (51);

Ten free degree sensors (56) send to master controller (52) with the data that record and carry out data fusion, after master controller (52) is judged data, by ten six road steering engine controllers (57) control steering wheel (51), adjusting the athletic posture of snake body, thereby realized the closed-loop control to the snake body.

Solar recharging module (58) is used for solar energy is converted to electric energy, is battery module (53) charging;

Electric weight detection module (59), be used for detecting in real time the electric weight of battery module (53), when battery module (53) voltage is lower than 10 volts, to master controller (52) transmitted signal, control snake body emerges, and is battery module (53) charging by solar recharging module (58).

2. but according to snake-shaped robot in the multifunctional water of closed-loop control claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that described snakehead (1), comprise wireless camera (11), snakehead shell (12), translucent cover (13) and snakehead joint male (14); Translucent cover (13) is fixed on snakehead shell (12) front end, and the rear end of snakehead shell (12) is fixed on the outside of snakehead joint male (14), and wireless camera (11) is fixed on the inboard of snakehead joint male (14).

3. but according to snake-shaped robot in the multifunctional water of closed-loop control claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that described ophiruid (2), comprise ophiruid shell (21), usb interface module (22) and ophiruid joint male (23), ophiruid shell (21) front end is fixed on ophiruid joint male (23) outside, and usb interface module (22) is fixed on ophiruid joint male (23) inboard.

4. but according to snake-shaped robot in the multifunctional water of closed-loop control claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that each rigidity joint (3), consisted of by housing (31), two joint females (32) and two aluminium alloy stators (33), two joint females (32) are separately fixed at the two ends of housing (31), and aluminium alloy stator (33) symmetry is fixed on joint female (32) inboard.

5. but according to snake-shaped robot in the multifunctional water of closed-loop control claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that described each flexible joint (4), consisted of by wired hose (41), quadrature steering wheel group (42) and two joint males (43), two joint males (43) are separately fixed at the two ends of wired hose (41), quadrature steering wheel group (42) is positioned in the wired hose (41), and is fixed on joint male (43) inboard.

6. but according to snake-shaped robot in the multifunctional water of closed-loop control claimed in claim 5, it is characterized in that described each quadrature steering wheel group (42) comprises two steering wheels (51), two steering wheel supports (421) and two L-type supports (422); The front end of each steering wheel (51) is fixed on the steering wheel support (421), and the rear end of each steering wheel (51) is connected with a L-type support (422), and quadrature connects between two L-type supports (422), to realize the three-dimensional motion of snake body.

7. but according to snake-shaped robot in the multifunctional water of closed-loop control claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that described ten free degree sensors (56), comprising:

Three-axis gyroscope (561), the angular speed when turning to for detection of the snake body;

Three axis accelerometer (562) is for detection of acceleration magnitude and the direction of snake body;

Three axle magnetometers (563) are for detection of the residing orientation of snake body;

Barometer (564) is for detection of snake body air pressure inside.

8. but according to snake-shaped robot in the multifunctional water of closed-loop control claimed in claim 5, it is characterized in that described master controller (52), comprising:

Data reception module (521) is used for receiving the data that ten free degree sensors (56), Temperature Humidity Sensor group (54) and electric weight detection module (59) detect;

Data fusion module (522), the data that are used for three-axis gyroscope (561), three axis accelerometer (562) and three axle magnetometers (563) that data receiver module (521) is received merge, and draw the velocity component of snake body course angle and three axles thereof;

Gas pressure analysis module (523) is carried out computing for the data of the barometer (564) that data receiver module (521) is received, and obtains the atmospheric pressure value of snake body inside, to detect snake body seal;

Data transmission blocks (524) is used for wireless camera (11), ten six road steering engine controller (57) sending controling instructions.

9. but according to snake-shaped robot in the multifunctional water of closed-loop control claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that described solar recharging module (58), comprise stepup transformer (582) and six flexible solar panels (581), after six flexible solar panels (581) series connection with the voltage that obtains after stepup transformer (582) promotes, flow to battery module (53).

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