CN113829328B

CN113829328B - Flexible mechanical arm with forward angle compensation function

Info

Publication number: CN113829328B
Application number: CN202111026811.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨灿军; 武鑫; 李佳; 赵起超
Original assignee: Zhejiang University ZJU
Current assignee: Zhejiang University ZJU
Priority date: 2021-09-02
Filing date: 2021-09-02
Publication date: 2023-07-11
Anticipated expiration: 2041-09-02
Also published as: CN113829328A

Abstract

The invention discloses a flexible mechanical arm with forward angle compensation. The flexible mechanical arm is linearly stacked through the segmented flexible units, and the length of the whole flexible mechanical arm can be controlled by selecting the number of stacked segments according to actual needs when the flexible mechanical arm is used, so that the length adjustment design is very simple; through designing each section flexible unit to be become the flexible module of annular arrangement by a plurality of and constitute, all articulate between each flexible module and between four isosceles trapezoid pieces of constituteing each flexible module to can design many haulage ropes as required, when using the haulage rope control flexible arm to shorten, can realize flexible arm's different positions flexible length difference through the work between the different haulage ropes of control, thereby make flexible arm can be crooked to different directions, and not be limited to the flexible of linear direction.

Description

Flexible mechanical arm with forward angle compensation function

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of design of flexible mechanical arms, in particular to a flexible mechanical arm with forward angle compensation.

Background

The paper folding robot is a robot prepared by paper folding technology research, the inspiration of the paper folding robot is derived from the paper folding technology in Japan, initially scientists finish target actions and specified tasks by utilizing the flexibility and toughness of paper while changing the shape of the paper through the paper folding mode, and then more and more scientists are put into the field of the paper folding robot, but due to the fact that the rigidity of the paper folding mechanism is smaller, the paper folding robot is difficult to bear relatively large force and moment. Therefore, the paper folding robot is difficult to be practically used. Meanwhile, the kinematic model of the paper folding robot is extremely complex, and the precision of the paper folding robot is limited, so that the precise control of the robot is difficult to ensure.

For example, the invention application with publication number of CN110394795A discloses a high-storage-ratio self-folding pneumatic soft mechanical arm based on paper folding theory, which comprises a soft driver, an upper end cover plate, a lower end cover plate and an inflation system, wherein the soft driver is a cylinder-like shell, two ends of the soft driver are fixed with the upper end cover plate and the lower end cover plate in a sealing way, an inner cavity is inflatable, the shell is of a multi-layer soft laminated structure, and an airtight layer, an elastic layer, a limiting layer and a thermal protection layer are sequentially arranged from inside to outside. The soft driver shell is designed into a topological form based on paper folding theory, can realize axial large-stroke telescopic driving, is driven to be unfolded in a mode that an inflation system inflates an inner cavity, and realizes self-folding in a mode that elastic potential energy of an elastic layer is released after the inner cavity is exhausted. The device may further comprise a restraining cable to effect the bending drive.

For another example, the invention application with publication number CN112223259a discloses a high-receiving-rate bionic pneumatic soft worm robot based on paper folding theory, which comprises a flexible driver, front and rear end cover plates, pneumatic feet and an inflation system. The two ends of the flexible driver are respectively bonded with the front end cover plate and the rear end cover plate, and the flexible driver is inflated by the inflation system to realize extension so as to drive the front exhaust movable foot to move forwards; the shrinkage is realized by the air extraction system in the air extraction mode from the flexible driver, and the exhaust feet are driven to move forwards, so that the axial large-stroke bionic crawling is realized. The pneumatic foot stretches through the air bag, and the included angle between the hinge connecting piece and the ground is adjusted, so that the friction form between the pneumatic foot and the ground is changed, and unidirectional movement is realized.

In the prior art, the paper folding structure is controlled pneumatically, so that the paper folding structure can only be stretched and shortened simply and cannot actively control the movement direction; the design length of the paper folding structure is fixed and cannot be adjusted according to the needs.

Disclosure of Invention

Aiming at the defects in the prior art, the invention provides a forward angle compensation flexible mechanical arm based on a paper folding theory.

A flexible mechanical arm with forward angle compensation comprises a plurality of sections of flexible units which are linearly stacked, and a driving mechanism for driving each flexible unit to stretch out and draw back;

each section of flexible unit comprises a plurality of telescopic modules which are annularly arranged, each telescopic module comprises four isosceles trapezoid sheets, the side faces of the four isosceles trapezoid sheets are sequentially hinged to form telescopic modules of a quadrangular frustum structure, when the plurality of telescopic modules of each section of flexible unit are annularly arranged, the top face of the quadrangular frustum structure faces towards the center of the annular inner side, and the bottom face of the quadrangular frustum structure faces away from the center of the annular inner side;

isosceles trapezoid sheets used by the telescopic modules in each section of flexible unit are the same in size and shape, and adjacent telescopic modules in each section of flexible unit are hinged through the upper bottom sides of the two isosceles trapezoid sheets which are mutually abutted; the height of the isosceles trapezoid sheet is expressed as h, the upper bottom is a, the lower bottom is b, and each section of flexible unit comprises n telescopic modules, so that the following conditions are satisfied:

the driving mechanism includes: the device comprises at least one isosceles trapezoid sheet, a traction rope, a winding and unwinding unit and a winding and unwinding unit, wherein the isosceles trapezoid sheet sequentially penetrates through at least part of the flexible units, the traction rope is used for pulling at least one side of the flexible units to be folded and shortened, and the winding and unwinding unit is positioned at the outer side of the tail-most flexible unit and used for winding and unwinding the traction rope.

The forward angle compensation mode provides forward angle compensation for the flexible mechanical arm, when the flexible mechanical arm is in a minimum compression state, the angle of the projection of the telescopic module to the horizontal plane is minimum, when the flexible mechanical arm is in a maximum stretching state, the angle of the projection of the telescopic module to the horizontal plane is maximum, and the angle compensation is gradually increased and provided in the process of transferring the flexible mechanical arm from the maximum stretching state to the minimum compression state. In order to meet the requirements of maximum stretching and minimum compensation, when the flexible mechanical arm is in a maximum stretching state, the angle compensation is set to be 0, at the moment, all the telescopic modules are tightly attached, and the size relation of the isosceles trapezoid sheets is determined according to the state. Under the condition that the shape of the isosceles trapezoid sheet meets the formula, the flexible unit can be stretched to the maximum length, and if the relationship of the formula is deviated, the flexible unit cannot be stretched to the maximum length when being folded and stretched.

Preferably, each flexible unit comprises at least 3 telescopic modules. More preferably, each flexible unit comprises 3, 4, 6 or 8 telescoping modules.

Preferably, the outside that is located a section flexible unit of tail end is equipped with a mounting panel, and one side that the mounting panel deviates from flexible unit is equipped with receive and release unit, every haulage rope corresponds to be equipped with a set of receive and release unit, receive and release unit includes the take-up reel to and drive take-up reel pivoted motor, be equipped with on the mounting panel and supply the haulage rope to pass dodge the hole.

Preferably, all the telescopic modules of all the flexible units are grouped, and all the telescopic modules arranged on the same straight line between adjacent flexible units are grouped into one group and controlled by one traction rope.

Preferably, each flexible unit comprises an even number of telescoping modules,

grouping all the expansion modules of all the flexible units, dividing the expansion modules of the same flexible unit into a group every two,

the small groups arranged on the same straight line between the adjacent flexible units are divided into a large group, and are controlled by one traction rope.

According to the flexible mechanical arm, all isosceles trapezoid sheets in the telescopic module are folded through traction of the traction rope, and after the isosceles trapezoid sheets are folded, the traction rope is released to enable the flexible unit to be kept in a stretched state, so that the shape of the flexible mechanical arm is recovered, and the flexible mechanical arm can be vertically used and recovered by means of gravity under the condition that a corresponding recovery driving structure is not arranged.

Preferably, the two isosceles trapezoid sheets are hinged in a hinge structure. More preferably, a torsion spring for keeping the flexible unit in a stretched state is further provided in the hinge structure. The hinge structure comprises a hinge hole column positioned on the side face of the isosceles trapezoid sheet and a shaft core penetrating through the hinge hole column, and the shaft core can be provided with an automatic recovery torsion spring to achieve the purpose of keeping the flexible unit in a stretched state. When the hinge structure is used, the isosceles trapezoid sheet and the corresponding hinge hole column can be integrally formed and manufactured in a 3D printing mode.

The flexible mechanical arm is linearly stacked through the segmented flexible units, and the length of the whole flexible mechanical arm can be controlled by selecting the number of stacked segments according to actual needs when the flexible mechanical arm is used, so that the length adjustment design is very simple; through designing each section flexible unit to be become the flexible module of annular arrangement by a plurality of and constitute, all articulate between each flexible module and between four isosceles trapezoid pieces of constituteing each flexible module to can design many haulage ropes as required, when using the haulage rope control flexible arm to shorten, can realize flexible arm's different positions flexible length difference through the work between the different haulage ropes of control, thereby make flexible arm can be crooked to different directions, and not be limited to the flexible of linear direction.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a flexible mechanical arm according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a flexible mechanical arm according to the present invention without a traction rope.

Fig. 3 is a schematic top view of the flexible mechanical arm of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view of another view of the flexible mechanical arm of the present invention without the traction rope.

Fig. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a linear stack of flexible units.

Fig. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a single-section flexible unit.

Fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a telescopic module.

Fig. 8 is a schematic perspective view of the telescopic module in a folded state.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural view of the flexible mechanical arm in a first use state of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural view of the flexible mechanical arm in a second use state of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a graph of geometric relationships.

Detailed Description

As shown in fig. 1 to 5, a flexible mechanical arm for forward angle compensation based on paper folding theory comprises a plurality of sections of flexible units 1 which are linearly stacked, and a driving mechanism for driving each flexible unit 1 to stretch and retract. The flexible unit 1 is shown in the configuration of 5 knots. When the flexible mechanical arm is used, the length of the whole flexible mechanical arm can be controlled by selecting the number of the overlapped joints according to actual needs, and the length adjustment design is very simple.

As shown in fig. 6 to 8, each flexible unit 1 includes a plurality of expansion modules 2 arranged in a ring shape, each expansion module 2 includes four isosceles trapezoid pieces 3, the sides of the four isosceles trapezoid pieces 3 are sequentially hinged to form an expansion module 2 of a quadrangular frustum structure, when the plurality of expansion modules 2 of each flexible unit 1 are arranged in a ring shape, the top surface of the quadrangular frustum structure faces the inner center of the ring shape, and the bottom surface of the quadrangular frustum structure faces away from the inner center of the ring shape. Namely, two waist positions of the isosceles trapezoid pieces 3 are hinged with the waists of the two adjacent isosceles trapezoid pieces 3, and four isosceles trapezoid pieces 3 encircle. The upper bottom and the lower bottom of the quadrangular frustum structure are hollow, so that the quadrangular frustum structure is deformed after being stressed and extruded in the side direction, the cross section of the quadrangular frustum structure is changed from square to diamond, and the size of the quadrangular frustum structure in the stress direction is compressed and shortened.

The number of the telescopic modules 2 in each section of flexible unit 1 can be selected according to actual needs, the control precision of the whole flexible mechanical arm is coarser, the number is larger, and the control precision of the whole flexible mechanical arm is finer. Typically comprising at least 3 telescopic modules 2, for example, each flexible unit 1 may comprise 3, 4, 6 or 8 telescopic modules 2.

The adjacent telescopic modules 2 in each flexible unit 1 are hinged through the upper bottom sides of two isosceles trapezoid sheets 3 which are mutually abutted. Generally, isosceles trapezoid pieces 3 used by the telescopic modules 2 in each flexible unit 1 are the same in size and shape, so that the production is convenient, and the control is easy. The height of the isosceles trapezoid sheet 3 is expressed as h, the upper bottom is a, the lower bottom is b, and each section of flexible unit 1 comprises n telescopic modules, so that the following conditions are satisfied:

in the case where the shape of the isosceles trapezoid sheet 3 satisfies the above formula, it is possible to stretch the flexible unit 1 to the maximum thickness, and if the relationship of the formula is deviated, it is impossible to stretch the flexible unit 1 to the maximum thickness when it is stretched.

The driving mechanism includes: the device sequentially passes through at least part of isosceles trapezoid sheets 3 in each section of flexible unit 1, at least one side of the flexible unit 1 is pulled to fold and shorten the traction rope 6, and a winding and unwinding unit positioned at the outer side of the tail-most section of flexible unit 1 and used for winding and unwinding the traction rope 6. The isosceles trapezoid sheet 3 is correspondingly provided with a traction hole 11 for the traction rope 6 to pass through. The outside that is located a section flexible unit 1 of tail end is equipped with a mounting panel 7, and one side that mounting panel 7 deviates from flexible unit 1 is equipped with and receive and releases the unit, and every haulage rope 6 corresponds to be equipped with a set of receive and releases the unit, receive and releases the unit and include take-up reel 8 to and drive take-up reel 8 pivoted motor 9, be equipped with on the mounting panel 7 and supply the hole 10 of dodging that haulage rope 6 passed.

In one embodiment, all the expansion modules 2 of all the flexible units 1 are grouped, and the expansion modules 2 arranged on the same line between adjacent flexible units 1 are grouped into one group and controlled by one traction rope 6.

In another embodiment, each flexible unit 1 includes an even number of expansion modules 2, all expansion modules 2 of all flexible units 1 are grouped, each expansion module 2 of the same flexible unit 1 is divided into a subgroup, and each subgroup arranged on the same straight line between adjacent flexible units 1 is divided into a large group and is controlled by one traction rope 6. The structure shown in the figure is an embodiment, and each flexible unit 1 in the figure comprises 8 telescopic modules 2 which are divided into 4 large groups and controlled by using 4 traction ropes 6. And, every haulage rope 6 passes two adjacent isosceles trapezoid pieces 3 in four isosceles trapezoid pieces 3 of every flexible unit 2 in proper order, after the haulage rope 6 passes the isosceles trapezoid piece 3 that is located the mutual subsides in two flexible unit 2 of flexible unit 1 of same festival, one end passes the isosceles trapezoid piece 3 that is close to the unit side of receiving and releasing in one of them flexible unit 2, the other end passes the isosceles trapezoid piece 3 that is kept away from the unit side of receiving and releasing in another flexible unit 2, then the haulage rope passes the isosceles trapezoid piece 3 that is located the mutual subsides in two flexible unit 2 of two adjacent flexible unit 1 again, haulage rope 6 wholly presents the broken line type.

According to the flexible mechanical arm, the isosceles trapezoid sheets 3 in the telescopic module 2 are folded through traction of the traction rope 6, and after the isosceles trapezoid sheets are folded, the traction rope 6 is released to enable the flexible unit 1 to be kept in a stretched state, so that the shape of the flexible mechanical arm is recovered, and the flexible mechanical arm can be vertically used and recovered by means of gravity under the condition that a corresponding recovery driving structure is not arranged.

In a preferred embodiment, as shown in the figures, the two isosceles trapezoid pieces 3 are hinged in a hinge structure, and the hinge structure comprises a hinge hole post 4 located at the side surface of the isosceles trapezoid piece 3 and a shaft core 5 passing through the hinge hole post 4. In one embodiment, a torsion spring (in the embodiment of the figure, no torsion spring is used) for keeping the flexible unit 1 in a stretched state is further arranged in the hinge structure, and the shaft core 5 can be provided with an automatically recovered torsion spring to achieve the purpose of keeping the flexible unit 1 in a stretched state, so that the flexible unit 1 can be folded and compressed only by overcoming the torsion force of the torsion spring in the stretching process of the traction rope 6, and after the traction rope 6 is released, the torsion spring can provide recovered power to stretch and straighten the flexible mechanical arm. When the hinge structure is used, the isosceles trapezoid sheet 3 and the corresponding hinge hole column 4 can be integrally formed and manufactured in a 3D printing mode.

When in use, the outer side of a section of flexible unit 1 positioned at the forefront end (the lower end in fig. 1) can be further provided with a mounting plate, and the mounting plate is used for mounting some operating mechanisms on the flexible mechanical arm and realizing corresponding functions of the flexible mechanical arm, such as some structures for grabbing articles and the like.

The following calculation of the equation required to be stretched to the maximum thickness demonstrates that the flexible units 1 shown in the figure are arranged vertically.

As shown in fig. 11, the projection of the telescopic module 2 in the vertical direction, wherein I, II represents two isosceles trapezoid pieces, horizontal and vertical; h is the height of the isosceles trapezoid sheet 3, a is the upper bottom of the isosceles trapezoid sheet 3, and b is the lower bottom of the isosceles trapezoid sheet 3. d is the projection of the height of the isosceles trapezoid sheet on the vertical plane. h' is the projection of the isosceles trapezoid sheet high on the horizontal plane.

Is the included angle between the isosceles trapezoid piece and the horizontal plane. θ is the projection angle of the telescopic module 2 in the horizontal direction. And ψ represents the rotation angle of the isosceles trapezoid sheet in the vertical direction about the central axis. Can be expressed as the following expression:

as shown in fig. 11 (b), the projection angle of the telescopic module 2 in the horizontal direction can be expressed as:

as shown in fig. 11 (d), the height of the isosceles trapezoid in the vertical direction is mainly determined by the rotation angle ψ:

by integrating the above expression, we can obtain the specific expression of the projection angle θ of the telescopic module 2 in the vertical direction as follows:

as shown in the above formula, θ varies continuously with the variation of the rotation angle, and the key of the telescopic mechanism 2 in the continuous telescopic conversion process is to ensure that a section of flexible unit 1 formed by n telescopic modules 2 can form a circle on the circumference in any twisting stage, that is, the space of the sum of angles relative to the main shaft of the flexible mechanical arm is always equal to 360 °. In order to compensate for the angle loss at the different torsion stages, an angle compensation mechanism needs to be designed to compensate for the angle.

For the angle compensation mechanism, since the adjacent telescopic modules 2 in each flexible unit 1 are hinged through the upper bottom sides of the two isosceles trapezoid sheets 3 which are mutually abutted, and the upper bottom sides are positioned in the whole flexible mechanical arm, the angle compensation mechanism is an outwards open compensation mechanism, namely, the provided angle compensation is forward compensation.

The angle change is shown in the following formula, wherein θ _adaptive To compensate for the angle:

nθ+θ _adaptive ＝360°

when the telescopic unit is fully stretched (ψ=0°), θ reaches a maximum value, and since the angle compensation is opened outwards, only the angle can be positively compensated, and at this time, the compensation angle which can be provided by the upper bottom end of the isosceles trapezoid sheet and positioned on the inner side of the flexible mechanical arm is 0. The isosceles trapezoid sheet should be sized according to the geometric relationship at this time.

The method can obtain:

as shown in fig. 9 and 10, each section of flexible unit 1 is designed to be composed of a plurality of annularly arranged telescopic modules 2, and all the telescopic modules 2 and four isosceles trapezoid sheets 3 forming each telescopic module 2 are hinged, so that a plurality of traction ropes 6 can be designed according to the needs, when the flexible mechanical arm is controlled to be shortened by using the traction ropes 6, the telescopic lengths of different parts of the flexible mechanical arm can be different by controlling the work among different traction ropes 6, and the flexible mechanical arm can be bent in different directions without being limited to the telescopic lengths in the linear direction.

Claims

1. The flexible mechanical arm with the forward angle compensation function is characterized by comprising a plurality of flexible units which are linearly stacked, and a driving mechanism for driving each flexible unit to stretch;

2. The flexible robotic arm of claim 1, wherein each flexible unit comprises at least 3 telescoping modules.

3. The flexible robotic arm of claim 2, wherein each flexible unit comprises 3, 4, 6, or 8 telescoping modules.

4. The flexible mechanical arm according to claim 1, wherein a mounting plate is arranged on the outer side of the section of flexible unit at the tail end, the winding and unwinding unit is arranged on one side, away from the flexible unit, of the mounting plate, a group of winding and unwinding units are correspondingly arranged on each traction rope, the winding and unwinding units comprise a winding disc and a motor for driving the winding disc to rotate, and avoidance holes for the traction ropes to pass through are formed in the mounting plate.

5. The flexible mechanical arm according to claim 1, wherein all the expansion modules of all the flexible units are grouped, and each expansion module arranged on the same line between adjacent flexible units is grouped into one group and controlled by one traction rope.

6. The flexible mechanical arm of claim 1, wherein each flexible unit comprises an even number of telescoping modules,

7. The flexible mechanical arm of claim 1, wherein the two isosceles trapezoid pieces are hinged in a hinge structure.

8. The flexible mechanical arm of claim 7, wherein a torsion spring is further provided within the hinge structure for maintaining the flexible unit in a stretched state.