CN113427494A

CN113427494A - Bionic water snake-shaped robot based on dielectric elastomer

Info

Publication number: CN113427494A
Application number: CN202110753437.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王思蛟; 曹凯明; 王冠伟; 白攀; 王洪喜; 田慧慧; 梁文宏
Original assignee: Xian Technological University
Current assignee: Xian Technological University
Priority date: 2021-07-02
Filing date: 2021-07-02
Publication date: 2021-09-24

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of driving devices, in particular to a dielectric elastomer-based bionic water snake-shaped robot. The invention aims to solve the problems of complex structure, high cost, large volume, high noise, lack of biocompatibility and the like of the traditional robot. The device takes four driving devices as an example and connects a plurality of driving devices in series through a connecting device, and then the driving devices and the tail device are connected end to form a snake-shaped structure. The connecting device is provided with threaded holes matched with each part and is connected in a screw connection mode. The main control device controls signals to realize the on-off of a power supply, the boosting driving module is used for converting low voltage into high voltage to provide loading voltage for the driving device, and the signals output by the main control device can enable a single driving device to generate 80-degree bending deformation in the horizontal direction and 50-degree bending deformation in the vertical direction. The bionic water snake-shaped robot can swim in the water in a winding way through the alternate bending deformation of the driving device.

Description

Bionic water snake-shaped robot based on dielectric elastomer

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of driving devices, in particular to a dielectric elastomer-based bionic water snake-shaped robot.

Background

In recent years, the research field of robots is very hot, and especially the combination of the bionic technology and the robot technology enables the structural design and the motion mode of the robot to be more selected and also enables the motion performance of the robot to be more breakthrough, so that the bionic robot is more and more attracted by people.

The snake has a unique motion mode, is very suitable for living in harsh, complicated and variable environments, has extremely strong environment adaptability, and can greatly improve the application of the robot if the robot has the motion capability. Therefore, the snake-shaped robot is one of the hot spots in the current research field of bionic robots, is designed according to the structure and the motion characteristics of a snake, and has excellent performance. At present, most of researches on snake-shaped robots are based on traditional mechanical structures, a complex transmission system and a motor are needed to complete a driving process, and although the rigid driving has the advantages of high output power, high driving speed, excellent stability and the like, the rigid driving has the advantages of complex structure, high cost, large volume, high noise, lack of biocompatibility and the like, so that the application of the traditional robot in the fields of military reconnaissance, marine survey, bionic driving and the like is limited.

The dielectric elastomer is used as a novel intelligent driving material, can generate large deformation under the excitation of external voltage, and can recover to an initial state after the excitation voltage is removed. Compared with other intelligent materials, the dielectric elastomer has good comprehensive performance; light weight, large strain, high energy density, fast response speed, good environmental adaptability, being closer to (certain performance even exceeding) biological muscles and the like. The driver developed by the dielectric elastomer can directly apply work outwards without a transmission mechanism, and has the advantages of convenient manufacture, small mass, small volume, low cost, high efficiency and no noise in work. The dielectric elastomer is a research hotspot in the fields of bionic robots, driving, energy capture and the like. Most of the existing dielectric elastomer driven robots have the problems of low motion speed, poor load capacity and the like, so that the development of a bionic robot based on a dielectric elastomer material, which has the advantages of simple structure, low price, large driving force, good structural stability and remote control, is very significant.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, the invention provides a dielectric elastomer-based bionic water snake-shaped robot to solve the problems of complex structure, high cost, large volume, high noise, lack of biocompatibility and the like of the traditional robot.

In order to solve the problems in the prior art, the technical scheme of the invention is as follows: the utility model provides a bionical water snake-shaped robot based on dielectric elastomer which characterized in that: the bionic snakeskin robot comprises a robot body consisting of a main control device, a plurality of driving devices and a tail device which are connected in sequence, wherein the driving devices and the tail device are connected through a connecting device;

a control end, a power supply module, a wireless signal transceiver and a camera are fixed in the main control device;

the driving device consists of an end cover, an EAP film, a compression spring and flexible electrodes, wherein the flexible electrodes are coated on the stretched EAP film at equal intervals, the stretched EAP film coated with the flexible electrodes is wound on the compression spring, the end cover is arranged at two ends of the compression spring, the EAP film is clamped in a groove on the circumference of the end cover, the flexible electrodes are connected with leads, and the leads are connected with a control end and a power module in the main control device;

the connecting device comprises a first cross sleeve, a second cross sleeve, an I-shaped support, a first U-shaped frame and a second U-shaped frame, wherein the I-shaped support connects the first cross sleeve and the second cross sleeve into a whole, and the cross shafts of the first cross sleeve and the second cross sleeve are respectively connected with the first U-shaped frame and the second U-shaped frame;

and a detector is arranged in the tail device.

Further, the camera is arranged at the end part of the main control device.

Furthermore, the first cross sleeve and the second cross sleeve are in clearance fit with the I-shaped support through the first shaft and the second shaft and are movably connected.

Furthermore, the U-shaped frame I and the U-shaped frame II are respectively in clearance fit with and movably connected with the cross sleeve I and the cross sleeve II through frame shafts.

Furthermore, the main control device, the end cover, the connecting device and the tail device are made of acrylic plastics.

Further, the material of the EAP film is a dielectric elastomer material.

Furthermore, the bionic snakeskin is made of waterproof rubber materials.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following advantages:

1) according to the bionic water snake robot, the plurality of driving devices are connected in series through the connecting device, and then the main control device and the tail device are connected end to end, so that the bionic water snake robot can move more flexibly and efficiently utilize the driving force. The driving device is connected in series to solve the problem of insufficient driving force; the flexible drive solves the problem of biological affinity;

2) the bionic water snake robot with the structure can wriggle up and down while wriggling, breaks through the traditional mechanical transmission mechanism, directly applies work to the outside by utilizing the dielectric elastomer driving device, can efficiently utilize the driving force by the designed connecting device, and can make the driving force larger by connecting a plurality of drivers in series, so that the bionic water snake robot has simple structure, large driving force, good stability and can be remotely controlled;

3) the bionic water snake robot can generate forward power by controlling the on-off of the excitation voltage, can perform detection tasks in a water area, and has the advantages of simple structure, high working reliability, small and exquisite shape, flexible movement, high biocompatibility, capability of operating in a narrow space and a complex environment and the like. Use many drive arrangement series structure, firstly improve drive power, secondly in the course of the work, a certain drive arrangement trouble, bionical water snake-shaped robot also can rely on other drive arrangement to work, has improved bionical water snake-shaped robot job stabilization nature and reliability.

Description of the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an initial state of an overall structure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the motion state of the whole structure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a host device;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the connecting device;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a driving device;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the tail unit;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a U-shaped frame structure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a cross sleeve configuration;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the structure of an I-shaped bracket;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural view of the end cap, wherein a is a perspective view of the end cap and b is a top view of the end cap;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the connection of the end cap to the connection device;

description of the labeling: 1. a master control device; 2. an end cap; 3. a screw; 4. a connecting device; 5. a first cross sleeve; 6. a cross sleeve II; 7. a drive device; 8. a tail device; 9. a detector; 10. an EAP film; 11. a compression spring; 12. an I-shaped bracket; 13. bionic snakeskin; 14. a flexible electrode; 15. a U-shaped frame II; 16. a U-shaped frame I; 17. a second shaft; 18. a first shaft; 19. a control and power module; 20. a wireless signal transceiver; 21. a camera is provided.

Detailed Description

The technical solution of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that the described embodiments are only a few embodiments of the invention, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The invention relates to a bionic water snake-shaped robot based on a dielectric elastomer, which comprises a main control device 1, a robot body consisting of a plurality of driving devices 7 and tail devices 8 which are connected through connecting devices 4, wherein bionic snake skin 13 is wound on the surface of the robot body, as shown in figures 1 and 2;

a control end and power module 19, a wireless signal transceiver 20 and a camera 21 are fixed in the main control device 1, and the camera 21 is arranged at the end of the main control device 1, as shown in fig. 3;

the number of the driving devices 7 is 4, each driving device consists of an end cover 2, an EAP film 10, a compression spring 11 and a flexible electrode 14, the flexible electrodes 14 are coated on the stretched EAP film 10 at equal intervals, the stretched EAP film 10 coated with the flexible electrodes 14 is wound on the compression spring 11, the end covers 2 are arranged at two ends of the compression spring 11, and the EAP films 10 are wound on the circumference of the end cover 2 and clamped in grooves in the circumference of the end cover 2; the flexible electrode 14 is connected with a lead which is connected with a control end in the main control device 1 and the power module 19; the groove structure on the circumference of the end cap 2 is used for clamping the EAP film 10 to prevent the EAP film 10 from retracting, leads are led out at the electrodes and connected with the internal control module of the main control device 1 to realize the motion state of the remote control driving device 7, and the electrode leads of the four driving devices are all connected with the internal control module of the main control device 1, as shown in fig. 5 and 10;

the invention can transmit driving force through the connecting device 4 and can rotate with multiple degrees of freedom; the structure of the end cover comprises a first cross sleeve 5, a second cross sleeve 6, a first I-shaped support 12, a first U-shaped frame 16 and a second U-shaped frame 15, wherein the first I-shaped support 12 is in clearance fit with the first cross sleeve 5 and the second cross sleeve 6 through a first shaft 18 and a second shaft 17 and is movably connected into a whole, the cross shafts of the first cross sleeve 5 and the second cross sleeve 6 are in clearance fit through frame shafts respectively, and are movably connected with the first U-shaped frame 16 and the second U-shaped frame 15, as shown in figures 4, 7, 8 and 9, the first U-shaped frame 16 and the second U-shaped frame 15 are clamped in two grooves in the end part of the end cover 2, as shown in figure 11.

A detector 9 is arranged in the tail device 8, the detector 9 detects an underwater resource environment, and then the detector also plays a role of counterweight, as shown in fig. 6;

the main control device 1, the end cover 2, the connecting device 4 and the tail device 8 are made of acrylic plastics.

The EAP (electroactive polymer) film 10 is made of a dielectric elastomer material.

In the structure of the invention, as the working environment is in water, waterproof sealing treatment is well done at the joints of all devices; the bionic snake skin 13 is made of waterproof rubber materials, after all the devices are assembled, the bionic snake skin made of the rubber waterproof materials is wound on the outer portion of the bionic snake skin, the bionic snake skin is made of flexible materials, resistance generated when the water snake robot moves is small, excessive driving force cannot be consumed, and the moving efficiency of the water snake robot is improved.

The main control device has a remote control characteristic, after the power is switched on, a corresponding button on the remote controller is pressed to output a corresponding signal, and the receiving module receives the signal and then transmits the signal to the singlechip. After the single chip receives the signal, the single chip decodes the signal and executes a corresponding program, and an output port of the single chip outputs the signal. The output port respectively controls the on-off of the four low-voltage circuits after receiving the output signal of the single chip microcomputer, the four boosting driving modules are sequentially loaded, the boosting driving modules sequentially load the voltage of the copper foil electrodes to the driving device, the bending deformation of the driving device is controlled, and therefore the continuous swinging is achieved, and the moving of the robot is completed.

The connecting device is characterized in that the driving device, the main control device and the tail device are connected, and the driving device can be ensured to realize a free swing state. The connection between the connecting device and other devices adopts simple screw connection. The connecting device can realize a movement mode that one end is fixed and the other end is free, wherein the sleeve and the shaft are in clearance fit and are movably connected; the frame shaft and the sleeve are in clearance fit and movably connected, in order to ensure the stability of the structure, the front section adopts a fixed connection mode, and the adopted method is that the inner wall of the sleeve is provided with a groove which is in interference fit with the structure of the cylinder to fix the cylinder. The rear section adopts a free mode, and the adopted method is that the sliding block on the column body with the groove on the inner wall of the sleeve can move in the groove, so that the rotation in the horizontal direction is 80 degrees and the rotation in the vertical direction is 50 degrees. The middle column plays a supporting role.

The driving device is made of dielectric elastomer material, and the material has the advantages of large deformation, fast response, high energy density, light weight, low cost and the like. The manufacturing method is that the stretched dielectric elastomer material (EAP) is coated with flexible electrodes at equal intervals and then wound on a compression spring to manufacture the flexible driving device. The driving device can generate deformation in the area of the coating electrode after loading a high-voltage power supply, and can be restored to the initial state after power failure. Different high-voltage power supplies are loaded on the coating electrode area, so that the driving device can generate bending deformation in different states, the robot is controlled to move in different bending states, and the robot is more flexible.

The tail device plays a role in balancing weight, keeping balance and surveying, the light weight of the tail device is hollow, certain buoyancy can be provided, the detector is placed in the cavity structure inside the tail device, and the marine resources can be conveniently detected, the surrounding environment condition can be conveniently surveyed, and the like.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and it should be noted that those skilled in the art should make modifications and variations without departing from the principle of the present invention.

Claims

1. The utility model provides a bionical water snake-shaped robot based on dielectric elastomer which characterized in that: the bionic snake skin robot comprises a robot body consisting of a main control device (1), a plurality of driving devices (7) and a tail device (8) which are connected in sequence through a connecting device (4), wherein the surface of the robot body is wound with a bionic snake skin (13);

a control end, a power supply module (19), a wireless signal transceiver (20) and a camera (21) are fixed in the main control device (1);

the driving device (7) consists of an end cover (2), an EAP film (10), a compression spring (11) and flexible electrodes (14), wherein the flexible electrodes (14) are coated on the stretched EAP film (10) at equal intervals, the stretched EAP film (10) coated with the flexible electrodes (14) is wound on the compression spring (11), the end cover (2) is arranged at two ends of the compression spring (11), the EAP film (10) is clamped in a groove on the circumference of the end cover (2), the flexible electrodes (14) are connected with leads, and the leads are connected with a control end in the main control device (1) and a power supply module (19);

the connecting device (4) consists of a first cross sleeve (5), a second cross sleeve (6), an I-shaped support (12), a first U-shaped frame (16) and a second U-shaped frame (15), the left and right first cross sleeves (5) and the second cross sleeve (6) are connected into a whole by the I-shaped support (12), and the transverse shafts of the first cross sleeve (5) and the second cross sleeve (6) are respectively connected with the first U-shaped frame (16) and the second U-shaped frame (15);

and a detector (9) is arranged in the tail device (8).

2. The dielectric elastomer-based bionic water snake-shaped robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the camera (21) is arranged at the end part of the main control device (1).

3. The dielectric elastomer-based bionic water snake-shaped robot as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein: the first cross sleeve (5) and the second cross sleeve (6) are in clearance fit with the I-shaped support (12) through a first shaft (18) and a second shaft (17) and are movably connected.

4. The dielectric elastomer-based bionic water snake-shaped robot as claimed in claim 3, wherein: the U-shaped frame I (16) and the U-shaped frame II (15) are in clearance fit with the cross sleeve I (5) and the cross sleeve II (6) through frame shafts respectively and are movably connected.

5. The dielectric elastomer-based bionic water snake-shaped robot as claimed in claim 4, wherein: the main control device (1), the end cover (2), the connecting device (4) and the tail device (8) are made of acrylic plastics.

6. The dielectric elastomer-based bionic water snake-shaped robot as claimed in claim 5, wherein: the material of the EAP film (10) is dielectric elastomer material.

7. The dielectric elastomer-based bionic water snake-shaped robot as claimed in claim 6, wherein: the bionic snake skin (13) is made of waterproof rubber materials.