CN109940586B

CN109940586B - Multi-joint spine and spine type quadruped robot

Info

Publication number: CN109940586B
Application number: CN201910230242.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郭伟; 王鹏飞; 蔡昌荣; 李满天; 李贺琦
Original assignee: Harbin Institute of Technology
Current assignee: Harbin Institute of Technology
Priority date: 2019-03-21
Filing date: 2019-03-21
Publication date: 2021-08-06
Anticipated expiration: 2039-03-21
Also published as: CN109940586A

Abstract

The invention discloses a multi-joint spine, which comprises a first spine, a second spine and a third spine, wherein the first spine, the second spine and the third spine are sequentially hinged, the first spine and the third spine are respectively used for mounting lower limbs of a robot, the first spine is connected with a first driving unit used for driving the first spine to rotate around a hinged shaft, the third spine is connected with a second driving unit used for driving the third spine to rotate around the hinged shaft, and the first driving unit and the second driving unit are respectively mounted on the second spine; the invention also discloses a spine type quadruped robot which comprises the multi-joint spine and the lower robot limb, wherein the lower robot limb is respectively installed on the first spine and the third spine. The multi-joint spine and spine type quadruped robot has a multi-joint spine structure, can simulate the spine bending action of quadruped organisms, has wide spine bending amplitude, increases the motion independence and operability of front and rear limbs, and improves the motion speed and the motion flexibility of the quadruped robot.

Description

Multi-joint spine and spine type quadruped robot

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of robots, and particularly relates to a multi-joint spine and spine type quadruped robot.

Background

The foot type robot is one of the leading subjects in the robot research field, integrates multiple subjects such as machinery, electronics, computers, materials, sensors, control technology, artificial intelligence and the like, has cross multiple subjects and high complexity, attracts the eye focus of multiple scientific research institutions and scientific companies, and various countries also invest huge amounts of materials to develop research in succession. The existing quadruped robot generally adopts a rigid body, the trunk cannot be bent, the movement speed and the movement flexibility are severely limited, the quadruped robot does not conform to the biological movement form, and the existing technology is difficult to solve.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to overcome the defects of the prior art, the invention provides the multi-joint spine and spine type quadruped robot, which has a multi-joint spine structure, can simulate the spine bending action of quadruped organisms, has wide spine bending amplitude, increases the motion independence and operability of front and rear limbs, and improves the motion speed and motion flexibility of the quadruped robot.

The purpose of the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:

a multi-joint spine comprises a first spine, a second spine and a third spine which are sequentially hinged, wherein the first spine and the third spine are respectively used for mounting lower limbs of a robot, a first driving unit used for driving the first spine to rotate around a hinge shaft is connected to the first spine, a second driving unit used for driving the third spine to rotate around the hinge shaft is connected to the third spine, and the first driving unit and the second driving unit are respectively mounted on the second spine.

As a modification of the above, the first spine and the third spine are symmetrical with respect to the second spine; and/or the first drive unit and the second drive unit are symmetric about the second spine.

As a further improvement of the above technical solution, two ends of the first driving unit are hinged to the first spine and the second spine respectively; and/or both ends of the second driving unit are respectively hinged to the second spine and the third spine.

As a further improvement of the above solution, said first spine and/or said second spine and/or said third spine have a multi-articular configuration.

As a further improvement of the above technical means, the first drive unit and/or the second drive unit is a linear expansion mechanism, a fixed end of the linear expansion mechanism is connected to the second spine, an expansion end of the linear expansion mechanism is connected to the first spine or the third spine, and the expansion end is held on the fixed end in a linearly expandable and contractible manner.

A spine-type quadruped robot comprising the multi-joint spine and lower robot limbs of any one of the above, wherein the lower robot limbs are respectively mounted to the first spine and the third spine.

As an improvement of the above technical solution, the lower limb of the robot includes a hip bone, a thigh, a shank, a first link and a second link, the hip bone, the thigh and the shank are sequentially hinged, the thigh, the shank, the first link and the second link form a parallelogram mechanism, the hip bone is connected to the first spine or the third spine and is provided with a leg driving unit, and an output end of the leg driving unit is hinged to a hinged position of the first link and the second link.

As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the leg driving unit includes a first linear telescopic mechanism and a second linear telescopic mechanism, an included angle between the motion output directions of the first linear telescopic mechanism and the second linear telescopic mechanism ranges from 75 ° to 90 °, and an output end of the first linear telescopic mechanism and an output end of the second linear telescopic mechanism are respectively hinged at a hinge joint of the first connecting rod and the second connecting rod.

As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the hinge joint of the first link and the second link is located at one end of the thigh close to the hip bone; and/or the hip bone is hinged to the first or third spine; and/or the fixed end of the leg driving unit is hinged to the hip bone.

As a further improvement of the above technical solution, the lower robot limb located on the first spine and the lower robot limb located on the third spine are symmetrical with respect to the second spine.

The invention has the beneficial effects that:

the first spine, the second spine and the third spine which are sequentially hinged are arranged, the relative motion among the first spine, the second spine and the third spine simulates the spinal curvature of a quadruped organism, the spinal curvature amplitude is wide, and ideal motion flexibility is achieved;

set up first drive unit and second drive unit on the second backbone, realize the independent drive to first backbone and third backbone, it is independent to make between the front and back body keep the motion, further richenes crooked form variety to the motion control independence of the front and back limbs of guaranteeing that the front and back body is connected respectively, thereby increase the maneuverability of model, further promote the speed of running.

In order to make the aforementioned and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, preferred embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it should be understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope, and for those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without inventive efforts.

FIG. 1 is a top isometric view of a multi-joint spine provided in example 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of a multi-joint spinal column provided in accordance with example 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a multi-joint spine provided in example 1 of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a general axis view of the spine quadruped robot provided in embodiment 2 of the present invention;

fig. 5 is an axial view of a lower limb of the spine quadruped robot according to embodiment 2 of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a partial schematic view of the lower limb of the robot of fig. 5.

Description of the main element symbols:

1000-spine quadruped robot, 1100-multijoint spine, 1110-first spine, 1120-second spine, 1121-first spine, 1122-second spine, 1130-third spine, 1140-first drive unit, 1150-second drive unit, 1160-first articulation shaft, 1170-second articulation shaft, 1181-inertia measurement unit, 1182-power supply battery, 1183-master control valve block unit, 1200-robot lower limb, 1210-hip bone, 1220-thigh, 1230-calf, 1240-first link, 1250-second link, 1260-leg drive unit, 1261-first linear telescopic mechanism, 1262-second linear telescopic mechanism, 1271-joint bearing, 1272-Y joint.

Detailed Description

To facilitate an understanding of the present invention, the multi-joint spine and spine type quadruped robot will be described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The figures show preferred embodiments of a multi-joint spine and spine type quadruped robot. However, articulated spine and spine type quadruped robots can be realized in many different forms and are not limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete for multi-joint spine and spine quadruped robots.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on" another element, there are no intervening elements present. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "left," "right," and the like as used herein are for illustrative purposes only.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used herein in the description of the articulated spine and spine-type quadruped robot is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Example 1

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, the present embodiment discloses a multi-joint spine 1100, wherein the multi-joint spine 1100 includes a first spine 1110, a second spine 1120 and a third spine 1130, which are sequentially hinged to form a three-segment main joint structure, so as to simulate the spinal bending motion of a quadruped, thereby improving the motion speed and motion flexibility of a quadruped robot.

The first spine 1110 and the third spine 1130 are each rotatable about their own articulation axis with the second spine 1120, respectively, based on the articulation relationship to effect bending motion of the multi-jointed spine 1100. In the foregoing configuration, the multi-joint spinal column 1100 has a three-segment basic configuration. The three-section basic configuration has a wide bending angle, and can realize bending of a body with a large amplitude, so that the running step distance is effectively increased. Meanwhile, the spinal motion rule of the three-section basic configuration can be actively adjusted according to the motion requirement of the robot, has a wide motion range and is suitable for different types of application conditions.

Wherein, the first spine 1110, the second spine 1120 and the third spine 1130 can respectively have rigid structures, joints are not arranged in the spine, and the mechanical structure is simplified; alternatively, at least one of the first, second and

third vertebrae

1110, 1120, 1130 has a multi-articular configuration that further enriches the curved morphology of the multi-articular spinal column 1100, making the motion flexible more prominent.

Additionally, by "at least one of the first, second and

third vertebrae

1110, 1120, 1130 has a multi-articular configuration," it is meant that the multi-articular configuration of the vertebrae is made up of at least one joint, with at least one level of articulation between the components of the vertebrae to provide the vertebrae with the ability to flex themselves.

The first spine 1110 and the third spine 1130 are used to mount the lower robot limb 1200, respectively. In the four-legged robot, the robot lower limbs 1200 are four and are divided into front and rear limbs according to the position. Based on the motion independence of the first spine 1110 and the third spine 1130, the front limb and the rear limb have motion control independence, and the motion form diversity and operability of the four-footed robot are enriched.

The first spine 1110 is connected with first driving units 1140 for driving it to rotate about a hinge shaft (first hinge shaft 1160), and the first driving units 1140 are respectively installed on the second spine 1120. The first driving unit 1140 may be in the form of a linear telescopic mechanism, a link mechanism, a rotary motor, etc. to realize the motion driving of the first spine 1110. Illustratively, when the first driving unit 1140 is not in the form of a rotary motor, both ends of the first driving unit 1140 may be hinged to the first spine 1110 and the second spine 1120, respectively.

Illustratively, the first drive unit 1140 is a linear pantograph mechanism having a fixed end coupled to the second spine 1120 and a telescopic end (i.e., an output end thereof) coupled to the first spine 1110. Wherein the telescopic end can be held on the fixed end in a linear telescopic manner. Exemplarily, the fixed end is hinged to the second spine 1120, and the telescopic section is hinged to the first spine 1110, so that the first spine 1110, the second spine 1120 and the linear telescopic mechanism form a planar three-rod mechanism. The linear telescopic mechanism comprises telescopic cylinders (such as air cylinders or hydraulic cylinders), electric push rods, electric cylinders and the like.

To the third spine 1130, a second driving unit 1150 for driving rotation about a hinge shaft (second hinge shaft 1170) is connected, and the second driving unit 1150 is mounted on the second spine 1120, respectively. The second driving unit 1150 may use a linear telescopic mechanism, a link mechanism, a rotary motor, etc. to realize the motion driving of the third spine 1130. Exemplarily, when the second driving unit 1150 is not in the form of a rotary motor, both ends of the second driving unit 1150 are exemplarily hinged to the second spine 1120 and the third spine 1130, respectively.

The second drive unit 1150 is illustratively a linear pantograph mechanism having a fixed end coupled to the second spine 1120 and a telescoping end (i.e., an output end) coupled to the third spine 1130. Wherein the telescopic end can be held on the fixed end in a linear telescopic manner. Illustratively, the fixed end is hinged to the second spine 1120, and the telescopic section is hinged to the third spine 1130, so that the second spine 1120, the third spine 1130 and the linear telescopic mechanism form a planar three-rod mechanism. The linear telescopic mechanism comprises telescopic cylinders (such as air cylinders or hydraulic cylinders), electric push rods, electric cylinders and the like.

The first spine 1110, second spine 1120, and third spine 1130 may have different physical configurations as in an actual quadruped. Illustratively, the first spine 1110 and the third spine 1130 are symmetrical with respect to the second spine 1120, so that the multi-joint spine 1100 is simplified in structure, easy to balance in structure, low in implementation difficulty and control difficulty, and high in component universality, and facilitates production and maintenance.

Exemplarily, the first driving unit 1140 and the second driving unit 1150 are symmetrical about the second spine 1120, which simplifies the mechanical structure, facilitates the structural balance, and reduces the control difficulty. The structural arrangement is further optimized, particularly in the case where the first and

third vertebrae

1110, 1130 are symmetrical about the second vertebra 1120.

The second spine 1120 may be implemented with different types of structures, illustratively having a symmetrical configuration that ensures overall symmetry of the multi-articular spinal column 1100. Illustratively, the second spine 1120 includes a first frame 1121 and a second frame 1122 that are connected in opposition. The two ends of the first frame 1121 are respectively hinged to the first spine 1110 and the third spine 1130 through the first hinge shaft 1160 and the second hinge shaft 1170, and the two ends of the second frame 1122 are respectively connected (for example, hinged) to the first driving unit 1140 and the second driving unit 1150.

Illustratively, the multi-joint spine 1100 further includes an inertial measurement unit 1181(IMU), a power supply battery 1182, and a master control valve block unit 1183. The inertia measurement unit 1181 is used to measure a three-axis attitude angle (or angular rate) and an acceleration of the robot body, the power supply battery 1182 is used to provide power for an electrical appliance such as the master valve block unit 1183, and the master valve block unit 1183 is used to implement conditioning control on a fluid control system (e.g., a hydraulic control system) of the robot. Exemplarily, the inertia measurement unit 1181 and the power supply battery 1182 are integrated on the second spine 1120, so that main accessories of the multi-joint spine 1100 are concentrated in the middle of the body, the rotational inertia of the body in the pitch angle direction is reduced, and the ideal swing self-stability in the pitch angle direction is ensured.

Example 2

Referring to fig. 4, the present embodiment discloses a spine quadruped robot 1000, and the spine quadruped robot 1000 includes the multi-joint spine 1100 and the robot lower limbs 1200 described in embodiment 1. As described above, the lower robot limb 1200 is attached to the first spine 1110 and the third spine 1130, respectively, so that the robot has four limbs (distinguishable as front and rear limbs).

Wherein, the front and rear limbs of the robot can be formed by linear arrays of the robot lower limbs 1200, and have the same orientation, and form the configuration forms such as < <' shaped leg distribution and > > shaped leg distribution. Alternatively, the front and rear limbs of the robot have a symmetrical distribution relationship. Illustratively, in the latter form, the lower robotic limb 1200 located on the first spine 1110 is symmetrical to the lower robotic limb 1200 located on the third spine 1130 about the second spine 1120. Under the symmetrical form, the front and rear limbs of the robot can adopt different structural forms such as X-shaped leg distribution, O-shaped leg distribution and the like. Illustratively, the front and rear limbs of the robot have an O-leg distribution to avoid motion interference with the multi-joint spine 1100.

Referring to fig. 5-6, the lower limb 1200 of the robot exemplarily includes a hip 1210, a thigh 1220, a shank 1230, a first link 1240 and a second link 1250. Wherein, the hip bone 1210, the thigh 1220 and the lower leg 1230 are hinged in sequence to form a multi-joint structure. The thigh 1220, the shank 1230, the first link 1240 and the second link 1250 form a parallelogram mechanism, the first link 1240 is parallel to the thigh 1220, and the second link 1250 is parallel to the shank 1230.

The hip 1210 is connected to the first 1110 or third 1130 spine for structural connection. The hip bone 1210 may be fixedly attached to the first or

third spine

1110, 1130 or, illustratively, the hip bone 1210 may be hingedly attached to the first or

third spine

1110, 1130 to increase freedom of movement and increase flexibility of movement.

The hip 1210 has a leg driving unit 1260, and the output end of the leg driving unit 1260 is hinged to the joint of the first link 1240 and the second link 1250. In other words, the output end of the leg drive unit 1260, the first link 1240 and the second link 1250 are hinged at the same point. Through this articulation, leg drive unit 1260 may drive thigh 1220 and lower leg 1230 in a swinging motion in synchrony. The thigh 1220 and the shank 1230 do not need to be provided with a driving unit, the weight of the thigh 1220 and the shank 1230 are greatly reduced, the light weight design is realized, the swing frequency of the thigh 1220 and the shank 1230 is effectively improved, and the purpose of high-speed running is realized. Illustratively, the fixed end of the leg driving unit 1260 is hinged to the hip 1210 to increase freedom of movement and increase flexibility of movement.

The hinge joint of the first link 1240 and the second link 1250 may be disposed at different positions. Illustratively, the articulation of the first link 1240 and the second link 1250 is at the end of the thigh 1220 near the hip 1210, compressing the structural size and/or drive stroke of the leg drive unit 1260, further achieving weight reduction while increasing the moment arm to reduce the required output force and save energy. Illustratively, the articulation of the first link 1240 and the second link 1250 is at an end of the lower leg 1230 proximate the thigh 1220, compressing the distance between the first link 1240 and the thigh 1220.

The leg drive unit 1260 may be implemented in different forms, such as having the same output, or split outputs. Illustratively, the leg drive unit 1260 includes a first linear retraction mechanism 1261 and a second linear retraction mechanism 1262. The first linear expansion mechanism 1261 and the second linear expansion mechanism 1262 may be of the expansion cylinder (e.g., air cylinder or hydraulic cylinder), electric push rod, electric cylinder, or the like.

Exemplarily, the included angle between the motion output directions of the first linear telescoping mechanism 1261 and the second linear telescoping mechanism 1262 is 75 ° to 90 °, so that the motion output of the two linear telescoping mechanisms and the main motion (swing motion) of the lower limb 1200 of the robot keep an approximate decoupling state, the motions are separated to simplify analysis and calculation, and accurate motion control is easy to realize. Exemplarily, the movement output direction of the first linear telescopic mechanism 1261 is arranged in the vertical direction, and the movement output direction of the second linear telescopic mechanism 1262 is arranged in the horizontal direction.

The output end of the first linear telescopic mechanism 1261 and the output end of the second linear telescopic mechanism 1262 are respectively hinged at the hinged position of the first connecting rod 1240 and the second connecting rod 1250, and the four are hinged at the same point. For example, the output end of the first linear telescopic mechanism 1261 is hinged to the hinge of the first link 1240 and the second link 1250 through a joint bearing 1271, and the output end of the second linear telescopic mechanism 1262 is hinged to the hinge of the first link 1240 and the second link 1250 through a Y-joint 1272.

In all examples shown and described herein, any particular value should be construed as merely exemplary, and not as a limitation, and thus other examples of example embodiments may have different values.

It should be noted that: like reference numbers and letters refer to like items in the following figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, it need not be further defined and explained in subsequent figures.

The above examples are merely illustrative of several embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the inventive concept, which falls within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A multi-joint spine is characterized by comprising an inertia measuring unit, a power supply battery, a first spine, a second spine and a third spine which are sequentially hinged, wherein the first spine and the third spine are respectively used for mounting lower limbs of a robot, the first spine is connected with a first driving unit for driving the first spine to rotate around a hinge shaft, the third spine is connected with a second driving unit for driving the third spine to rotate around the hinge shaft, and the first driving unit and the second driving unit are respectively mounted on the second spine;

the inertial measurement unit and the power supply battery are integrated on the second spine, and the inertial measurement unit is used for measuring the three-axis attitude angle and the acceleration of the robot body;

wherein the first and third vertebrae are symmetrical about the second vertebra; the first drive unit and the second drive unit are symmetric about the second spine;

the second backbone comprises a first backbone and a second backbone which are oppositely connected, two ends of the first backbone are respectively hinged to the first backbone and the third backbone through a first hinge shaft and a second hinge shaft, and two ends of the first driving unit are respectively hinged to the first backbone and the second backbone; two ends of the second driving unit are hinged to the second framework and the third spine respectively;

the first spine and/or the second spine and/or the third spine have a multi-articular configuration.

2. The polyarticular spine according to claim 1, characterized in that said first drive unit and/or said second drive unit are linear telescopic mechanisms, fixed ends of which are connected to said second spine and telescopic ends are connected to said first spine or said third spine, said telescopic ends being telescopically retained in said fixed ends.

3. A spinal quadruped robot comprising the multi-joint spine according to any one of claims 1 to 2 and lower robotic limbs attached to the first spine and the third spine, respectively.

4. The spine type quadruped robot as claimed in claim 3, wherein the lower limbs of the robot comprise a hip bone, an upper leg, a lower leg, a first connecting rod and a second connecting rod, the hip bone, the upper leg and the lower leg are sequentially hinged, the upper leg, the lower leg, the first connecting rod and the second connecting rod form a parallelogram mechanism, the hip bone is connected to the first spine or the third spine and is provided with a leg driving unit, and the output end of the leg driving unit is hinged to the hinged position of the first connecting rod and the second connecting rod.

5. The spine quadruped robot according to claim 4, wherein the leg driving unit comprises a first linear telescoping mechanism and a second linear telescoping mechanism, the included angle between the motion output directions of the first linear telescoping mechanism and the second linear telescoping mechanism ranges from 75 degrees to 90 degrees, and the output end of the first linear telescoping mechanism and the output end of the second linear telescoping mechanism are respectively hinged at the hinged position of the first connecting rod and the second connecting rod.

6. The spine quadruped robot as claimed in claim 4, wherein the articulation of the first link and the second link is located at one end of the thigh close to the hip bone; and/or the hip bone is hinged to the first or third spine; and/or the fixed end of the leg driving unit is hinged to the hip bone.

7. The spine quadruped robot of claim 3 wherein the lower robot limb located on the first spine is symmetrical to the lower robot limb located on the third spine with respect to the second spine.