JP2005081447A - Traveling robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a traveling robot not causing an inoperative state to every change in attitude such as an overturn, a drop or the like in moving to continuously perform various works, and forming a robot body including a work tool into a unit to facilitate reconfiguration and repairing according to uses. <P>SOLUTION: This traveling robot includes: an enclosure 2 having a left part 3 and a right part 4 and formed into a substantially U-shape with a gap part 6; a traveling part 11 formed of a plurality of tires 12 the outer peripheral surfaces of which are formed on the outer surface of the enclosure 2 to serve as grounding surfaces, and positioned outside the left part 3 and the right part 4 to be disposed without projecting the outline of the enclosure 2; an arm 21 freely rockably disposed in the gap 6 of the enclosure 2 and formed of an articulated arm so that, at each joint part, the forward end side is sequentially folded to the base end side to put the arm in an accommodating state, and store the same in the gap 6; a hand 27 provided at the foremost end of the arm 21; and a crawler belt 30 disposed to wrap round the outer periphery of the arm 21 and interlocking with the tires 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  Various vehicles including indoor and outdoor spaces with many obstacles such as concavities and convexities, and vehicles that support special and long-time work such as security, information collection and disaster relief in various dangerous environments that require prompt action The present invention relates to a traveling robot having a mechanism applicable to the above.

  In general, a vehicle that moves indoors and outdoors is required to have traveling stability that can move between flat and uneven terrain without distinction. In addition, the ability to move on geometrical uneven terrain such as steps, stairs, and grooves widens the field of activity of the vehicle, and much research has been conducted. When a certain level of movement capability is provided, various types of tools such as sensors and manipulators are mounted on these vehicles, and research on their workability has been conducted.

  However, a vehicle is determined to have the front and back (up and down) determined by the installation of various tools for such work, and usually remains in a state of protruding outside due to an accident such as falling or falling while moving. Various mounted tools often collide with surrounding objects and break down or be damaged, and when these tools come into contact with the road surface, the posture of the vehicle changes to an unstable posture There was a problem that it was not possible to continue operation and work after the event.

  Therefore, in order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention allows a vehicle equipped with various working tools to be kept in a variety of operations and the like without being out of service even when the front and back are turned over. The purpose is to provide a traveling robot.

Next, means for solving the above problems will be described with reference to the drawings corresponding to the embodiments.
The traveling robot according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a housing 2 having a left portion 3 and a right portion 4 and having a gap portion 6 and formed in a substantially U shape.
The outer surface of each of the left part 3 and the right part 4 of the case 2 is provided on the outer side surface, and the outer peripheral surface serving as a grounding surface is located outside the left part 3 and the right part 4. A traveling part 11 comprising a plurality of tires 12 or crawler belts 60 arranged without projecting the outer shape part,
An arm 21 disposed in the gap 6 of the housing 2 and capable of being accommodated between the left portion 3 and the right portion 4 and swingable with respect to the housing 2;
A crawler belt 30 wound around the outer circumference along the longitudinal direction of the arm 21 and interlocking with the tire 12 or the crawler belt 60;
It is characterized by comprising.

  The traveling robot according to claim 2 is the traveling robot according to claim 1, wherein the arm 21 is an articulated arm, and the distal end side is sequentially folded with respect to the proximal end side at each joint portion and is housed. And is stored in the gap 6.

  The traveling robot according to claim 3 is characterized in that, in the traveling robot according to claim 1 or 2, an omnidirectional camera 41 is disposed at the tip of the arm 21.

The traveling robot according to claim 4 is characterized in that in the traveling robot according to claim 1, 2 or 3, a hand 27 is provided at the forefront of the arm 21.

  The traveling robot according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the traveling robot according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, a sensor 91 is provided at the forefront of the arm 21.

  The traveling robot according to claim 6 is the traveling robot according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, wherein the tire of the traveling unit 11 is composed of a balloon tire 12, and a para-aramid. A crawler belt 60 obtained by laminating and sewing fibers is provided, and the crawler belt 60 is provided so as to cover the outer peripheral surface of the balloon tire 12 positioned at the front and rear.

  The traveling robot according to claim 7 is the traveling robot according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and the left part 3 and the right part 4 of the housing 2 and the traveling robot. The part 11 and the arm 21 are each configured to be detachable.

  The traveling robot according to claim 8 is the traveling robot according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. It is characterized by being connected via the device 19.

  According to such a traveling robot, a vehicle equipped with various tools for work is not traversable in a vehicle composed of four wheels or two crawlers, which does not become inoperable even when the front and back are turned over. Steps that were possible were mounted so that the auxiliary crawler unit 29 formed of the crawler belt 30 provided on the arm 21 or the side of the work tool provided with the auxiliary crawler 29 can be stored in the housing 2 that is the vehicle body. When the suspension is applied to suppress the vibration during traveling of the small vehicle, the structure becomes complicated and the size is increased, so that the traveling unit 11 as the shock absorber 19 is provided. Suspension mechanism that can be easily constructed by wrapping the driving force transmission mechanism that constitutes the structure with a cushioning material and coupling with the housing 2, and a fall using the suspension mechanism The impact mitigation mechanism at the time, and various tools, the vehicle body, etc. are unitized for each component, so that the robot can be configured according to the work and road surface condition by combining them, and the division by making it removable By using a balloon tire 12 with a diameter larger than the thickness of the vehicle body as an example of a wheeled type mechanism that can be easily carried by the vehicle, shock mitigation during a fall and avoiding collision of protrusions with the vehicle body In addition, a para-aramid fiber is laminated and sewn on an annulus and holes are formed at equal intervals on both sides, and the tension generated by the tire pressure and the tightening condition of the wire is applied to the outer circumference of adjacent tires. Grosser is constructed by continuously winding the crawler belt 60 and arranging bar-shaped rubber in parallel and continuously between the laminated layers. A track-type mechanism, a multi-degree-of-freedom arm-type work tool that simply changes a wheeled vehicle that improves the effect of obtaining the same degree of friction even when the surface is worn by the laminated structure of fibers etc. A mechanism or the like that enables information collection at an arbitrary height and acquisition of surrounding information at the time of traveling is provided by mounting the camera 41 on the hand portion of the vehicle.

  According to the traveling robot of the present invention, the arm, the camera, the sensor, and the like are structured to be housed in the housing, and these are structured so as not to protrude to the outside. In addition, there is no need to be aware of the front and back (up and down) of the vehicle, and various tools such as arms collide with surrounding objects to cause failure and damage, and contact with the road surface. It is possible to reduce the state of non-operation due to a position with a height or the like or accidental dropping or falling. Thereby, various operations can be continued.

  Further, since precision devices such as cameras and sensors mounted on the vehicle main body can be protected by the shock absorbing structure of the shock absorber, the state of non-operation can be reduced similarly. And the work area in a dangerous place can be expanded, and driving | running | working and various work can be continued safely and rapidly.

  In addition, since the main unit is unitized for each component, and it is configured to be detachable and detachable for each part, it can be easily carried, changing to an optimum traveling device according to the traveling road surface condition and work Replacement of the most suitable work tool according to the situation, further replacement of parts in easy work at the time of failure, taking out a non-failed unit from several failed vehicles, and assembling one usable vehicle It is possible to reconfigure.

  In addition, as a method of easily changing a wheeled vehicle to a track type, there is a method of continuously winding the outer periphery of adjacent tires with a crawler belt. This crawler belt is made by laminating para-aramid fibers on a ring. Then, the holes for passing the wires are formed at equal intervals on both sides, and the crawler belt is attached to the outer circumference of the tire with the tension generated by the tire pressure and the tightening condition of the wire, and the rod-like rubber is arranged in parallel and continuously between the layers. It is possible to improve rough terrain breakthrough by configuring the grouser, and wear resistance and heat resistance by para-aramid fiber, and even when the surface is worn by the laminated structure of the fiber It is possible to have the effect of obtaining the friction.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a traveling robot of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a structural perspective view of a traveling device constituting the traveling robot, and FIG. 3 is a view seen from the front side of the traveling robot. FIG. 4 is a partially omitted perspective view as seen from the back side of the traveling robot. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a traveling device constituting the traveling robot, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the arm portion of the traveling robot.

The traveling robot 1 of the present invention is generally composed of a housing 2, a traveling unit 11, an arm 21, and a crawler belt 30.
The housing 2 has a left part 3 and a right part 4 that are outer shells of a traveling part described later, and a control part 5 that connects the left part 3 and the right part 4 at one end. It is formed in a substantially U shape having a gap 6 on the other end side with respect to the right part 4. In this description, the left side in FIG. 1 is the front as the traveling robot, the left direction in the figure is the traveling direction, the left side in the traveling direction is the left part 3, and the right side is the right part 4. Moreover, the left part 3, the right part 4, and the control part 5 are configured to be detachable from each other and configured to be separable.

The left part 3 and the right part 4 contain a battery 7 as a driving source of the traveling robot 1 (see FIG. 3). The battery 7 is a secondary battery that is a rechargeable battery such as a nickel metal hydride battery. The other end sides of the left part 3 and the right part 4 are front ends of the vehicle, and a front monitoring camera 8 and a light 9 that can be switched between visible and near infrared are provided at each front part.
The control unit 5 is a rear part of the vehicle, and includes a control device such as a control circuit for controlling driving of the traveling unit 11 and the arm 21 described later. Further, a rear monitoring visible camera 10 is mounted on the rear surface (see FIG. 4).

  Next, in the present embodiment, the traveling unit 11 is configured as a wheeled type that enables high-speed traveling on a flat ground, and is configured as a tire including four front, rear, left, and right, and each tire is configured as a balloon tire 12. doing. The balloon tire 11 has elasticity, and as shown in FIG. 2, the balloon tire 11 is sufficiently larger than the size of the casing 2. For example, the outer diameter of the tire 12 is set to about three times the thickness of the casing 2. The outer shape of the casing 2 is sufficiently outside the casing 2 without projecting the outer shape of the casing 2 (see FIG. 5B). The traveling unit 11 of the present embodiment is configured by the left part 3 and the right part 4 independently.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the driving force transmission mechanism of one traveling unit 11 in the left and right traveling units 11 from the upper surface and side surfaces. The output of the DC geared motor 14 disposed in the rear unit 13 is transmitted to the front wheels and the rear wheels of the front and rear units 13 and 15 via a constant speed pulley to drive the two wheels simultaneously.
In the front unit 15, the driving force is transmitted to an auxiliary crawler 18 for distributing to an auxiliary crawler described later via a speed increasing chain 17. The rotation amount of the wheel 12 is measured by an optical encoder attached to the motor unit 14. Thereby, dead reckoning for self-position identification becomes possible.

  FIGS. 3 and 5 (a) show a simple suspension mechanism 19 as a shock absorber for shock reduction during fall and fall and vibration absorption during travel. The robot body is configured to be wrapped with a balloon tire 12 having high elasticity, and depending on the degree of unevenness of the road surface, the impact is mitigated by grounding around the balloon tire 12 when falling or falling. Furthermore, in order to alleviate that the impact force applied to the axle at this time is transmitted to the robot body, work tools such as manipulators described later, and various mounted devices, the transmission drive system of each wheel 12 is made into a component, and the housing 2 is lifted so as to include the entire circumference as shown in FIG. 5 (b) by the shock absorbing material, so that the impact force is relieved by the minute deformation thereof. That is, the units 13 and 15 of the traveling unit 11 are disposed inside the left part 3 and the right part 4 of the housing 2 via the upper and lower shock absorbers 19.

  At this time, in order to exclude the influence of a slight axis deviation at the time of shock relaxation, the power transmission of the front and rear wheels 12, that is, the belt stretched around the constant speed pulley 16 is the timing belt 20. The shock absorber 19 also acts as a simple suspension for mitigating vibration during travel.

  The traveling part 11 as described above is configured with the left part 3 and the right part 4 of the housing 2 as outer shells, and is coupled by the control part 5 so that the front and back are symmetrical as shown in FIGS. -Configure an impact-resistant traveling device. And this robot 1 enables a straight running, a gentle turn, and a super turn by a skid steer method.

  Moreover, it is a mechanism structure that does not become inoperative under all circumstances, and in particular, impact resistance and front / back symmetry for coping with falling, falling, etc. are considered.

Next, the arm 21 will be described.
The working arm mounted on the traveling robot 1 of the present invention is preferably a retractable active multi-degree-of-freedom working arm in which the joint movable range is unlimited and the front / back object property of the arm is taken into consideration.

  When workability is taken into consideration, in addition to non-holonomic movement including super-revolution (1 degree of freedom) of the traveling part, shoulder joint (1 degree of freedom), elbow joint (2 degrees of freedom), wrist joint (2 degrees of freedom) By constructing as a five-degree-of-freedom active work arm having a mechanism, it is possible to provide a mechanism structure that can determine the position and posture of an arbitrary point in space. Moreover, the structure containing a linear motion joint is also possible as needed.

  Further, in order to enable a simple object gripping operation or the like, although not included in the degree of freedom of the work arm, it is preferable to add a hand (one degree of freedom for opening and closing) that can grip the object to the wrist.

  Then, each joint unit is not controlled by the addition of a self-locking mechanism or the like, maintains its posture when no power is supplied, mounts an omnidirectional camera or the like in the reverse direction of the back of the hand, and recycles the robot system according to the purpose. There are also structures such as unitization of a work arm and a vehicle main body traveling device that can be configured.

  The arm 21 in this embodiment constitutes an articulated arm having a plurality of link arms 22 and 23, and includes a shoulder joint (one degree of freedom) 24 and an elbow joint (one freedom) as shown in FIG. Degree) 25, wrist joint (1 degree of freedom) 26 joint movement range is unlimited, a three-degree-of-freedom arm 21 with front / back symmetry and retractability, and a small, lightweight and retractable function with a familiarity function by a coupled differential mechanism It is equipped with a high hand 27. In the present embodiment, the first link arm 22 on the base end side is connected to the housing 2 via the shoulder joint 24, and the left portion 3 and the right portion 4 of the housing 2 are connected to the housing 2. It is configured to have a width that can be accommodated in the gap portion 6 between them, and is configured to be swingable (movable).

  As a driving force transmission mechanism (not shown) of the shoulder joint portion 24, a DC geared motor disposed in the shoulder joint portion 24 is provided, and the output of the DC geared motor is transmitted through a reduction pulley to a wave of the harmonic drive reduction mechanism. The first link arm 22 that is transmitted to the generator and attached to the circular spline is driven. The amount of rotation of the shoulder joint is measured by a multi-rotation potentiometer attached to the shoulder rotation shaft.

  A driving force transmission mechanism (not shown) for the elbow joint 25 includes a DC geared motor disposed in the shoulder joint 24, and the output of the DC geared motor is a reduction pulley inside the shoulder joint, a harmonic drive reduction mechanism, a deceleration. After being sufficiently decelerated by the pulley, the second link arm 23 attached to the elbow joint side pulley of the constant velocity pulley inside the first link arm 22 is driven. The amount of rotation of the elbow joint is measured by a multi-rotation potentiometer attached to the elbow rotation axis.

  The drive transmission mechanism (not shown) of the wrist joint portion 26 includes a DC geared motor disposed in the elbow joint portion 25, and the output of the DC geared motor is second decelerated after being sufficiently decelerated by the reduction pulley inside the elbow joint. The hand 27 attached to the wrist joint side of the constant velocity pulley inside the link arm 23 is driven. The amount of rotation of the wrist joint is measured by a multi-rotation potentiometer attached to the wrist rotation shaft.

  Each joint has a self-locking mechanism using a worm gear at the final stage. As a result, in a state where the link arm portions 22 and 23 are folded, the second link arm 23 is accommodated in the first link arm 22 and the hand 27 is accommodated in the second link arm 23 so that the respective portions are stored. In this state, even when the robot receives an impact due to dropping or the like, the retracted state in which the rotation of the joint is mechanically restricted can be maintained, and the arm as the work tool can be made safe.

  A finger joint drive mechanism (not shown) of the hand 27 constructed integrally with the wrist joint portion 26 includes two finger portions 28 and 28 and includes a DC geared motor. This finger joint drive mechanism realizes the opening and closing operation of the two fingers 28 and 28 through a connecting differential mechanism using planetary gears by one DC geared motor. These two fingers 28 and 28 perform an opening / closing operation independently on the left and right sides while adapting to the shape of the gripping object according to the balance of the open / close resistance at the time of contact depending on the shape of the gripping object.

  The hand 27 has a built-in differential mechanism using a DC geared motor and a planetary gear. The output from the DC geared motor is transmitted from the sun gear of the planetary gear to the ring gear and the carrier via the planet gear. The pulleys attached to the ring gear and the carrier respectively transmit the number of rotations to each finger according to the balance of the rotational load.

  As a drive mechanism (not shown) for each finger 28, the finger transmits a rotational force to each joint from the base of the finger to the tip of the finger via a speed increasing pulley by an output from the planetary gear. In each joint of the fingers 28, 28, the rotation input pulley and the rotation output pulley are integrally attached to the joint shaft so as to be freely rotatable. However, since the fingertip joint does not need to be transmitted to the tip any more, it does not have a rotation output pulley, and only the rotation input pulley is integrated with the fingertip and is freely attached to the rotation shaft. The speed increasing pulley is configured by setting the diameter of the rotation input pulley of each joint smaller than the rotation output pulley on the base side. With this mechanism, each joint of the finger 28 constitutes a coupled differential mechanism, and the rotation speed can be distributed according to the rotational load balance of each joint on the finger. The restoring force of each joint is generated by a torsion spring. Since the rotation speed of each joint becomes higher as it is transmitted to the tip by the amplifying pulley, gripping and releasing operations are possible. The finger 28 has a configuration in which the fingertip side is short for each joint, and is configured to be folded so that it does not protrude when housed in the housing 2.

  In addition, a pair of crawler belts 30 is disposed on the outer periphery of both outer side surfaces of the first link arm 22 that is the base end side of the arm 21 between the shoulder joint portion 24 and the elbow joint portion 25. The crawler belt 30 is configured to be able to generate a driving force independently. This is used as a posture-variable crawler to improve the rough terrain traversability of a small work robot.

The crawler belt 30 is wound around the interlocking auxiliary pulley 18 provided in the traveling unit 11 and the pulley 31 disposed on the outer surface of the elbow joint unit 25 and is driven by the driving force on the traveling unit 11 side. It is supposed to be. The crawler belt 30 is provided with a glosser 32 on an outer peripheral surface serving as a ground contact surface.
The crawler belt 30 constitutes an auxiliary crawler 29 and is driven to rotate in conjunction with the driving of the tire 12 in the traveling unit 11. Further, the crawler belt 30 is connected to the tire 12 by the interlocking auxiliary pulley 18 provided in the traveling unit 11. Drive at high speed. That is, the wheel circumferential speed and the auxiliary crawler circumferential speed are designed to be approximately the same in order to suppress the internal force generated when the vehicle touches the road surface simultaneously.

  The rotation amount of the auxiliary crawler 29 is measured by the optical encoder attached to the motor unit together with the tire 12 described above. Thereby, dead reckoning for self-position identification becomes possible.

  Note that the traveling robot 1 of the present invention is, for example, capable of being used in a narrow space, and in a size that is most downsized, the total length × width × height is 0.7 m × 0.7 m ×. For applications in a narrow space in the vertical direction, such as under a vehicle, the overall height is configured to be as thin as 0.15 m or less. In consideration of operation and portability by several workers, the mass is set to several tens of kg or less and can be easily divided into several units as necessary.

  Moreover, the structure used as a raw material, a coating film, or a structure which considers all weather property, dustproof property, waterproofness, heat resistance, fire resistance, chemical resistance, radiation resistance, etc. is preferable.

  In the traveling robot 1 configured as described above, the traveling unit 11 is configured by the balloon tire 12 so that high-speed traveling on a flat ground can be realized and the outer diameter thereof is configured to be larger than that of the housing 2. By this, it is possible to obtain shock mitigation in the event of falling or dropping, and to obtain a robot with a front / back symmetrical configuration or an impact resistant configuration. In addition, the configuration in which the arm 21 as a work tool can be accommodated in the gap 6 of the housing 2 can also realize a symmetric configuration, that is, the arm 21 operates regardless of which side is the front (upper side). In addition, when the arm 21 is housed, there is no portion protruding when the arm 21 is overturned or dropped, and it is possible to suppress the occurrence of problems such as damage.

  As an example of the traveling robot 1 described above, an example in which the arm 21 is articulated and a hand 27 is mounted on the tip of the arm has been described. In addition, a camera or the like as shown in FIG. 7 is provided. It is good also as a structure.

  The traveling robot 1 of such an example is configured to include an omnidirectional camera unit 41 as a camera, and the joint movable range of the shoulder joint part (one degree of freedom) 42 and the camera part (one degree of freedom) 43 is unlimited. It is a two-degree-of-freedom type with a front / back object / storability.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing a driving force transmission mechanism such as the shoulder joint portion 42 of the arm 21 provided with the camera unit 41. The output of the DC geared motor 44 disposed in the shoulder joint portion 42 is transmitted to the worm gear via the constant speed pulley, the two-stage planetary gear reducer, and the constant speed pulley, and drives the link arm 46 attached to the worm wheel. To do. The rotation amount of the shoulder joint portion 42 is measured by a multi-rotation type potentiometer 48 after the rotation amount of the shoulder rotation shaft is doubled with a spur gear.

  The output of the DC geared motor disposed in the camera unit 43 on the distal end side of the link arm 46 is transmitted to the worm gear via the constant speed spur gear and drives the camera rotation shaft 52 attached to the worm wheel. The rotation amount of the camera unit 43 is measured by a multi-rotation type potentiometer after the rotation amount of the camera rotation shaft is doubled with a bevel gear.

Similar to the example of the hand 27 described above, these joints are also self-locking mechanisms using a worm gear. As a result, even when the robot receives an impact due to dropping or the like with the camera unit 41 stored, the rotation of the joint is mechanically constrained and the stored state can be maintained, and the work tool can be made safe.
And by using this camera unit 41 as a configuration, remote control, autonomous driving, information collection, and the like are possible.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the traveling unit 11 is described as an example configured with the balloon tire 12, but it may also be configured with a crawler track.

  For example, when the traveling unit 11 is configured with a crawler belt, there is a simple one configured with the crawler belt 60 having a structure covering the balloon tire 12 described above.

  As a method of easily changing the wheeled (balloon tire 12) type vehicle to the tracked type, there is a method of continuously winding the outer periphery of adjacent tires with a crawler belt 60. The crawler belt 60 is made of para-aramid fiber. Laminated and sewn on the annulus, holes on both sides of the wire are made at equal intervals, and the crawler belt 60 is attached to the outer periphery of the tire 12 with the tension generated by the tire pressure and the tightening condition of the wire. In addition, a growr (not shown) is configured by continuously arranging stick-shaped rubbers (see FIG. 9B). By adopting this configuration, it is possible to improve the ability to break through rough terrain, and wear resistance, heat resistance, etc. due to para-aramid fibers, and even when the surface is worn by the laminated structure of fibers It is possible to have the effect of obtaining the friction.

  Furthermore, the structure etc. which combine each example mentioned above are also possible, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, as above-mentioned with respect to the substantially U-shaped housing | casing 2 as a combination of the housing | casing 2 and the driving | running | working part 11. Balloon tire type using a highly elastic balloon tire 12 (see FIG. 9A), a special crawler belt 60 made of para-aramid fiber having elasticity resistant around the balloon tire 12 and changing the tire air pressure to increase the tension The para-aramid crawler type wound around (see FIG. 9B), the tire 12 is changed to a small-diameter sprocket 61, and the crawler belt 62 is wound around the small-diameter sprocket 61 to make it thin (FIG. 9C). See). Furthermore, as a wheel, in addition to this, it is possible to exchange with a normal pneumatic tire, a no-puncture tire, or the like, and the traveling unit 11 can be configured.

  In addition, as a combination of the above-described examples, the configuration of the arm 21 can be variously combined, and various cameras and sensors for enabling remote control, autonomous driving, information collection, and the like are also possible. For example, a multi-degree-of-freedom manipulator 71 may be used as the manipulator unit, and an omnidirectional camera 73 may be mounted on the back surface of the hand unit 72 (see FIG. 10A). Further, a configuration including the above-described omnidirectional camera unit 41 and a light or sensor 81 (see FIG. 10B), or a unit configured with a wide crawler belt 30 of the auxiliary crawler 29 (see FIG. 10C). It is also possible to prepare various work tools such as a configuration including the sensor 91 (see FIG. 10D) and combine them as a mounting unit, that is, mounting on the vehicle body (the casing 2 and the traveling unit 11). By preparing various working tools that are unitized on the premise, a mechanism structure that can be easily replaced according to the application can be obtained. And also in the case of such a structure, the joint movable range is mechanically limited, and there is no front and back.

  As described above, the feature of unitizing each component makes it possible to construct various robots according to the application by combining them, and to enable quick repair in the event of a failure.

  For example, as a combination of the above-described various traveling units 11 and work tools (arms 21), two functions are considered in consideration of front / back symmetry and retractability of the active multi-degree-of-freedom work arm unit 71 and the omnidirectional camera unit 73. As an example of the unitized traveling robot 1 that can be replaced with a work tool, the arm 21 of the work tool is provided with an auxiliary crawler 29 for improving rough terrain traversability.

  The traveling robot 1 is characterized by high-speed traveling on a flat surface, impact mitigation at the time of falling or dropping, reduction in size and weight for carrying, and unitization for each component. The robot body 1 is a front / back symmetrical / impact resistant traveling device configured by combining a traveling unit 11 of a balloon tire type and a control device. The working tools are an active multi-degree-of-freedom working arm unit 71 and an omnidirectional camera unit 73. The working tool includes an auxiliary crawler 29 on the side surface in consideration of front / back symmetry and retractability, and includes an arm 21 portion having high working performance. .

  FIG. 11 shows the six basic driving modes described below. The balloon tire type is good at high-speed running on a flat ground, and the elasticity is obtained by arranging the tire 12 so as to wrap the casing 2. Depending on the nature, it has shock-relaxing properties when it falls, falls, and travels.

(1) Compact mode (see FIG. 11 (a))
This mode is the most miniaturized form in which the hand unit 72 and the arm 21 are stored in the housing 2, and is the safest mode against falling or dropping. Even when the front and back are reversed due to structural features, it is possible to transition to the following driving modes.
(2) Basic mode (see FIG. 11B)
In this mode, only the wrist link 74 of the arm 21 is rotated and the omnidirectional camera 73 is brought out to the upper part of the vehicle body, so that the vehicle travels while acquiring information on the omnidirectional.
(3) Information collection mode (see FIG. 11C)
This mode is a mode in which more information can be collected by maximizing the arm 21 and bringing the omnidirectional camera 73 at a high place. Further, flexible information collection is possible by changing the posture by the arm 21.
(4) High mobility mode (see Fig. 11 (d))
In this mode, unnecessary arm portions (wrist links 74 and the like) are stored inside the auxiliary crawler 29, and the features of the crawler whose posture is variable are utilized to the maximum. This mode is improved.
(5) Work mode (see FIG. 11 (e))
This mode is a mode in which the function of the hand portion 72 at the tip of the arm 21 is utilized to the maximum in order to perform a simple operation such as collecting data.
(6) Sensing mode (see FIG. 11 (f))
This mode is a mode in which various sensors 91 are mounted at the tip of the arm 21 and various sensing is performed by effectively using the degree of freedom of the arm 21.

  Further, FIG. 12 shows the same six traveling modes as described above for the para-aramid crawler type (a) to (f). Compared with the balloon tire type (FIG. 11), the ground pressure can be reduced and the running speed is reduced, but stable running on soft ground or the like is possible.

  Furthermore, FIG. 13 shows the same six traveling modes as described above for the crawler type in (a) to (f). This is thinner than the para-type aramid crawler type (FIG. 12) and enables traveling in a narrower space. Especially in the high maneuvering mode (FIG. 13 (d)), the total length combined with the auxiliary crawler 29 is increased. It can be extended to about 3 steps of stairs, and can move up and down smoothly.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a traveling robot of the present invention. It is a structure perspective view of the traveling device which constitutes the traveling type robot. It is a partially-omission perspective view seen from the front side of the traveling robot. It is a partially-omission perspective view seen from the back side of the traveling robot. It is explanatory drawing which showed the top view of the traveling apparatus which comprises the traveling type robot, and (a) and the side view in (b). It is a perspective view in the arm part of the traveling robot. It is a perspective view which shows the traveling type robot provided with the camera unit which is other embodiment of the traveling type robot of this invention. It is a partially-omission perspective view of the arm part of the traveling robot in the other embodiment. It is the perspective view which showed the example of the traveling part in other embodiment of the traveling robot of this invention. It is the perspective view which showed the example of the same arm part. It is a perspective view which shows the example of the travel mode of a travel type robot. It is a perspective view which shows the example of the travel mode of the traveling robot in another structure. It is a perspective view which shows the example of the travel mode of the traveling robot in another structure.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Traveling robot 2 ... Housing 3 ... Left part 4 ... Right part 6 ... Gap part 11 ... Traveling part 12 ... Tire 19 ... Shock absorber 21 ... Arm 30 ... Crawler belt 60 ... Crawler belt

Claims (8)

A housing having a left portion and a right portion, and having a gap portion and formed in a substantially U shape;
Provided on the outer surfaces of each of the left and right portions of the housing, and the outer peripheral surface serving as a grounding surface is located outside the left and right portions so that the outer portion of the housing does not protrude. A traveling portion comprising a plurality of tires or crawler belts disposed in
An arm that is disposed in the gap portion of the housing and can be accommodated between the left portion and the right portion, and swingable with respect to the housing;
A crawler belt that is wound around the outer circumference along the longitudinal direction of the arm and interlocks with the tire or the crawler belt,
A traveling robot characterized by comprising:   2. The traveling type according to claim 1, wherein the arm is an articulated arm, and a distal end side is sequentially folded with respect to a proximal end side in each joint portion to be in an accommodation state and accommodated in the gap portion. robot.   The traveling robot according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an omnidirectional camera is disposed at a tip of the arm. 4. The traveling robot according to claim 1, wherein a hand is provided at the forefront of the arm.   The traveling robot according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein a sensor is provided at a tip of the arm.   The tire of the traveling part is made of a balloon tire, has a crawler belt obtained by laminating para-aramid fibers, and is provided so as to cover the outer peripheral surface of the balloon tire located in the front and rear. , 2, 3, 4 and 5. The traveling robot according to any one of the above.   The left part and the right part of the casing and the traveling part and the arm are configured to be detachable, respectively. Traveling robot.   The traveling robot according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, wherein the casing and the traveling unit are connected via a shock absorber.

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