CN106584507A - Fully compliant pneumatic mechanical arm structure - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a fully flexible pneumatic manipulator structure, which is a longitudinally conical structure, comprising a fully flexible manipulator main body, a manipulator central body located at the conical center of the fully flexible manipulator main body, uniformly surrounding the manipulator central body Axisymmetrically distributed airways, the airways extend from the end with a large diameter to the end with a small diameter and are at a certain distance from the end face to keep the gas in the airways, and a layer of fiber-reinforced composite material is provided on the outer surface of the mechanical arm. Among them, the axisymmetrically distributed air channels are also longitudinally conical. The main body of the flexible manipulator is made of superelastic material, which can deform more than 200% under pneumatic pressure. The hardness of the central body of the manipulator is greater than that of the main body of the flexible manipulator. Compared with the prior art, the present invention imitates the tentacles of an octopus, and integrates the airway and the mechanical arm, which greatly simplifies the structural design, manufacturing and assembly of the entire mechanical arm, and can be formed at one time using 3D printing technology and can be used for capturing Objects with complex shapes are light in weight, greatly reducing launch costs.

Description

Fully flexible pneumatic manipulator structure

technical field

The invention belongs to the technical field of space on-orbit service flexible manipulators, and is mainly applied to space debris cleaning operations, space filling systems and the like.

Background technique

Most of the existing space manipulators are rigid manipulators. These robot mechanisms are combined by a plurality of movable joints through rigid connections. At the same time, rigid structures, motors, gears, reducers and other transmission mechanisms are used as drivers to make the components of the mechanism move. However, the existing robot mechanisms are usually complicated. , Large quality/volume, bulky, complex control, high energy consumption, and expensive. Moreover, the operation can only be achieved through the actuator at the end of the robotic arm, and the robotic arm itself cannot manipulate objects. Therefore, in order to complete the capture of different operating objects, different interfaces must be designed for the end effector of the robotic arm. Rigid manipulator capture is mainly aimed at the on-orbit capture task of cooperative targets. These captured cooperative targets are in an ideal dynamic state during the capture process, and have a mechanical interface that cooperates with the capture. The attitude control problem after capture is complex and rigid. Robotic arm capture has significant limitations.

The soft robotic arm is composed of flexible and bendable parts, which can change its own shape and move in messy structures to achieve flexible capture with a large tolerance. The soft pneumatic manipulator adopts flexible superelastic material, which is light in weight, high in breaking strength, fast in response, and super large in deformation. However, the existing soft pneumatic manipulators use rigid brackets and joints to varying degrees, and are not fully flexible manipulators in the true sense. Currently, there are no fully flexible pneumatic robotic arms for use in space.

Contents of the invention

Aiming at the shortage of rigid manipulators in space, the present invention proposes a fully flexible pneumatic manipulator based on the concept of bionics, using superelastic materials combined with special structural design and pneumatic technology, for use in space debris cleaning mechanisms and space filling systems.

In order to overcome the shortcomings of traditional rigid manipulators and realize the design purpose of fully flexible pneumatic manipulators, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

The fully flexible pneumatic grabbing tentacle structure of the present invention is a longitudinal conical structure, including a fully flexible manipulator main body, a manipulator central body located at the conical center of the fully flexible manipulator main body, and axisymmetric around the manipulator central body evenly Distributed air passages, the air passages extend from the end with a large diameter to the end with a small diameter and a certain distance from the end face to keep the gas in the air passages. A layer of fiber-reinforced composite material is arranged on the outer surface of the manipulator. Long conical structure, the main body of the flexible manipulator is made of superelastic material, which can deform more than 200% under pneumatic pressure, and the hardness of the central body of the manipulator is greater than that of the main body of the flexible manipulator.

Among them, the central body of the robotic arm also adopts a longitudinal conical configuration.

Among them, the material of the center body of the manipulator is polydimethylsiloxane, polydimethylsiloxane, polycarbonate polyurethane, epoxy resin, carbon nanofiber/polydimethylsiloxane composite material, and the like.

Further, the fiber reinforced layer is adhered to the outer surface of the mechanical arm.

Further, the cross-sectional shape of the air passage is a long and narrow circular arc with variable cross-section.

Further, the material of the main body of the mechanical arm is methyl silicone rubber, methyl vinyl silicone rubber, methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber, nitrile silicone rubber, and the like.

Further, the number of airways is 3-9.

Wherein, the fiber reinforced layer is made of high-strength superelastic material, such as nano-carbon fiber/methyl silicone rubber or nano-carbon fiber/methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber.

Further, the thickness of the fiber reinforced layer is 0.05cm-0.1cm.

Among them, the mechanical central body and the main body of the flexible robotic arm are both solidified from the solution, so the two are completely integrated.

Compared with the existing semi-flexible pneumatic manipulator structure, the fully flexible pneumatic manipulator structure of the present invention imitates the tentacles of an octopus, integrates the airway and the manipulator itself, and makes the structural design, manufacturing and assembly of the whole manipulator Greatly simplified, it can even be molded at one time using 3D printing technology. And it can be applied to capture objects with complex shapes. Light in weight (a 50cm-long fully flexible robotic arm weighs no more than 300g), the manufacturing process is simplified, and the development cost of the robotic arm is low. Due to the light weight of the fully flexible robotic arm, the launch cost will be greatly reduced.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of the end face of the fully flexible pneumatic manipulator structure along the axial direction according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the fully flexible pneumatic manipulator structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Among them, 1 is the fiber reinforced layer, 2 is the main body of the manipulator, 3 is the central body of the manipulator, and 4 is the airway.

detailed description

The structure of the fully flexible pneumatic manipulator of the present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. This description is only exemplary and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the axial end face of the fully flexible pneumatic manipulator structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the fully flexible pneumatic manipulator structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. Among them, the structure of the fully flexible pneumatic manipulator includes the main body 2 of the fully flexible manipulator, the central body 3 of the manipulator located in the conical center of the main body 2 of the fully flexible manipulator, and the air passages evenly distributed symmetrically around the central body of the manipulator. Rubber (Ecoflex) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) are combined with molding methods to make the entire fully flexible robotic arm. PDMS and Ecoflex are combined to form a composite material. This material is readily available and inexpensive. The Shore A hardness value of PDMS is 40, which makes the deformation of PDMS very small, so it is used as the central body part of the manipulator. The hardness of silicone rubber (Ecoflex) is softer, and this material will only break when the deformation reaches 900%, so it is more suitable as the main structure of the fully flexible manipulator, wherein the mechanical center body and the main body of the flexible manipulator are made of The solution solidifies so that the two are completely integrated. The fully flexible robotic arm will adopt a long conical configuration with a diameter of 2 cm at the bottom of the cone, a diameter of 1 cm at the top, and a length of 20 cm. The cross-section of the robotic arm will change uniformly along the axial direction, as shown in Figure 2. The air channel 4 extends from the end with a large diameter to the end with a small diameter and is a distance away from the end face to keep the gas in the air channel. The structural hardness of the central body of the manipulator is greater than that of the main body of the manipulator. It also adopts a long conical configuration with a bottom diameter of is 0.5cm, the diameter of the top surface is 0.25cm, and the length is 20cm. The cross-section of the central body will change uniformly along the axial direction, as shown in Figure 2. The airway design is shown in the cross-sectional view. In a specific embodiment, the three airways are symmetrically distributed. A layer of fiber-reinforced composite material is adhered to the outer surface of the manipulator, in which the airway is also in a longitudinal conical structure. The main body of the flexible manipulator is made of superelastic material, which can deform more than 400% under pneumatic pressure. The fiber-reinforced layer The thickness is 0.05cm-0.1cm, and a superelastic material with high strength is used, specifically carbon nanofiber/methyl silicone rubber or carbon nanofiber/methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber.

In another embodiment, there may be 4 or 6 airways, all of which may be replaced with 3 to form different embodiments.

In another embodiment, the material of the main body of the robot arm and the center body of the robot arm can be replaced by methyl silicone rubber, methyl vinyl silicone rubber, methyl vinyl phenyl silicone rubber, nitrile silicone rubber, etc., and polyester Dimethicone, polycarbonate polyurethane, epoxy resin, carbon nanofiber/polydimethylsiloxane composite materials, etc., can also form different embodiments. Preferably, the cross-sectional shape of the air passage is a long and narrow circular arc with variable cross-section.

Although the specific embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated in detail above, it should be pointed out that we can make various equivalent changes and modifications to the above-mentioned embodiments according to the concept of the present invention, and the functional effects produced by it are still the same. Anything beyond the spirit contained in the specification and drawings shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. Grazing condition pneumatic machinery arm configuration, the conical structure in lengthwise, including Grazing condition mechanical arm Main body, the robot central body positioned at the conical center of Grazing condition mechanical arm main body, evenly around machinery The symmetrical air flue of arm hub shaft, air flue extend to the little one end of diameter from the big one end of diameter and away from To maintain the gas in air flue with a certain distance from end face, mechanical arm outer surface arranges one layer of fiber reinforcement and answers Condensation material, wherein, air flue is also in the conical structure of lengthwise, and flexible mechanical arm main body is elastic material, More than 200% deformation is produced under Pneumatic pressure, the hardness of robot central body is more than flexible mechanical arm master Body.

2. Grazing condition pneumatic machinery arm configuration as claimed in claim 1, wherein, robot central body Equally adopt lengthwise conical configuration.

3. Grazing condition pneumatic machinery arm configuration as claimed in claim 1, wherein, robot central body Material be dimethyl silicone polymer, polycarbonate polyurethane, epoxy resin, carbon nano-fiber/poly- two Methylsiloxane composite etc..

4. the Grazing condition pneumatic machinery arm configuration as described in any one of claim 1-3, wherein, fiber Enhancement layer is sticked on mechanical arm outer surface.

5. the Grazing condition pneumatic machinery arm configuration as described in any one of claim 1-3, wherein, air flue Cross sectional shape be long and narrow variable cross-section circular arc type.

6. the Grazing condition pneumatic machinery arm configuration as described in any one of claim 1-3, wherein, machinery The material of arm main body be methyl silicone rubber, methyl vinyl silicone rubber, methyl vinyl phenyl silicon rubber, Eyeball silicon rubber etc..

7. the Grazing condition pneumatic machinery arm configuration as described in any one of claim 1-3, wherein, air flue Quantity is 3-9.

8. the Grazing condition pneumatic machinery arm configuration as described in any one of claim 1-3, wherein, carbon is fine Dimension strengthens silicon rubber elastic material, carbon nano-fiber/methyl silicone rubber or carbon nano-fiber/methyl second Thiazolinyl phenyl siloxane rubber etc..

9. the Grazing condition pneumatic machinery arm configuration as described in any one of claim 1-3, wherein, fiber The thickness of enhancement layer is 0.05cm-0.1cm.

10. the Grazing condition pneumatic machinery arm configuration as described in any one of claim 1-3, wherein, machinery Centerbody with flexible mechanical arm main body is formed by solution solidification, therefore both combine together completely.