CN103847826B - Bionical crawler type adheres to walking mechanism and movement technique thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism and a movement method thereof, comprising a fuselage frame, a tensioning mechanism, a driving mechanism, and an adhesive tape. The driving mechanism includes a driving motor, a driving motor gear, a driving wheel, and a driven wheel. The driving wheel is connected to one end of the fuselage frame through the gear shaft, and the driven wheel is connected to the other end of the fuselage frame through the driven wheel shaft. The driving motor drives the driving motor gear, and the driving motor gear meshes with the gear shaft. The tensioning mechanism includes a tensioning wheel frame , a tension spring, a miniature force sensor, a tension wheel, a sleeve, the tension wheel, a driving wheel, and a driven wheel are connected by adhesive strips, and a mechanism connection device arranged on the fuselage frame is also included. The invention realizes the adhesion, detachment and pressing of soles through the robot body outputting a certain tangential displacement and pose angle, and helps the robot to walk and stay on the wall.

Description

Bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism and its motion method

technical field

The invention relates to the field of bionic robots, in particular to a bionic crawler-type adhesion walking mechanism and a motion method thereof, which are mainly used in wall-climbing robots to realize the functions of adhesion, walking, staying and overcoming obstacles on walls with different inclination angles.

Background technique

Three-dimensional surface crawling robot has always been a research hotspot in the field of robotics. The use of wall-climbing robots can replace humans to perform tasks on steep walls, such as cleaning the exterior walls of skyscrapers, overhauling oil and gas tanks, and maintaining nuclear facilities. The study found that there are millions of micron-scale setae growing on the surface of the toes of the great gecko, and there are thousands of nano-scale fluff on the top of each seta. The van der Waals force (that is, intermolecular force) between these bristle arrays and the wall provides support for the giant gecko to walk on the wall. Researchers use MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) technology, NEMS (nano-electromechanical systems) technology, etc., with PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane), PU (polyurethane) and other polymers or silicon wafers as substrates, in the The surface is processed to imitate the micro-nano bristle array on the toe surface of the big gecko, and it is equipped on the robot to obtain the three-dimensional space surface crawling ability, which is conducive to improving the climbing ability of the wall-climbing robot and reducing energy consumption, noise and other unfavorable factors. During the research process, it was also found that some high polymers, such as silica gel, have a certain degree of adhesion even though their surfaces have not been processed, so they are often used by researchers at home and abroad to test the feasibility of institutions. The surface-processed or unprocessed adhesive materials need to apply a certain normal pressure before use to improve the adhesive strength, so they are also called "Pressure Sensitive Material".

Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in China has invented a robot that imitates a gecko to adhere to its toes and provides a method of movement. The imitation gecko toe is suitable for the design and motion realization of the gecko imitation crawling robot sticking on the smooth surface, and can completely simulate the larger adhesion force of the large gecko toe adhesion array in one direction and the smaller detachment force in the opposite direction. Anisotropic mechanical properties. However, the toe stiffness of this kind is mainly determined by springs and flexible materials, and the adaptive adjustment ability for different occasions is not strong. Stanford University in the United States developed the four-legged wall-climbing robot Stickybot. Stickybot has four toes on each foot, and the toes are turned up through embedded steel wires. It can walk stably on a 90° wall. However, its structure is complex and its range of motion is limited. The Geckobot wall-climbing robot, Four-bar wall-climbing robot, and Waalbot series wall-climbing robot developed by Carnegie Mellon University in the United States use disc-shaped feet as adhesive walking parts, and perform peeling or adhesion actions through linear motion or rotation. The mechanical properties of this type of sole material are fixed, and it cannot be adaptively adjusted when the wall angle changes or the applied load changes to maintain the best adhesion state and avoid adhesion failure.

Contents of the invention

(1) Technical problems to be solved

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism and its movement method. The sole structure can help the bionic wall-climbing robot to adhere and walk on the smooth surface in three-dimensional space. The output of rotational motion and tangential motion through the robot body can realize staying on the wall at any angle, adapting to different external loads and walls at different angles. The internal tension of the adhesive track can be adjusted through the tensioning mechanism, and the peeling angle can be adjusted to adapt to the changes of the applied load, wall angle and wall curvature.

(2) Technical solution

In order to solve the problems of the technologies described above, the technical solution adopted in the present invention is:

A bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism, comprising a fuselage frame, a tensioning mechanism, a driving mechanism, and an adhesive belt, wherein the driving mechanism includes a driving motor, a driving motor gear, a driving wheel, and a driven wheel, and the driving wheel passes through the gear The shaft is connected to one end of the fuselage frame, the driven wheel is connected to the other end of the fuselage frame through the driven wheel shaft, the drive motor drives the drive motor gear, and the drive motor gear is connected to the gear shaft. Engagement, the tensioning mechanism includes a tensioning wheel frame, a tensioning spring, a miniature force sensor, a tensioning wheel, and a sleeve, and the sleeve is arranged on the upper surface of the fuselage frame, and the upper surface of the sleeve is provided with The miniature force sensor, the tensioning wheel frame includes a shaft extension and a mounting end, the lower end of the shaft extension passes through the miniature force sensor and the sleeve, and the tension spring is sleeved on the shaft extension. The tension spring is arranged between the miniature force sensor and the installation end, the tension wheel is installed on the installation end through the tension wheel shaft, and the tension wheel, the driving wheel and the driven wheel pass through the adhesive tape The connection also includes a mechanism connection device arranged on the fuselage frame.

Wherein, the sleeve is a fixed sleeve fixed on the upper surface of the fuselage frame.

Wherein, the sleeve is a lifting sleeve arranged on the upper surface of the fuselage frame, the outer surface of the lifting sleeve is provided with a rack, and the fuselage frame is provided with a driving gear connected with a tensioning motor, The driving gear meshes with the rack of the lifting sleeve and drives the lifting sleeve up and down.

Wherein, the mechanism connection device includes a sliding groove arranged on the side of the fuselage frame, and a lateral sliding piece is arranged in the sliding groove, and both sides of the lateral sliding piece are installed on the sliding groove through lateral springs. Inside.

Wherein, the adhesive track is made of a layer of adhesive material fixed on the outside of the soft rubber flat belt.

The motion method of the bionic crawler type adhesion walking mechanism,

(1) The robot body outputs rotation and translation motions in the x-y plane to the adhesive walking mechanism by controlling the lateral sliding parts, and through the rotation motion, a certain posture angle is formed between the line connecting the driving wheels and the wall surface;

(2) For the adhesive walking mechanism in the suspended phase, the robot body controls the lateral slider to make the driving wheel of the adhesive walking mechanism touch the wall, and then pushes the adhesive walking mechanism forward to make the active wheel The wheel rolls forward, and in this process, the contact and adhesion between the adhesive tape and the wall are completed. After achieving full adhesion, it enters the support phase;

(3) For the adhesive walking mechanism in the support phase, the robot body lifts and detaches the adhesive walking mechanism by controlling the lateral sliding parts; in addition, when it is on a wall with a large inclination angle, the robot body gives the adhesion mechanism a certain orientation angle, and output a reciprocating motion parallel to the wall. When the adhesive tape of the peeling end is peeled off at a certain peeling angle, the peeling force makes the adhesive tape of the non-peeling end pressed when it enters the lower edge of the non-peeling end wheel; then, the non-peeling end becomes the peeling end and provides a downward force; the reciprocating motion advances;

(4) When encountering an obstacle, lift the adhesion mechanism to cross the obstacle or avoid it.

(3) Beneficial effects

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

(1) Compared with the soles of the traditional wall-climbing robot, the adhesive track structure is used as the adhesive sole, and only a small normal pressing force is required to achieve adhesion by inputting tangential displacement.

(2) A single adhesion mechanism has the function of self-providing pre-pressure. Especially on walls with large inclinations such as ceilings, the robot can hover in place by outputting reciprocating motion to the adhesion mechanism at the diagonal for a long time. However, when the traditional legged wall-climbing robot transforms the suspended phase into the support phase, it needs to rely on the support phase to provide pre-pressure through the body;

(3) The micro force sensor of the tensioning mechanism can feel the spring force, and then obtain the belt tension through conversion, and give real-time feedback.

(4) The lateral sliding part connects the body and the sole of the foot, and cooperates with the lateral spring to solve the internal redundant force problem of the wall-climbing robot under the diagonal gait.

In an improved form of this solution, the drive gear is fixed on the output shaft of the tensioning motor and meshes with the rack on the lifting sleeve. There is a linear motion pair between the tensioning wheel frame and the lifting sleeve. The upper end of the lifting sleeve is fixed with a miniature force sensor. A tension spring is installed between the miniature force sensor and the tension wheel frame, which can transmit force and displacement.

During the movement, the tensioning motor rotates, driving the lifting sleeve to move up and down, and the force and movement are transmitted through the tensioning spring to actively adjust the internal tension of the adhesive track, and then actively adapt to different external loads, walls with different angles or a certain curvature wall. Output a certain tangential displacement and pose angle through the robot body to realize the adhesion, detachment and pressing of the soles of the feet, helping the robot to walk and stay on the wall. Passive or active adjustment through the tensioning mechanism can increase the adaptability of the bionic wall-climbing robot to external loads, walls with various angles, and walls with a certain curvature.

Description of drawings

Figure 1a is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

Fig. 1b is the front view of Fig. 1a;

Figure 2a is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

Fig. 2b is the front view of Fig. 2a;

Fig. 2c is the left view of Fig. 2a;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism traveling on a plane according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

Fig. 4a is a schematic diagram of lifting and surmounting obstacles of the bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4b is a schematic diagram of lifting and surmounting obstacles of the bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism of the second embodiment of the present invention when it moves on a surface with a certain curvature.

detailed description

The specific implementation manners of the present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. The following examples are used to illustrate the present invention, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

Embodiment one

As shown in Fig. 1a and Fig. 1b, a kind of bionic crawler-type adhesion walking mechanism comprises fuselage frame 1, tensioning mechanism, driving mechanism, adhesive belt 12, and described driving mechanism comprises driving motor 3, driving motor gear 4. The driving wheel 6 and the driven wheel 13, the driving wheel 6 is connected to one end of the body frame 1 through the gear shaft 5, and the driven wheel 13 is connected to the other end of the body frame 1 through the driven wheel shaft 14, Described driving motor 3 drives described driving motor gear 4, and described driving motor gear 4 is meshed with described gear shaft 5, and described tensioning mechanism comprises tensioning wheel frame 7, tensioning spring 10, miniature force sensor 11, Tensioning pulley 9, sleeve 17, described sleeve 17 is arranged on the upper surface of described fuselage frame 1, described miniature force sensor 11 is arranged on the upper surface of described sleeve 17, and described tensioning wheel frame 7 comprises shaft Extension 702 and installation end 701, the lower end of the shaft extension 702 passes through the miniature force sensor 11 and the sleeve 17, the tension spring 10 is sleeved on the shaft extension 702, and the tension spring 10 is located on Between the miniature force sensor 11 and the mounting end 701, the tensioning wheel 9 is installed on the mounting end 701 through the tensioning wheel shaft 8, and the tensioning wheel 9, the driving wheel 6, and the driven wheel 13 pass through the The adhesive tape 12 is connected, and also includes a mechanism connecting device located on the fuselage frame 1 .

The sleeve 17 is a fixed sleeve fixed on the upper surface of the fuselage frame 1 .

The mechanism connection device includes a sliding groove 16 arranged on the side of the fuselage frame 1, and the sliding groove 16 is provided with a lateral sliding piece 2, and the two sides of the lateral sliding piece 2 are installed on the side by lateral springs 15. Inside the sliding groove 16.

The adhesive track 12 is made of a layer of adhesive material fixed on the outside of the soft rubber flat belt.

Embodiment two

As shown in Figure 2a, Figure 2b and Figure 2c, the sleeve 17 is a lifting sleeve arranged on the upper surface of the fuselage frame 1, the outer surface of the lifting sleeve is provided with a rack, and the fuselage The frame 1 is provided with a driving gear 18 connected with a tensioning motor 19, the driving gear 18 meshes with the rack of the lifting sleeve and drives the lifting sleeve to go up and down.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of the adhesive walking mechanism traveling on a flat surface. The body of the robot outputs the rotation and translation motion in the x-y plane to the adhesive walking mechanism by controlling the lateral sliding part 2; the robot body first outputs the rotational movement, so that the connection line between the main and follower wheels of the adhesive walking mechanism and the wall form a certain angle α (position posture angle). The DC motor 3 rotates to drive the adhesion mechanism and the body to advance. The rear part of the adhesive tape is peeled off at a certain peeling angle θ, and the resulting adhesive force Fpeeling at the peeling point makes the adhesive tape 12 receive a pressing force Fpreload when it enters the lower edge of the driving wheel 6, which provides a sufficient amount for the adhesive material on the outer surface of the adhesive tape 12. The pre-pressure ensures that it has a certain adhesion force, and then continuously provides adhesion force for the adhesion walking mechanism and robot body. By changing the rotation speed of the DC motor 3, the posture angle α, and adjusting the tension force of the adhesive tape, the length a of the adhesive portion of the adhesive tape and the peeling angle θ can be changed, so as to adapt to different wall inclination angles. Through the output rotation of the tensioning motor 19, the lifting sleeve 17 can be lifted or lowered, and then the force and displacement are transmitted to the tensioning wheel frame 7 through the tensioning spring 10, which plays the role of actively tensioning or loosening the adhesive tape 12, thereby Actively adapts to changes in adhesion tension due to peel force.

Fig. 4a and Fig. 4b are the schematic diagrams of the second embodiment of the sticky walking mechanism lifting to cross obstacles and driving directly over obstacles respectively. As shown in FIG. 4 a , for a larger obstacle 100 , the robot body lifts the adhesion mechanism through the lateral slide 2 and directly crosses the obstacle. As shown in Fig. 4b, for a smaller obstacle 150, the tensioning motor 19 is rotated to lower the tensioning wheel 9, loosen the adhesive belt 12 so that it can adapt to the shape of the obstacle, and help the adhesion mechanism to pass the obstacle stably.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic view of the second embodiment of the adhesive walking mechanism traveling on a smooth surface with a certain radian. By the rotation of the tensioning motor 19, the tensioning wheel 9 is lowered, and the adhesive belt 12 is loosened to adapt to a smooth surface 200 with a certain radian, so as to help the adhesive walking mechanism adhere stably on this surface.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it should be pointed out that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the technical principle of the present invention, some improvements and modifications can also be made. These improvements and modifications It should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (6)

1. A bionic crawler type adhesion walking mechanism is characterized in that: comprise fuselage frame, tensioning mechanism, driving mechanism, adhesive belt, described driving mechanism comprises driving motor, driving motor gear, driving wheel, driven wheel, The driving wheel is connected to one end of the body frame through a gear shaft, the driven wheel is connected to the other end of the body frame through a driven wheel shaft, the drive motor drives the drive motor gear, and the drive motor gear Engaged with the gear shaft, the tensioning mechanism includes a tensioning wheel frame, a tensioning spring, a miniature force sensor, a tensioning wheel, and a sleeve, and the sleeve is arranged on the upper surface of the fuselage frame. The upper surface of the sleeve is provided with the miniature force sensor, the tensioner frame includes a shaft extension and a mounting end, the lower end of the shaft extension passes through the miniature force sensor and the sleeve, and the shaft extension is sleeved with the Tension spring, the tension spring is arranged between the miniature force sensor and the installation end, the tension wheel is installed on the installation end through the tension wheel shaft, the tension wheel, the driving wheel, the driven wheel Through the adhesive connection, it also includes a mechanism connection device arranged on the frame of the fuselage. 2. The bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve is a fixed sleeve fixed to the upper surface of the fuselage frame. 3. The bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that: the sleeve is a lifting sleeve arranged on the upper surface of the fuselage frame, and the outer surface of the lifting sleeve is provided with rack, the fuselage frame is provided with a driving gear connected with a tensioning motor, and the driving gear meshes with the rack of the lifting sleeve and drives the lifting sleeve to go up and down. 4. The bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the mechanism connection device includes a sliding groove arranged on the side of the fuselage frame, and a lateral direction is arranged in the sliding groove. As for the sliding part, both sides of the lateral sliding part are installed in the sliding groove through lateral springs. 5. The bionic crawler-type adhesive walking mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that: the adhesive crawler is made of a layer of adhesive material fixed on the outside of a soft rubber flat belt. 6. The motion method of the bionic crawler type adhesion walking mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that: (1) The robot body outputs rotation and translation motions in the x-y plane to the adhesive walking mechanism by controlling the lateral sliding parts, and through the rotation motion, a certain posture angle is formed between the line connecting the driving wheels and the wall surface; (2) For the adhesive walking mechanism in the suspended phase, the robot body controls the lateral slider to make the driving wheel of the adhesive walking mechanism touch the wall, and then pushes the adhesive walking mechanism forward to make the active wheel The wheel rolls forward, and in this process, the contact and adhesion between the adhesive zone and the wall surface are completed, and after the complete adhesion is achieved, it enters the support phase; (3) For the adhesive walking mechanism in the support phase, the robot body lifts and detaches the adhesive walking mechanism by controlling the lateral sliding parts; in addition, when it is on a wall with a large inclination angle, the robot body gives the adhesion mechanism a certain orientation Angle, and output reciprocating motion parallel to the wall surface, when the adhesive tape at the peeling end is peeled at a certain peeling angle, the peeling force makes the adhesive tape at the non-peeling end be pressed when it enters the lower edge of the non-peeling end wheel; then, the non-peeling end becomes peeled end and provides downforce; reciprocating motion advances; (4) When encountering an obstacle, lift the adhesion mechanism to cross the obstacle or avoid it.