Sea lion-imitating front fin propulsion device
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of propulsion of bionic underwater vehicles, in particular to a high-efficiency bionic propulsion device with sea lion-imitating anterior fin motion characteristics.
Background
With the expansion of the application field of the underwater vehicle, the underwater vehicle is required to have more excellent motion performance, so that a new challenge is provided for the propulsion technology of the underwater vehicle, and the flexible bionic propulsion technology becomes a current research hotspot and frontier. The movement capabilities of existing underwater vehicles are still far from natural aquatic animals, and part of the reason for these differences is due to the limitations of underwater vehicle propulsion technology. Currently, the mainstream propulsion technology still uses a propeller as a propulsion device, and although propeller propulsion can generate reliable and stable thrust, the propeller propulsion is not ideal enough in the aspects of propulsion efficiency, noise, trail control and the like, and is difficult to meet diversified ocean exploration tasks.
Marine organisms have become a new favorite for researching novel underwater propulsion technology due to the characteristics of high efficiency, low noise and high maneuverability in swimming. By researching the aspects of the physiological structure, the behavior characteristic and the like of a marine organism prototype, referring to the basic form and the motion rule of an organism and combining the technologies of robotics, hydromechanics, materials science, flexible mechanisms and the like, a new method and a new technical path are provided for exploring a new high-efficiency propulsion technology and improving the performance of an underwater vehicle.
As one of the organisms of the underwater pinodactyla, sea lion is a very agile swimmer, which uses the skeg to generate thrust, with lower transportation costs and higher swimming efficiency (skeg mechanical efficiency can reach 88%). Research shows that the sea lion skeg covers two propulsion modes, so that the thrust based on the lift force and the thrust based on the resistance force can be generated, and meanwhile, the thrust is generated almost on the whole motion cycle of the skeg. In addition, the sea lion can adapt to underwater movement in different situations by adjusting the motion characteristics of the front fin of the sea lion, such as flapping speed, flapping frequency, flapping amplitude and the like.
Therefore, the invention designs a sea lion-imitated fore fin propulsion device by taking a sea lion as a bionic object for exploring a novel underwater vehicle propulsion technology.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to overcome the defects in the prior art, the sea lion is taken as a bionic object, the bionic propulsion device with the propulsion mode similar to that of the sea lion front fin is designed, and the high propulsion efficiency and the controllable propulsion mode can be realized.
The purpose of the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:
a sea lion-imitated fore fin propulsion device comprises a base unit, a driving unit, a swinging disc mechanism, a space crank and rocker mechanism and a sea lion-imitated flexible fore fin unit; the base unit comprises a motor base, a speed reducer base, a steering groove table, an angle adjustable mechanism, a hinge and a horizontal plate; the motor base and the speed reducer base are integrally processed and molded, the steering groove table is fixed above the speed reducer base, the angle-adjustable mechanism is fixed on the horizontal plate and is arranged between the motor bases, one end of the hinge is fixed at the bottom of the motor base, and the other end of the hinge is fixed on the horizontal plate;
the driving unit comprises a waterproof stepping motor, a coupler and a right-angle speed reducer; the waterproof stepping motor and the right-angle speed reducer are respectively fixed on the motor base and the speed reducer base and are connected through a coupler, and the wobble plate mechanism is driven by an output shaft of the right-angle speed reducer of the driving unit; the crank end of the spatial crank rocker mechanism is connected with the swinging disc mechanism, and the rocker end is fixedly connected with the sea lion imitating flexible front fin unit;
the sea lion imitating flexible front fin unit consists of a connecting plate, a flexible coating and a sea lion imitating front fin skeleton; the sea lion imitated fore-fin skeleton is fixed on the connecting plate, and the flexible coating layer is wrapped on the outer layer of the sea lion imitated fore-fin skeleton.
Furthermore, the sea lion imitating front finning bone in the sea lion imitating flexible front fin unit consists of 24 pieces of imitated front finning bones, and the imitated front finning bones are connected through flexible spring hinges to imitate the relative positions and motion relations among the sea lion front finning bones.
Furthermore, the imitated anterior finning bone is made of a nylon material and is formed by 3D printing and processing, and has the same bone content, density and appearance characteristics as the biological prototype sea lion anterior fin.
Furthermore, the flexible coating in the sea lion imitating flexible front fin unit is formed by mixing silicon rubber and glass beads, pouring the mixture into a mold, molding the mixture on the outer layer of the sea lion imitating front fin skeleton, and having the appearance, the flexibility characteristics and the structural parameters similar to those of the sea lion front fin, wherein the structural parameters comprise aspect ratio, section airfoil shape and relative thickness, and meanwhile, the whole sea lion imitating flexible front fin unit has neutral buoyancy under water.
Furthermore, the wobble plate mechanism consists of an angle shaft, a right-angle groove bearing, a wobble plate arm, a roller and a control rail; the right-angle groove bearing and the roller are arranged on the swing disc arm; one end of the angle shaft is connected with the right-angle groove bearing, and the other end of the angle shaft is connected with the output end of a right-angle speed reducer of the driving unit; the roller is controlled in the control rail; the control rail is arranged on a steering groove table of the base unit; wherein, the installation angle of change control rail can make advancing device left and right sides change the direction of motion to realize advancing device's change of direction.
Furthermore, the spatial crank rocker mechanism comprises a crank shaft, a telescopic push rod and a rocker frame, wherein the crank shaft penetrates through a right-angle groove bearing of the wobble plate mechanism and then is fixedly connected with an angle shaft of the wobble plate mechanism; one end of the telescopic push rod is connected with the crank shaft, and the other end of the telescopic push rod is connected with the rocker frame; the rocker frame is connected with a swing disc arm of the swing disc mechanism and is fixedly connected with a connecting plate of the sea lion imitating flexible front fin unit; wherein, the length of the telescopic push rod is adjustable; the motion trail and the dynamic characteristics of the sea lion-imitating skeg propulsion device can be adjusted by adjusting the length of the telescopic push rod; can also realize the 8-shaped movement track of the front leg of the turtle.
Furthermore, the angle-adjustable mechanism consists of a hand wheel, a ball screw, a support rod and a support block; the hand wheel is used for driving a ball screw fixed on the horizontal plate, so that the supporting rod is pushed, the supporting block fixed between the motor bases is driven, the device rotates around the hinge, the pitch angle between the propulsion device and the horizontal plane can be adjusted, and the dynamic characteristic and the dynamic size of the sea lion-imitating front fin propulsion device are adjusted.
Furthermore, the rotating speed of the waterproof stepping motor is adjustable, the rotating speeds of the left waterproof stepping motor and the right waterproof stepping motor are changed, left and right differential propulsion of the propulsion device can be realized, and the maneuvering performance of the propulsion device is further improved.
Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the invention has the following beneficial effects:
1. the motion mechanism designed in the invention highly imitates the motion of the anterior fin of the sea lion. The sea lion-imitating front fin unit is driven by the serially connected swinging disc mechanism and the space crank rocker mechanism, has the motion characteristics and the power principle similar to those of the front fin of a biological prototype sea lion, covers two propulsion modes, and can generate thrust based on lift force and thrust based on resistance. Meanwhile, the device has an elliptical motion track similar to that of the sea lion skegs and a periodically changing characteristic of the attack angle of the skegs during motion. Therefore, the ship has high-efficiency propulsion performance close to the propulsion mode of the sea lion front fin.
2. The sea lion imitating flexible front fin designed by the invention has the appearance parameters of sea lion biological prototype front fins, such as basically the same aspect ratio, section wing profile, relative thickness and the like. In terms of structure, the sea lion imitated fore-fin skeleton is processed into an imitated fore-fin bone by using a 3D printing technology, is connected by using a connecting flexible spring hinge to imitate relative positions and motion relations between bones, and is wrapped by using a flexible coating layer made of silicon rubber and glass bead mixed materials. Therefore, the sea lion imitating flexible front fin has the bone content, the flexibility characteristic and the density characteristic which are basically the same as those of a sea lion biological prototype front fin, the movement flexibility is improved, and the propelling efficiency of the mechanism is further improved.
3. The invention can adjust the fore-fin propelling device of the sea lion to generate different motion tracks by adjusting the length of the telescopic push rod in the space crank rocker mechanism, and imitate the track change of fore-fins in the sea lion facing different motion situations or different kinds of sea lions. In addition, through the adjusting mode, the device can also realize the 8-shaped movement track similar to the front limbs of the chelonian.
4. The invention can change the motion direction of the left side and the right side of the mechanism by adjusting the installation angle of the control rail arranged on the steering groove table of the base unit, and generate thrust in different directions, thereby realizing the change of the propulsion direction of the mechanism.
5. The angle-adjustable mechanism in the base unit can adjust the pitch angle between the whole mechanism and the horizontal plane, so that the dynamic characteristic and the thrust of the sea lion-imitating skeg propulsion device can be adjusted, and the requirements of different underwater motion conditions are met.
6. The invention can control the rotating speed and the period of the waterproof stepping motor in the driving unit, is similar to the sea lion control of the flapping speed and the flapping period of the front fin, can generate different power, and can realize the differential motion of the left and right front fins, so that the device can meet various underwater motion requirements and simultaneously improve the maneuvering performance.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic overall appearance of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the base unit structure of the present invention.
Fig. 3a and 3b are a schematic structural diagram and a schematic mechanical structure explosion diagram of the wobble plate mechanism and the spatial crank rocker mechanism, respectively.
Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the sea lion-imitating flexible anterior fin.
Fig. 5a and 5b are schematic views illustrating the adjustment of the propelling direction of the device of the present invention.
Fig. 6a to 6c are schematic diagrams illustrating adjustment of the motion trajectory of the device according to the present invention.
Fig. 7a and 7b are schematic diagrams of pitch angle adjustment of the device according to the invention.
Detailed Description
The invention is described in further detail below with reference to the figures and specific examples. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.
As shown in fig. 1 to 3b, a sea lion-imitated fore fin propulsion device comprises a base unit, a driving unit, a wobble plate mechanism, a space crank rocker mechanism and a sea lion-imitated flexible fore fin unit. The base unit comprises 2 motor bases 101, 1 speed reducer base 102, 2 steering groove platforms 103, 1 adjustable angle mechanism 104, 2 hinge hinges 105 and 1 horizontal plate 106. The drive unit comprises 2 waterproof step motor 201, 2 shaft couplings 202, 2 right angle speed reducer 203. Two sets of the wobble plate mechanism 300, the space crank rocker mechanism 400 and the sea lion imitating flexible front fin unit 500 are symmetrically arranged on the left side and the right side of the device. The wobble plate mechanism 300 is composed of an angle shaft 301, a right-angle groove bearing 302, a wobble plate arm 303, a roller 304, and a control rail 305. The spatial crank and rocker mechanism 400 is composed of a crank shaft 401, an extendable push rod 402, and a rocker frame 403. The sea lion imitating flexible front fin unit 500 comprises a connecting plate 501, a flexible coating layer 502, a sea lion imitating front fin skeleton 503 and a flexible spring hinge 504.
As shown in fig. 1 and 2, in the base unit, 2 motor bases 101 and 1 reduction gear base 102 are integrally formed when being processed; 2 steering groove platforms 103 are symmetrically fixed above the speed reducer base 102; the angle-adjustable mechanism 104 is fixed on the horizontal plate 106 and is arranged among the 2 motor bases 101; hinge 105 has one end fixed to the bottom of motor base 101 and the other end fixed to horizontal plate 106. In the driving unit, 2 waterproof stepping motors 201 are connected with 2 right-angle speed reducers 203 through 2 couplers 202 respectively; 2 waterproof step motor 201 is fixed in base unit's 2 motor bases 101 on the symmetry respectively, and 2 right angle speed reducers 203 are fixed in reducer base 102 on the symmetry.
As shown in fig. 1, 3a and 3b, the wobble plate mechanism 300 is driven by the output shaft of the right angle reducer 203 of the drive unit. The crank end of the spatial crank rocker mechanism 400 is connected in series with the wobble plate mechanism 300, and the rocker end is fixedly connected with the sea lion-imitating flexible front fin unit 500. In the wobble plate mechanism 300, a right-angle groove bearing 302 and a roller 304 are mounted on a wobble plate arm 303; the inclined plane of the angle shaft 301 forms an angle of 30 degrees with the normal plane of the axis; one end of the angle shaft 301 is connected with the right-angle groove bearing 302, and the other end is connected with the output end of the right-angle speed reducer 203 of the driving unit; the roller 304 is controlled in the control rail 305; the control rail 305 is mounted on the steering slot table 103 of the base unit to constrain the wobble plate arm 303 to simple harmonic wobble plate motion, capable of mimicking the periodic variation of the angle of attack during sea lion skeg motion. In the spatial crank rocker mechanism 400, a crank shaft 401 passes through a right-angle groove bearing 302 of the wobble plate mechanism 300 and then is fixedly connected with an angle shaft 301 of the wobble plate mechanism, so that the rotation motion of the inclined surface of the angle shaft 301 of the wobble plate mechanism 300 drives the crank shaft 401 to rotate; one end of the telescopic push rod 402 is connected with the crank shaft 401, and the other end is connected with the rocker bracket 403; the rocker frame 403 is connected with the swing disc arm 303 of the swing disc mechanism 300 and is fixedly connected with the connecting plate 501 of the sea lion-imitated flexible front fin unit 500, so that the swing disc arm 303 of the swing disc mechanism 300 is a frame of the space crank rocker mechanism 400, the space crank rocker mechanism 400 moves on the basis of the movement of the swing disc mechanism 300, and the sea lion-imitated flexible front fin unit 500 generates the stroke motion similar to the root of the sea lion front fin under the serial driving of the two mechanisms. Can imitate the motion characteristics and the dynamic principle of the front fin of a biological prototype sea lion: during the recovery phase and the power phase of the skeg flapping, thrust is generated based on lift force, and thrust based on resistance force is generated in the following paddle phase. Meanwhile, the sea lion imitating flexible front fin unit also has an elliptical motion track similar to that of a sea lion front fin and a periodic change characteristic of the incidence angle of the front fin during motion.
As shown in fig. 4, in the sea lion-imitated flexible front fin unit 500, a sea lion-imitated front fin skeleton 503 is composed of 24 pieces of front fin-imitated bones formed by 3D printing, the root of the front fin-imitated bones is fixed on a connecting plate 501, and the front fin-imitated bones are connected through flexible spring hinges 504 to imitate the relative positions and the movement relations between the sea lion-imitated front fin bones, so that the sea lion-imitated front fin skeleton 503 has the same bone content and the same limb movement characteristics as those of an animal sea lion front fin. The flexible coating 502 in the sea lion-imitating flexible front fin unit 500 is formed by placing a sea lion-imitating front fin skeleton 503 in a mold, mixing silicon rubber and glass beads, and pouring, and has the shape, the flexibility characteristic and the shape parameters (aspect ratio, section airfoil shape and relative thickness) similar to those of a sea lion front fin, and meanwhile, the whole sea lion-imitating flexible front fin unit 500 has neutral density under water.
As shown in fig. 5a and 5b, the control rail 305 of the wobble plate mechanism 300 is mounted on the steering channel table 103 of the base unit. The change of the installation angle of the control rail 305 can change the movement direction of the mechanisms on the left and right sides of the mechanism, thereby realizing the change of the propelling direction of the mechanism. The left and right mounting angles range from minus 30 degrees to plus 30 degrees. Fig. 5b is a schematic view of a left turn of 30 degrees.
As shown in FIGS. 6a to 6c, the length of the retractable push rod 402 of the spatial crank and rocker mechanism 400 is adjustable within the range of 144mm and 157 mm. The motion trail and dynamic characteristics of the sea lion-imitating skeg propulsion device can be adjusted by adjusting the length of the telescopic push rod 402. The three tracks in fig. 6a to 6c correspond to the length of the retractable push rod 400 respectively: 144mm, 150.5mm, 157 mm. Therefore, the device can also realize the 8-shaped movement track of the front leg of the turtle.
As shown in fig. 2, fig. 7a and fig. 7b, the angle-adjustable mechanism 104 in the base unit is composed of a handwheel 601, a ball screw 602, a support rod 603 and a support block 604. The handwheel 601 is used for driving a ball screw 602 fixed on the horizontal plate 106, so as to push a support rod 603 and further push a support block 604 fixed between 2 motor bases 101, so that the device rotates around the hinge 105, the pitch angle between the device and the horizontal plane can be adjusted, and the dynamic characteristic of the sea lion-like front fin propulsion device can be adjusted. The pitch angle adjustment range is between 0 and 30 degrees. Fig. 7b is a schematic diagram of the mechanism pitch angle adjusted to 30 degrees.
In addition, the rotation speed and the rotation period of the waterproof stepping motor 201 in the driving unit can be controlled, the flapping speed and the flapping period of the front fin are controlled similarly to the sea lion, different power can be generated, differential motion of the left front fin and the right front fin can be realized, the device can meet various underwater motion requirements, and the maneuvering performance is improved.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. The foregoing description of the specific embodiments is intended to describe and illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and the above specific embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art can make many changes and modifications to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.