JP4365195B2 - Multiple movable axis drive cover for humanoid robot - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cover that covers together a plurality of driving devices that drive a plurality of movable shafts close to each other of a humanoid robot.

  As a plurality of driving devices for driving a plurality of movable shafts close to each other of the humanoid robot, for example, a waist pitch axis driving device that rotates the upper half of the trunk relatively back and forth with respect to the lower half of the trunk A waist yaw shaft drive device is known that rotates the waist pitch axis drive device so that the upper half portion of the fuselage is rotated to the left and right relative to the lower half portion of the fuselage (Patent Document 1). reference).

By the way, a wide and complicated range including a plurality of driving devices as described above of a robot is conventionally covered with a cover made of cloth or stretchable cloth that does not cover or does not stretch but has slack. When the range was relatively narrow, it was covered with a bellows-like rubber cover.
JP, 2001-150371, A FIG. 3, FIG.

  However, when the cover is not used, there is a possibility that malfunctions may occur due to the intrusion of foreign matter into the drive device, and a human finger or the like may be caught during the operation of the drive device.

  On the other hand, in a cloth cover that does not stretch but has a slack, a slack portion may be caught during the operation of the drive device, and in a stretch cloth cover, the wrinkle generated in the cover when the drive device is operated. Etc. lost aesthetics, especially in humanoid robots.

  And with a bellows-like cover, it was practically difficult to cover a wide and complex area of the drive unit together.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to advantageously solve the above-mentioned problems, and a plurality of movable axis drive device covers of a humanoid robot according to the present invention includes a plurality of movable axes that drive a plurality of movable axes close to each other. In a cover that covers the drive devices together, at least a stretchable cloth cover member that constitutes a portion that needs to be deformed for a change in the relative position of the plurality of drive devices, and a change in the relative position of the plurality of drive devices. Regardless of the above , a fixed cover member constituting a portion that does not need to be deformed is provided , and the fixed cover member covers a part of the elastic cloth cover member so as to be movable relative to each other .

According to the plurality of movable shaft drive device covers of such a humanoid robot, the elastic cloth cover member constitutes at least a portion that needs to be deformed to change the relative positions of the plurality of drive devices, and is made of a synthetic resin. Since the fixed cover member such as a portion constitutes a portion that does not need to be deformed regardless of a change in the relative position of the plurality of drive devices and covers a part of the elastic cloth cover member so as to be relatively movable with respect to each other , Covering a wide and complicated range together, it is possible to prevent problems such as operation due to the entry of foreign matter into these drive devices, and to prevent entrainment of human fingers and the like during operation of the drive device. In addition, since the elastic fabric cover member that constitutes at least the portion of the cover that needs to be deformed is hardly slack, the slack portion is not caught during the operation of the driving device, and the cover does not need to be deformed. This part is composed of a fixed cover member such as a synthetic resin cover member having excellent shape characteristics, so that it is possible to effectively prevent a human finger or the like from being caught during operation of the drive device, and at the time of operation of the drive device. Even if wrinkles or the like occur in the elastic cloth cover member, it is hidden by the fixed cover member and is not noticeable, so that it is possible to prevent the beauty of the humanoid robot from being impaired.

  In the multiple movable shaft drive device cover of the humanoid robot according to the present invention, the plurality of drive devices rotate the upper half of the body relatively back and forth relative to the lower half of the body of the humanoid robot. A waist pitch shaft driving device to be rotated, and a waist to rotate the upper half of the body relatively to the left and right relative to the lower half of the body by rotating the waist pitch axis driving device using a parallel link mechanism A yaw axis drive device may be included, and in this way, a waist pitch axis drive device for rotating the upper half of the body relatively back and forth relative to the lower half of the body of the humanoid robot, Together with a waist yaw shaft drive device that rotates the waist pitch axis drive device using a parallel link mechanism to rotate the upper half of the body relatively to the left and right relative to the lower half of the body. For the cover to be covered, Can.

  And in the plural movable shaft drive device cover of the humanoid robot of this invention, the stretchable cloth cover member includes the speed reducer of the waist pitch shaft drive device, a bearing on the same axis as the reducer, and the waist yaw shaft drive device. And the fixed cover member separately separates the reduction gear of the waist pitch shaft drive device and the front half of the bearing on the same axis and the rear portion of the parallel link mechanism. In this way, since there are fixed cover members at the front and rear portions of the cover, it is possible to more effectively prevent entrainment of human fingers and the like during operation of the driving device. The elastic cloth cover member can be more effectively concealed and the wrinkles and the like can be made inconspicuous when the driving device is operated.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B are a perspective view and an exploded perspective view of an assembled state showing an embodiment of a plurality of movable shaft drive device covers of the humanoid robot of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an embodiment thereof. FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are side views of the entire humanoid robot viewed from the right side of the robot and the robot. 4 is a side view seen from the left side of FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of part A of FIG. 3 (a), partially showing a plurality of movable shaft drive device covers of the humanoid robot of the above embodiment, and FIG. ), (B), (c) are the reduction gears of the hip pitch axis driving device covered by the plurality of movable axis driving device covers of the humanoid robot of the above embodiment, and the parallel bearings of the lower yaw axis driving device and the bearing on the same axis. A plan view showing the link mechanism, a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are partially cutaway side views showing the stretchable cloth cover members of the plurality of movable shaft driving device covers of the humanoid robot of the above embodiment in a free state and a mounted state, respectively. 7 (a), (b), and (c) are a rear view, a side view, and a bottom view showing a synthetic resin cover member at the front portion of the plurality of movable shaft drive device covers of the humanoid robot of the above embodiment, 8A, 8B, and 8C are a rear view, a side view, and a bottom view showing a synthetic resin cover member at the rear part of the plural movable shaft drive unit cover of the humanoid robot of the above embodiment. .

  As shown in FIG. 2 and FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the humanoid robot has two legs 2 under the torso 1, and these legs 2 are in an inverted pendulum dynamic manner by a known method. Walk while keeping balance. This humanoid robot also has arms 3 on the left and right as viewed from the robot itself of the body 1 and a head 4 on the body 1.

  The body 1 is composed of an upper half 1a and a lower half 1b that are connected to each other at the waist so as to be able to rotate back and forth and to the left and right. The frame of the upper half 1a is formed by casting an aluminum alloy. A fuselage outer shell 5, a tower bar (not shown) for front reinforcement mounted on the shell outer shell 5, and two pipe frames (not shown) for rear reinforcement. Arranged inside the upper half cover 8, the inside of the shell outer shell 5 and the left and right sides of the rear part are spaces for mounting electrical equipment (not shown). Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the frame 12 of the lower half 1b of the body is formed by casting an aluminum alloy so as to form a substantially inverted T shape when viewed from the front. The left and right side portions corresponding to the portions serve as mounting spaces for two battery units (not shown).

  The multi-movable axis driving device cover of the humanoid robot of this embodiment has a waist pitch axis driving device 18 and a hips described below for driving the waist pitch axis and the waist yaw axis, which are movable axes close to each other, of the humanoid robot, respectively. The waist yaw axis drive device 25 in this case covers the upper half 1a of the trunk relative to the lower half 1b of the trunk relative to the axis Y relative to the left and right. For this purpose, the waist yaw axis driving device 25 is connected to the upper half 1a of the body by a hollow support shaft member 13 having a portion extending in the vertical direction of the body 1 in an upright state. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the hollow support shaft member 13 includes a hollow lower shaft portion 13 a extending in the vertical direction of the body 1 in an upright state, and a hollow upper portion extending in the left-right direction of the body 1. The shaft portion 13b is integrally formed to have a substantially inverted L shape, and a waist pitch shaft drive device is provided at the left end portion (the right end portion in FIG. 5B) of the upper shaft portion 13b as viewed from the robot. A harmonic drive mechanism (trade name) 14 as a reduction gear is mounted, and an annular internal gear as a fixing member of the harmonic drive mechanism 14 is fixed to the upper shaft portion 13b, and as an output member of the harmonic drive mechanism 14 A left lower end portion (a right lower end portion in FIG. 2) is integrally coupled to the elastic external gear as viewed from the robot of the body outer shell 5 of the upper half 1a of the body.

  Further, the hollow support shaft member 13 is illustrated as a support shaft at a right end portion (left end portion in FIG. 5B) as viewed from the robot of the hollow upper shaft portion 13b via a bearing 15 as a bearing. The hollow shaft is supported so as to be rotatable about the axis P, and the hollow shaft is integrally provided with a lower right end (the lower left end in FIG. 2) as seen from the robot of the shell outer shell 5 of the upper half 1a of the fuselage. Combined. As shown in FIG. 4, the harmonic drive mechanism 14 has an input shaft through a belt-type transmission mechanism 16 and a lower left end portion (see FIG. 4) as seen from the robot of the body outer shell 5 of the body upper half 1a. 2, the output shaft of the motor 17 of the waist pitch axis driving device mounted on the lower right end portion is drive-coupled, whereby the waist pitch axis driving device 18 rotates the output of the motor 17 mounted on the body shell 5. The main body shell 5 and thus the upper half 1a of the fuselage are rotated back and forth relatively around the axis P with respect to the lower half 1b of the fuselage.

  On the other hand, here, as shown in FIG. 5, the hollow lower shaft portion 13a of the support shaft member 13 is placed in the upper end portion of the center portion corresponding to the T-shaped shaft portion of the frame 12 of the lower body half 1b. A bearing 20 is disposed as a bearing that rotatably supports the shaft Y around the axis Y. On the upper end portion of the rear side of the bearing 20 at the center of the frame 12, the waist yaw shaft driving device 25 is decelerated. A harmonic drive mechanism (trade name) 21 as a machine is mounted, and an annular internal gear as a fixing member of the harmonic drive mechanism 21 is fixed to the upper end portion of the center portion of the frame 12. An unillustrated input shaft of a harmonic drive mechanism 21 that protrudes into the frame 12 from the upper end of the rear side of the bearing 20 is connected to an unillustrated belt-type transmission mechanism. An output shaft of the motor mounted in the central portion of the frame 12 of the body lower half portion 1b is driven coupling.

  Here, the central portion of the substantially straight drive arm 22 is coupled to the elastic external gear as the output member of the harmonic drive mechanism 21, and both ends of the drive arm 22 are parallel to each other in the front and rear of the robot. The rear end portions of two connecting rods 23 each having an adjustable length extending in the direction are pivotally supported, and the upper shaft portion 13b of the support shaft member 13 and a harmonic drive mounted thereon. The lower part of the mechanism 14 pivotally supports the front end portions of the two connecting rods 23 so as to be rotatable. Thereby, here, the two connecting rods 23 become parallel links, and a parallel link mechanism 24 that connects the output member of the harmonic drive mechanism 21 to the upper half 1a of the body is configured. The output rotation of the motor mounted in the central portion of the frame 12 of the lower half 1b is decelerated by the harmonic drive mechanism 21 having a large reduction ratio, and the drive arm 22 is rotated. The connecting rod 23 is transmitted to the upper shaft portion 13b of the support shaft member 13 and the harmonic drive mechanism 14 mounted thereon, and the fuselage outer shell 5 and the fuselage upper half portion 1a supported by the left and right lower ends thereof. Is rotated to the left and right relatively around the axis Y with respect to the lower half 1b of the body.

  According to the waist yaw shaft driving device 25, the lower portion extends in the up-down direction of the body 1 and the upper portion extends in the left-right direction of the body 1, and the arrow in FIG. As indicated by R, by passing a large amount of wiring from the lower body and guiding it to the upper body, there is no unstable wiring outside, so the robot can be operated stably and restricted to movement In addition, the risk of disconnection due to an excessive external force can be eliminated for the wiring itself.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the frame 12 of the lower half 1b of the fuselage is covered with a front lower cover 26 of the lower half of the fuselage and a butt cover 27 in which a gel material is incorporated so as to have shock absorption. At the center in the left-right direction of the upper end of the buttocks cover 27, a convex portion 27a for mounting a plurality of movable axis driving device covers of the humanoid robot of this embodiment is provided in parallel with the waist yaw axis driving device 25. The link mechanism 24 protrudes so as to extend in the left-right direction longer than the drive arm 22.

  Thus, a plurality of movable axis driving device covers of the humanoid robot of this embodiment indicated by reference numeral 28 in the figure are composed of a harmonic drive mechanism 14 and a bearing 15 that are all located on the axis P of the waist pitch axis driving device 18; In order to cover the parallel link mechanism 24 of the lumbar yaw axis drive device 25 together, the harmonic drive mechanism 14 and the bearing 15 that are rotated by the operation of the parallel link mechanism 24 and change in relative position with respect to the lumbar yaw axis drive device 25. And a cover member 29 made of a stretchable cloth that covers the parallel link mechanism 24 together with the front and rear covers that are parts that do not require deformation regardless of changes in the relative positions of the waist pitch axis drive device 18 and the waist yaw axis drive device 25. And two synthetic resin cover members 30 and 31 as fixed cover members constituting the portion.

  The stretchable cloth cover member 29 is a hollow member having a built-in bearing 15 of the harmonic drive mechanism 14 and the hollow support shaft member 13 as shown in a partially cutaway side view of FIG. A substantially bag-shaped rear end that covers and covers the upper shaft portion 13b covering the upper shaft portion 13b and covering the front end portion 29a having a cut at the lower end portion and the convex portion 27a of the upper end portion of the bottom cover 27 And a portion between the front end portion 29a and the rear end portion 29b has a U-shaped cross section opened downward, and is a partially cutaway side view of FIG. 6 (b). As shown in the attached state, the front end portion 29a of the stretchable cloth cover member 29 is placed on the harmonic drive mechanism 14 and the upper shaft portion 13b of the hollow support shaft member 13 and between the front end portion 29a and the rear end portion 29b. After stretching the part When the portion 29b is put on the convex portion 27a of the buttocks cover 27, the harmonic drive mechanism 14 of the waist pitch shaft drive device 18 and the hollow upper shaft portion 13b rotate around the axis Y by the operation of the waist yaw shaft drive device 25. In addition, the portion between the front end portion 29 a and the rear end portion 29 b is appropriately expanded and contracted while covering the parallel link mechanism 24. The material of the stretchable cloth cover member 29 in this embodiment is an opercot (15% polyurethane, 85% nylon).

  Further, the front synthetic resin cover member 30 here is composed of the harmonic drive mechanism 14 and the hollow upper portion as shown in the rear, side and bottom views of FIGS. 7 (a), (b) and (c). A substantially semi-cylindrical shape is formed so as to cover the front end portion 29a of the stretchable cloth cover member 29 covered on the shaft portion 13b from the front side. As shown in FIG. A plurality of engaging portions 30a are provided so as to be inserted through the through-holes opened in and fitted together.

  The rear synthetic resin cover member 31 covers the convex portion 27a of the bottom cover 27 as shown in the rear, side and bottom views of FIGS. 8 (a), (b) and (c). The rear end portion 29b of the stretchable cloth cover member 29 thus formed can be inserted, and has a flat rectangular tube-shaped portion 31a having a cut at the lower end portion, and below the bottom cover 27 as shown in FIG. A positioning protrusion 31b is provided so as to be fitted into the hole. The synthetic resin cover members 30 and 31 in this embodiment are formed by injection molding.

  According to the multiple movable shaft drive device cover 28 of the humanoid robot of this embodiment, the elastic cloth cover member 29 includes a portion that needs to be deformed to change the relative position of the two drive devices 18 and 25. Since the two synthetic resin cover members 30 and 31 extend over the whole and constitute a front part and a rear part that need not be deformed regardless of a change in the relative positions of the two drive units 18 and 25, A wide and complicated range including the pitch axis drive device 18 and the waist yaw axis drive device 25 is covered together to prevent problems such as operation due to entry of foreign matter into these drive devices 18 and 25, and the drive device 18. 25, it is possible to prevent the finger or the like of an operating person from being caught. In addition, since the elastic fabric cover member 29 constituting at least a portion of the cover 28 of this embodiment hardly sags, the slack portion is caught during the operation of the driving devices 18 and 25. In addition, since the synthetic resin cover members 30 and 31 having excellent shape characteristics constitute the portions of the cover 28 of this embodiment that do not need to be deformed, human fingers during operation of the driving devices 18 and 25, etc. Can be effectively prevented, and even if wrinkles or the like are generated in the elastic cloth cover member 29 when the driving devices 18 and 25 are actuated, they are hidden by the synthetic resin cover members 30 and 31 and are not noticeable. It is possible to prevent the beauty of the type robot from being damaged.

  Further, according to this embodiment, the plurality of drive devices are waist pitch axis drive devices that rotate the upper half 1a of the body 1 relatively back and forth with respect to the lower half 1b of the body 1 of the humanoid robot. 18 and the waist link shaft drive device 18 using the parallel link mechanism 24 to rotate the waist 1 to rotate the upper half 1a of the body 1 relatively to the left and right relative to the lower half 1b of the body 1. Since it is the shaft drive device 25, the above-described effects can be achieved with respect to the cover 28 that covers the waist pitch shaft drive device 18 and the waist yaw shaft drive device 25 together.

  In the multiple movable shaft drive device cover 28 of the humanoid robot of this embodiment, the elastic cloth cover member 29 is a hollow upper shaft in which the harmonic drive mechanism 14 of the waist pitch shaft drive device 18 and the bearing 15 are incorporated. The portion 13b and the parallel link mechanism 24 of the waist yaw axis drive device 25 are covered together, and two synthetic resin cover members 30 and 31 are provided for the harmonic drive mechanism 14 of the waist pitch axis drive device 18 and the hollow upper shaft. Since the front half of the portion 13b and the rear portion of the parallel link mechanism 24 are separately covered, it is possible to more effectively prevent the human fingers and the like during the operation of the driving devices 18 and 25, and to drive When the devices 18 and 25 are operated, the elastic cloth cover member 29 can be more effectively concealed so that the wrinkles and the like can be made inconspicuous.

Has been described above based on the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above examples, for example, fixing the cover member definitive multiple mobile axis drive unit cover humanoid robot of the present invention, metal casting molded articles Or a press-molded product. The multiple movable axis drive device cover of the humanoid robot of the present invention may be applied to a cover other than the cover that covers the waist pitch axis drive device and the waist yaw axis drive device.

  Thus, according to the multiple-movable-axis drive device cover of the humanoid robot of the present invention, the wide and complex operation range of the multiple drive devices is covered together, and troubles such as operation due to intrusion of foreign matter into these drive devices are prevented. In addition to preventing, it is possible to prevent entrainment of a human finger or the like during operation of the drive device. In addition, the slack portion is not caught during the operation of the drive device, and even if wrinkles or the like are generated on the elastic cloth cover member during the operation of the drive device, it is hidden by the fixed cover member, so the beauty of the humanoid robot is impaired. Can also be prevented.

(A), (b) is the perspective view and exploded perspective view of the assembly state which show one Example of the several movable axis | shaft drive device cover of the humanoid robot of this invention. It is a front view which shows the whole humanoid robot to which the multiple movable axis drive device cover of the said Example is applied. (A), (b) is the side view seen from the right side of the robot which shows the whole said humanoid robot, and the side view seen from the left side of the robot. It is an expanded sectional view of the A section of Drawing 3 (a) which shows a plurality of movable axis drive device covers of a humanoid robot of the above-mentioned example, partially cutting away. (A), (b), (c) are the speed reducer of the waist pitch axis drive device covered by the multiple movable axis drive device cover of the humanoid robot of the above embodiment, the bearing on the same axis as it, and the waist yaw axis drive device FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the parallel link mechanism, a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 5A, and a perspective view. (A), (b) is a partially cutaway side view showing the stretchable cloth cover member of the plural movable shaft drive device cover of the humanoid robot of the above embodiment in a free state and a mounted state, respectively. (A), (b), (c) is the back view, side view, and bottom view which show the synthetic resin cover member of the front part of the multiple movable-axis drive device cover of the humanoid robot of the said Example. (A), (b), (c) is the back view, side view, and bottom view which show the synthetic resin cover member of the rear part of the multiple movable axis drive unit cover of the humanoid robot of the said Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Body 1a Body upper half 1b Body lower half 2 Leg 3 Arm 4 Head 5 Body outer shell 8 Body upper half cover 12 Body lower half frame 13 Support shaft member 13a Lower shaft part 13b Upper shaft part 14,21 Harmonic drive mechanism 15, 20 Bearing 16 Belt-type transmission mechanism 17 Motor 18 Lumbar pitch axis drive device 22 Drive arm 23 Connecting rod 24 Parallel link mechanism 25 Lumbar yaw axis drive device 26 Front lower half front cover 27 Butt cover 27a Convex portion 28 Multiple movable shaft driving device cover 29 Stretchable cloth cover member 29a Front end portion 29b Rear end portion 30 Front synthetic resin cover member 30a Engagement portion 31 Rear synthetic resin cover member 31a Square tubular portion 31b Positioning convex portion

Claims (3)

In a cover that covers a plurality of driving devices that drive a plurality of movable shafts close to each other of the humanoid robot,
A stretchable cloth cover member that constitutes at least a portion that needs to be deformed to change the relative position of the plurality of drive devices;
A fixed cover member constituting a portion that does not require deformation regardless of a change in relative position of the plurality of drive devices;
The equipped,
The multiple movable shaft drive device cover for a humanoid robot, wherein the fixed cover member covers a part of the elastic cloth cover member so as to be movable relative to each other .   The plurality of driving devices include a waist pitch axis driving device that rotates the upper half of the body relatively back and forth relative to the lower half of the body of the humanoid robot, and the waist pitch axis using a parallel link mechanism. A plurality of humanoid robots, comprising: a waist yaw axis drive device that rotates the upper half of the body relatively to the left and right relative to the lower half of the body by rotating the drive device; Movable shaft drive device cover. The elastic cloth cover member covers the reducer of the waist pitch shaft drive device and the bearing on the same axis as the reducer, and the parallel link mechanism of the waist yaw shaft drive device together,
3. The fixed cover member separately covers a reduction gear of the waist pitch shaft driving device and a front half of a bearing on the same axis as the reduction gear and a rear portion of the parallel link mechanism. A plurality of movable axis drive unit covers for the described humanoid robot.

Images