CN104875804B - Wind-driven magnetically controlled air valve turns spherical robot - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a wind-driven magnetically controlled air valve steering spherical robot, which includes an outer spherical shell, an inner spherical shell, a steering and electric energy collection device; the inner spherical shell is a sealed hard spherical shell, which is spliced and fixed by two hemispherical shells. The outer spherical shell is a perforated spherical shell with certain flexibility, which is spliced and fixed by two hemispherical shells, and several air inlets are evenly distributed on the two hemispherical shells; the steering and electric energy collection device includes Magnetically controlled air valve, magnetically controlled and power collection combined device and internal posture maintaining mechanism; the mutual cooperation of the outer spherical shell, inner spherical shell and magnetically controlled air valve forms a closed cavity between the two layers of spherical shells. Under the action of the formation of high pressure in the cavity. The overall design of the present invention is simple in structure, compact in function, light in weight, does not require complex internal transmission mechanisms, and has a large amount of free space inside for carrying detection instruments.

Description

Wind-driven magnetically controlled air valve turns spherical robot

technical field

The invention relates to a wind-driven magnetically controlled air valve steering spherical robot, which is a spherical robot that can be used in polar scientific research and detection, and belongs to the field of new robot development.

Background technique

The natural environment in Antarctica is extremely harsh, making outdoor expeditions extremely difficult and life-threatening. In order to be able to inspect a larger area of Antarctic landform and collect various data more safely and conveniently, it is an ideal idea to use a robot device that can collect polar data to replace human work. Considering the particularity of the polar environment (low temperature, strong wind, and vast area), spherical robots are the best choice. The spherical robot has unique advantages. All of its drive system, control system and detection system are sealed in the spherical shell, which is very beneficial to isolate the low temperature in the environment and avoid circuit failure or detection data distortion. Therefore, it is very meaningful to design a polar earth robot for Antarctic scientific research.

A spherical robot is a robot with a very special shape. Its special feature is that it does not have any exposed mechanical structure or electronic structure from the outside, just a pure ball. Such robots have received a lot of attention recently. Compared with the current traditional robot, its special shape has the following advantages: the whole system is completely covered by the shell and can be fully protected; it has high motion efficiency and stable motion law similar to wheeled motion; because of the geometric symmetry Inherent in nature, the motion of a spherical robot can be omnidirectional; each part of the spherical robot's shell can act as a "foot", which can recover quickly after a collision and automatically adapt to soft or uneven terrain and other working conditions it encounters .

According to the existing research results, the energy source of the drive system of the spherical robot can be divided into two categories: one is self-driven, that is, relying on the robot's own energy and the internal mechanism to generate power to make the robot run. Self-driving is characterized by strong maneuverability, good adaptability, and small requirements for the working environment. The path of the robot can be precisely controlled through the robot's control system and the optimal path planning has been carried out; the disadvantage is that self-driving requires a lot of energy for Drive system, resulting in low battery life of the robot.

The other type is the externally driven spherical robot, which mainly relies on the external energy of the environment where the spherical robot is located as the driving energy, mainly including wind drive, water drive, solar drive, etc. The advantage of the external drive is that the drive does not require self-supplied energy. Compared with the self-driven system, the drive system is greatly simplified or even disappears. All the self-contained energy of the robot can be used for the control and detection system with low power consumption, so that the spherical robot The endurance of the battery is greatly improved; the disadvantage of the external drive is that it is highly dependent on the environment and is only suitable for use in a specific environment. For example, wind drive is only suitable for regions with rich wind resources, and hydraulic drive is only suitable for water environment with relatively large currents.

The earliest externally driven spherical robot was a polar exploration spherical robot named Tumbleweed reported by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2001. This is a large, wind-blown inflatable sphere, carrying loads such as various testing instruments inside the sphere. Since the entire sphere is inflatable, it can be deflated during transportation, reducing the volume to an extremely small level, and is very convenient to carry. The structure of the whole robot is simple and portable, which provides an effective and convenient method for researchers to collect data in a large area. In Greenland, the Tumbleweed Ranger completed a solo exploration across an ice sheet more than 130 kilometers long. Reliable data on temperature and pressure along the route were sent back via a satellite network.

The purely externally driven spherical robot sacrifices maneuverability, cannot change direction when necessary, cannot design the path to be detected, and cannot realize the active barrier function, which limits the application of this type of spherical robot.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of this invention is to design a wind-driven magnetically controlled air valve steering spherical robot suitable for polar scientific research, which can use wind energy as the driving energy, and at the same time design a novel steering mechanism, which is simple in structure and saves energy. With efficient power harvesting function. Ultimately, the controllable functions of range and direction of motion can be greatly improved.

To achieve the above object, the idea adopted in the present invention is:

A wind-driven magnetically controlled air valve steering spherical robot, including an outer spherical shell, an inner spherical shell, a steering and electric energy collection device; Bear a certain external force without causing large deformation, support the entire spherical shape and isolate the internal control module and detection module from the external low temperature environment to ensure the normal operation of the electronic circuit system; the outer spherical shell is a flexible The hole spherical shell is spliced and fixed by two hemispherical shells, and several air inlets are evenly distributed on the two hemispherical shells; the steering and electric energy collection device includes a magnetic control air valve, a magnetic control and electric power collection combination device and Internal posture maintaining mechanism; the mutual cooperation of the outer spherical shell, the inner spherical shell and the magnetically controlled air valve forms a closed cavity between the two layers of spherical shells, and forms a high pressure in the cavity under the action of wind pressure.

The magnetically controlled air valve includes a tuyere, an air valve housing, a rubber piston, and a spring; the tuyere has a wide mouth and a narrow mouth, wherein the wide mouth is aligned with the air inlet on the inner surface of the outer spherical shell, and the narrow mouth has external threads Structure; the air valve housing has a large diameter end and a small diameter end, wherein a small section of internal thread is arranged on the outer end of the large diameter end, which is screwed and connected to the narrow external thread of the tuyere; the spring is a pressure spring, and the diameter of the spring is less than The inner diameter of the large-diameter end of the air valve housing is larger than the inner diameter of the small-diameter end. It is placed in the large-diameter end of the air valve housing and can move axially; the elastic coefficient of the spring ensures that the magnetic control air valve opens in the high-pressure area of the spherical shell and closes in the low-pressure area; The rubber piston has a big head and a small head, which are connected with a piston rod in the middle. The rubber piston is inserted into the air valve housing, the small head and the connecting rod pass through the spring, and the big head is pressed on the spring, so that the whole piston can move in the axial direction.

The mechanical structure part of the magnetic control and power collection combined device is composed of a permanent magnet and an electromagnetic coil. The permanent magnet is fixed on the small head of the rubber piston. When the robot rolls, the permanent magnet moves with it, and around the electromagnetic coil An alternating magnetic field is formed, so that an alternating current is generated in the electromagnetic coil due to electromagnetic induction; the electromagnetic coil includes a coil frame and two winding copper wire coils, and the coil frame is fixed on the center position of the curved beam of the balance bracket, and the whole There are four pairs of identical electromagnetic coils in the device, which are arranged at intervals of 90°; when the steering function needs to be realized, it is only necessary to control the energization of the electromagnetic coil at a certain side position to attract the permanent magnet on the rubber piston to open the magnetically controlled air valve at the opposite position. The air in the cavity is sprayed outwards from the tuyere, and the reaction force of the spray makes the spherical robot turn to the opposite side to realize turning.

The internal posture maintaining mechanism includes a balance bracket, a mass block and universal balls; in order to achieve spherical constraints with the inner surface of the inner spherical shell, the balance bracket has a spherical outer contour with a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the inner spherical shell; the balance bracket structure It is divided into the bearing area at the bottom, the reinforcement ring and four curved beams evenly distributed at 90° around it. The bearing area is used to fix and install the power supply, control module and detection module, and the four curved beams are used to install and fix the electromagnetic coil. Located on the equatorial plane of the entire device; the mass block is acted by a power module, and is fixed on the bottom bearing area of the balance bracket, and its function is to lower the center of gravity of the posture maintaining mechanism; the universal ball is fixed on the square hole of the balance bracket Inside, there are eight universal balls in total, four of which are installed near the bottom bearing area and are evenly distributed at 90° intervals; the other four are installed at the top positions of the four curved beams and are evenly distributed at 90° intervals; The rolling ball passes through the hole of the balance bracket to make point contact with the inner wall of the inner spherical shell, and the eight universal balls work together to isolate the balance bracket from the inner spherical shell; the distance between the inner spherical shell and the internal posture maintaining mechanism The friction is changed from sliding friction to rolling friction, which greatly reduces the influence of friction on the posture holding mechanism. The function of the entire posture maintaining mechanism is to keep the control and detection module installed in the inner casing in a vertical posture, so as not to roll over due to the rolling of the inner casing.

The invention makes a unique and innovative improvement on the basis of the original wind-driven spherical robot, and improves the performance of the wind-driven spherical robot. Its advantages and innovations are:

(1) This design scheme belongs to a direction-controllable spherical robot driven by wind energy. Its structure and function are mainly designed for the special geographical environment of Antarctica, and its main application is in data collection during Antarctic scientific research. Its main drive relies on wind energy, which can save a lot of energy, and only consumes weak energy during turning. Coupled with its own energy harvesting device, it can maximize the endurance.

(2) The robot adopts a very unique steering principle and steering device. The steering principle is to use the uneven surface pressure distribution of the ball in the wind field to realize the steering function, and rely on the magnetic control check valve to realize the controllable side jet method for steering. The essence of steering power is the use of wind energy, which can reduce the power loss for steering.

(3) The electric energy collection device is the reverse application of the same device mechanism of the magnetic control check valve. When it is used for steering function, it is a magnetically controlled one-way valve, and the robot energizes the electromagnet to generate an attractive magnetic field; when it is used for collecting electric energy, it is an electric energy collection device, which converts the mechanical energy of the spherical robot into electric energy and collects it. While realizing the electric energy collection function, no special device needs to be designed, thereby reducing the weight of the robot and simplifying the structure.

(4) The overall design is simple in structure, compact in function, light in weight, does not require complicated internal transmission mechanism, and there is a lot of free space inside for testing instruments.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a front view structural schematic diagram of a spherical robot provided by the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a double-layer spherical shell of a spherical robot provided by the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of the internal posture maintaining mechanism provided by the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a structural schematic diagram of the magnetic control air valve provided by the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the final appearance of the spherical robot provided by the present invention.

detailed description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are described as follows in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

As shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 5, a kind of wind-driven magnetically controlled air valve turns to a spherical robot, including an outer spherical shell 1, an inner spherical shell 4, a steering and electric energy collection device; the inner spherical shell 4 is a sealed hard The mass spherical shell is made of two hemispherical shells spliced and fixed, which can withstand a certain external force without large deformation, support the entire spherical shape and isolate the internal control module and detection module from the external low temperature environment, ensuring that the electronic circuit The system works normally; the outer spherical shell 1 is a perforated spherical shell with certain flexibility, which is formed by splicing and fixing two hemispherical shells. There are 25 air inlets evenly distributed on the two hemispherical shells. The entire outer spherical shell 1 There are 50 air inlets on the top; the steering and electric energy collection device includes a magnetic control air valve, a magnetic control and electric power collection combination device and an internal posture maintaining mechanism; the interaction between the outer spherical shell 1, the inner spherical shell 4 and the magnetic control air valve Cooperate to form a closed cavity between the two layers of spherical shells, and form a high pressure in the cavity under the action of wind pressure.

As shown in Figure 4, the magnetically controlled air valve includes a tuyere 2, an air valve housing 3, a rubber piston 9, and a spring 10; The air port is aligned and fixed, and there is an external thread structure on the narrow port; the air valve housing 3 has a large-diameter end and a small-diameter end, wherein a small section of internal thread is provided on the outer end of the large-diameter end, and the narrow port connected to the air port 2 is screwed tightly. On the external thread of the mouth; the spring 10 is a compression spring, the diameter of the spring 10 is smaller than the inner diameter of the large diameter end of the air valve housing 3, and greater than the inner diameter of the small diameter end, placed in the large diameter end of the air valve housing 3, and can move axially; the spring 10 The elastic coefficient ensures that the magnetic control air valve is opened in the high-pressure area of the spherical shell and closed in the low-pressure area; the rubber piston 9 has a large head and a small head, which are connected by a piston rod in the middle, and the rubber piston 9 is inserted into the air valve housing 3. The rod passes through the spring 10, the big end is pressed on the spring 10, and the whole piston can move in the axial direction.

The magnetic control air valve has two working states of magnetic control and non-magnetic control. In the non-magnetic control state, the magnetic control air valve realizes the function of an ordinary check valve. When the air pressure at the left and right ends of the rubber piston 9 is equal, the rubber piston 9 is pressed against the large diameter end of the air valve housing 3 under the action of the spring 10, and the rubber piston 9 blocks the air port 2; when the air pressure at the left end of the rubber piston 9 is greater than the air pressure at the right end And when the pressure of the spring 10 can be overcome, the rubber piston 9 is pushed to the right, the tuyere 2 is opened, and the air can enter the cavity; The bottom is pushed to the left to close the air inlet, and the air in the cavity cannot be discharged. This feature makes the magnetic control air valve open automatically only in the high pressure area on the windward side, so that the air pressure in the ball cavity gradually rises, forming a positive air pressure difference relative to the side of the ball.

In the magnetically controlled state, the magnetically controlled air valve obtains the ability to open in reverse. At this time, the electric current in the appropriate direction is given to the electromagnetic coil 6, so that the electromagnetic coil 6 and the permanent magnet 11 generate mutual attraction force, and the check valve can be reversely opened by overcoming the spring 10 and the air pressure. When the steering function needs to be realized, only It is necessary to control the electromagnetic coil 6 located at a certain side position to energize and attract the permanent magnet 11 on the piston to open the magnetically controlled air valve at the opposite position, so that the air in the cavity is sprayed outward from the valve port, and the reaction force of the spray makes the spherical robot move in the opposite direction. Turn on one side to make a turn. The high pressure in the chamber is automatically maintained and restored by opening the magnetic control air valve on the windward side, which can realize continuous and independent direction adjustment.

The mechanical structure of the magnetic control and power collection combined device is composed of a permanent magnet 11 and an electromagnetic coil 6. The permanent magnet 11 is fixed on the small head of the rubber piston 9. When the robot rolls, the permanent magnet 11 moves accordingly. , forming an alternating magnetic field around the electromagnetic coil 6, thereby generating an alternating current in the electromagnetic coil 6 due to electromagnetic induction; the electromagnetic coil 6 includes a coil frame and two coils wound with copper wires, and the coil frame is fixed on the balance bracket 5 on the center of the curved beam, the whole device has four pairs of identical electromagnetic coils 6 arranged at intervals of 90°; when the steering function needs to be realized, it is only necessary to control the electrification of the electromagnetic coil 6 located at a certain side position to attract the rubber piston 9 The permanent magnet 11 of the permanent magnet opens the magnetically controlled air valve at the opposite position, so that the air in the chamber is sprayed outwards from the tuyere 2, and the reaction force of the spray makes the spherical robot turn to the opposite side to realize turning.

As shown in Figure 3, the internal posture maintaining mechanism includes a balance bracket 5, a mass block 7 and a universal ball 8; in order to realize a spherical constraint with the inner surface of the inner spherical shell 4, the balance bracket 5 has a spherical outer contour, The diameter is smaller than the inner diameter of the inner spherical shell 4; the structure of the balance bracket 5 is divided into a load-bearing area at the bottom, a reinforcement ring, and four curved beams evenly distributed at 90° around, wherein the load-bearing area is used for fixed installation of power supply, control module and detection module. Four curved beams are used to install and fix the electromagnetic coil 6 so that it is on the equatorial plane of the entire device; the mass block 7 is acted by a power module and is fixedly connected to the bottom bearing area of the balance bracket 5, and its function is to lower the posture maintaining mechanism The center of gravity; the universal ball 8 is fixedly connected in the square hole of the balance bracket 5, and there are eight universal balls 8 in total, four of which are installed near the bottom bearing area and are evenly distributed at intervals of 90°; the other four are installed At the top positions of the four curved beams, they are evenly distributed at an interval of 90°; the rolling balls of the universal balls 8 pass through the holes of the balance bracket 5 and have point contact with the inner wall of the inner spherical shell 4, and the eight universal balls 8 work together The balance bracket 5 is isolated from the inner spherical shell; the friction between the inner spherical shell 4 and the internal posture maintaining mechanism is changed from sliding friction to rolling friction, thereby greatly reducing the influence of the friction force of the posture maintaining mechanism.

Claims (4)

1. A wind-driven magnetically controlled air valve steering spherical robot, characterized in that: it includes an outer spherical shell (1), an inner spherical shell (4), a steering and electric energy collection device; the inner spherical shell (4) is a sealed hard The mass spherical shell is made of two hemispherical shells spliced and fixed, which can withstand a certain external force without large deformation, support the entire spherical shape and isolate the internal control module and detection module from the external low temperature environment, ensuring that the electronic circuit The system works normally; the outer spherical shell (1) is a perforated spherical shell with certain flexibility, which is spliced and fixed by two hemispherical shells, and several air inlets are evenly distributed on the two hemispherical shells; the steering And electric energy collection device includes magnetic control air valve, magnetic control and electric power collection combination device and internal posture maintaining mechanism; outer spherical shell (1), inner spherical shell (4) and magnetic control air valve cooperate with each other in the A closed cavity is formed between them, and high pressure in the cavity is formed under the action of wind pressure. 2. The wind-driven magnetically controlled air valve steering spherical robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: the magnetically controlled air valve includes a tuyere (2), an air valve housing (3), a rubber piston (9), a spring ( 10); the tuyere (2) has a wide mouth and a narrow mouth, wherein the wide mouth is aligned with the air inlet on the inner surface of the outer spherical shell (1) and fixed, and the narrow mouth has an external thread structure; the air valve housing (3 ) has a large-diameter end and a small-diameter end, wherein there is a small section of internal thread on the outer end of the large-diameter end, which is screwed and connected to the narrow-mouth external thread of the tuyere (2); the spring (10) is a pressure spring, and the spring (10 ) diameter is smaller than the inner diameter of the large-diameter end of the air valve casing (3), and larger than the inner diameter of the small-diameter end, placed in the large-diameter end of the air valve casing (3), and can move axially; the elastic coefficient of the spring (10) ensures that the magnetic control air valve Open in the high-pressure area of the spherical shell and close in the low-pressure area; the rubber piston (9) has a large head and a small head, connected by a piston rod in the middle, the rubber piston (9) is inserted into the air valve housing (3), the small head and the piston rod Through the spring (10), the big head is pressed on the spring (10), and the whole piston can move in the axial direction. 3. The wind-driven magnetic control air valve steering spherical robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: the mechanical structure part of the magnetic control and power collection combined device is composed of permanent magnets (11) and electromagnetic coils (6), The permanent magnet (11) is fixed on the small head of the rubber piston (9). When the robot rolls, the permanent magnet (11) moves accordingly, forming an alternating magnetic field around the electromagnetic coil (6), so that due to electromagnetic induction Alternating current is generated in the electromagnetic coil (6); the electromagnetic coil (6) includes a coil frame and two coils wound with copper wires, the coil frame is fixed on the center position of the curved beam of the balance bracket (5), and the whole The device has four pairs of identical electromagnetic coils (6), which are arranged at intervals of 90°; when the steering function needs to be realized, it is only necessary to control the electrification of the electromagnetic coils (6) located on a certain side to attract the permanent magnet on the rubber piston (9) (11) Open the magnetically controlled air valve at the opposite position, so that the air in the cavity is sprayed outward from the tuyere (2), and the reaction force of the spray makes the spherical robot turn to the opposite side to achieve a turn. 4. The wind-driven magnetically controlled air valve steering spherical robot according to claim 1, characterized in that: the internal posture maintaining mechanism includes a balance bracket (5), a mass block (7) and a universal ball (8); In order to achieve spherical constraint with the inner surface of the inner spherical shell (4), the balance bracket (5) has a spherical outer profile with a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the inner spherical shell (4); the balance bracket (5) structure is divided into a load-bearing area at the bottom , a reinforcement ring, and four curved beams evenly distributed at 90° around them, the load-bearing area is used to fix and install the power supply, control module and detection module, and the four curved beams are used to install and fix the electromagnetic coil (6), so that it is in the whole device on the equatorial plane; the mass block (7) is acted by a power module, and is fixed on the bottom bearing area of the balance bracket (5), and its function is to lower the center of gravity of the posture maintaining mechanism; the universal ball (8) is fixed to In the square hole of the balance bracket (5), there are eight universal balls (8), four of which are installed near the bottom bearing area, evenly distributed at 90° intervals; the other four are installed on the top of the four curved beams The position is evenly distributed at intervals of 90°; the rolling balls of the universal ball (8) pass through the hole of the balance bracket (5) and produce point contact with the inner wall of the inner spherical shell (4), and the eight universal balls (8) together The function isolates the balance bracket (5) from the inner spherical shell; the friction between the inner spherical shell (4) and the internal posture maintaining mechanism is changed from sliding friction to rolling friction, thereby greatly reducing the frictional influence of the posture maintaining mechanism.