CN215589210U

CN215589210U - Soft mechanical arm capable of being operated in hand

Info

Publication number: CN215589210U
Application number: CN202122192552.5U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张兴隆; 褚凯梅; 尹张闽; 朱银龙
Original assignee: Nanjing Forestry University
Current assignee: Nanjing Forestry University
Priority date: 2021-09-10
Filing date: 2021-09-10
Publication date: 2022-01-21
Anticipated expiration: 2031-09-10

Abstract

The utility model discloses a soft manipulator capable of being operated in hand, which comprises an execution unit; the execution unit comprises a limiting layer and a driving layer; the limiting layer is internally provided with a left cavity and a right cavity, the left cavity is communicated with the driving cavity of each driving unit in one driving layer to form a left pneumatic channel, the right cavity is communicated with the driving cavity of each driving unit in one driving layer to form a right pneumatic channel, and the top of the limiting layer is provided with a left cavity vent hole communicated with the left pneumatic channel and a right cavity vent hole communicated with the right pneumatic channel. The utility model can realize the translation of the grabbed object along the X-axis and the Y-axis and the rotation on the Z-axis, and combines the three motions as the basic motion units of the soft manipulator, so that the soft manipulator can carry out the hand operation on the basis of flexibly grabbing the object, thereby having excellent flexibility, realizing larger operation space and simultaneously ensuring the extremely high safety when interacting with the external object.

Description

Soft mechanical arm capable of being operated in hand

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the technical field of soft robots, in particular to a soft manipulator capable of being operated in hand.

Background

With the vigorous development of scientific technology, the robot technology is widely applied to the fields of military, industry, scientific exploration and the like. The traditional robot is generally formed by connecting rigid modules through kinematic pairs, has the advantage of accurate movement, but the structural rigidity makes the environment adaptability poor, and generally needs accurate movement planning and control. The soft robot body is usually made of flexible materials, has the characteristics of multiple degrees of freedom and continuous deformation, has higher compliance compared with the traditional rigid robot, and has great advantages in the aspect of human-computer interaction. As a typical representative of a soft robot, the soft robot has not only the characteristics of multiple degrees of freedom, high compliance and strong man-machine interaction capability of the soft robot, but also the capability of realizing deformation such as bending, extension, contraction and expansion, and has gradually become a focus of attention in the field of soft robots in recent years.

The driving modes of the soft manipulator mainly comprise pneumatic driving, wire pulling driving, SMA/SMP driving and EAP driving. The pneumatic drive has the advantages of light weight, easy manufacture, installation and maintenance, no environmental pollution, low cost and the like. Because of pneumatic driving, the interior of the soft hand is mostly of a closed cavity structure, and the pneumatic soft paw is deformed in multiple ways by two different ideas of fiber constraint or pneumatic network.

However, each type of pneumatic soft manipulator developed at present basically has a simple grabbing function and few functions, and cannot realize conventional in-hand operation of translation along the X axis and the Y axis and rotation on the Z axis.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a soft manipulator capable of being operated in hand, which not only has a grabbing function, but also can realize the translation of a grabbed object along two directions of an X axis and a Y axis and the rotation of the grabbed object on a Z axis, so that the soft manipulator can be operated in hand on the basis of flexibly grabbing the object, thereby improving the flexibility of the soft manipulator and realizing a larger operation space.

In order to achieve the technical purpose, the technical scheme adopted by the utility model is as follows:

a soft mechanical arm capable of being operated in hand comprises a fixing device and a plurality of actuating mechanisms;

a plurality of actuating mechanisms are connected to the fixing device;

the actuating mechanism comprises a pneumatic joint and an actuating unit; the execution unit comprises a limiting layer and two driving layers, and the two driving layers are connected to the limiting layer at intervals and symmetrically; the driving layer is formed by vertically arranging a plurality of driving units at intervals; the limiting layer is internally provided with a left cavity and a right cavity which are longitudinally arranged, each driving unit is internally provided with a driving cavity, the left cavity is communicated with the driving cavity of each driving unit in one driving layer to form a left pneumatic channel, the right cavity is communicated with the driving cavity of each driving unit in the other driving layer to form a right pneumatic channel, and the top of the limiting layer is provided with a left cavity vent hole communicated with the left pneumatic channel and a right cavity vent hole communicated with the right pneumatic channel; the left cavity vent hole and the right cavity vent hole are respectively connected with a pneumatic connector in a sealing manner;

the execution unit is made of a bendable and deformable material.

As a further improved technical scheme of the utility model, the execution unit is made of a silica gel synthetic material.

As a further improved technical scheme of the utility model, the left pneumatic channel and the right pneumatic channel are symmetrical about the central axis of the execution unit.

As a further improved technical scheme of the utility model, in one driving layer, the thickness of the driving units positioned at the top and the bottom is larger than that of the rest driving units, and the thickness of the rest driving units is the same.

As a further improved technical scheme of the utility model, the diameter of the pneumatic connector is larger than the inner diameters of the left cavity vent hole and the right cavity vent hole, and the pneumatic connector is connected with the left cavity vent hole and the right cavity vent hole in an interference fit manner.

As a further improved technical scheme, the fixing device comprises a center connecting structure, support slide rails and slide blocks, the support slide rails comprise a cross-shaped support and four slide rails arranged on the cross-shaped support, the top of the cross-shaped support is fixedly connected with the center connecting structure, each slide rail is connected with a slide block in a sliding mode, and each slide block is connected with an executing mechanism.

As a further improved technical scheme of the utility model, four actuating mechanisms are uniformly distributed on the fixing device along the circumferential direction, and the limiting layer is connected to the sliding block towards the circle center of the circumferential direction.

The utility model has the beneficial effects that:

because the two independent grid-type pneumatic channels are arranged, the internal and external bending and the left and right bending of a single execution unit can be realized through different air pressure drives; thereby realizing the translation of the grabbed object along the X-axis and the Y-axis and the rotation on the Z-axis; the three motions are combined as the basic motion units of the soft manipulator, so that the soft manipulator can carry out in-hand operation on the basis of flexibly grabbing objects, the flexibility of the soft manipulator is improved, and a larger operation space is realized. The stability and adaptability in grabbing fragile and irregular objects are enhanced.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an execution unit architecture.

Fig. 2 is a front view of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a left side view of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a top view of fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of a pneumatic joint arrangement.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an assembly structure of a pneumatic connector and an execution unit.

Fig. 7 is a schematic view of the inward bending of the actuator unit.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the outward bending of the actuator.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of the rightward bending of the actuator unit.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a hand-operable soft body robot.

Fig. 11 is a schematic view of a grab control.

Fig. 12 is a bottom view of fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a schematic view of an opening control.

Fig. 14 is a schematic view of an in-hand operation.

Fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of a counterclockwise rotation control.

Fig. 16 is a schematic view of a leftward panning control.

Fig. 17 is a schematic view of an upward translation control.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below. It is to be understood that the described embodiments are merely exemplary of the utility model, and not restrictive of the full scope of the utility model. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments of the utility model without inventive step, such as for example embodiments relating to the basic concept only with a changed use and without changing the claims, belong to the protective scope of the utility model.

Terms such as "left", "right", "upper", "lower", and the like, used herein to denote relative spatial positions, are used for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element or feature as illustrated in the figures. The spatially relative positional terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as being "to the left" of other elements or features would then be oriented "to the right" of the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term "left side" may encompass both left and right orientations. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.

In the description herein, it is noted that, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms herein can be understood in a specific context to one of ordinary skill in the art.

The patent is further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 1-4, the actuator unit 10 is a hollow double-tube structure made of a silica gel composite material, and includes a restriction layer 1 and a driving layer 2. The two driving layers 2 are connected on the limiting layer 1 in a spaced and symmetrical mode. The driving layer 2 is formed by a plurality of driving units 7 arranged vertically at intervals. A left cavity 9 and a right cavity which are longitudinally arranged are arranged in the limiting layer 1, and a driving cavity 8 is arranged in each driving unit 7. The left cavity 9 is communicated with the driving cavity 8 of each driving unit 7 in one driving layer 2 to form a left pneumatic channel 5. The right cavity is communicated with a driving cavity 8 of each driving unit 7 in the other driving layer 2 to form a right pneumatic channel 6. The top of the limiting layer 1 is provided with a left cavity vent hole 3 communicated with a left pneumatic channel 5 and a right cavity vent hole 4 communicated with a right pneumatic channel 6. The left cavity vent hole 3 and the right cavity vent hole 4 are respectively connected with a pneumatic connector 11 in a sealing manner (as shown in fig. 6).

The left pneumatic channel 5 and the right pneumatic channel 6 are both formed by longitudinally penetrating a plurality of air bags (namely the driving cavity 8) through one channel (namely the left cavity 9 or the right cavity), are symmetrical about the central axis of the execution unit 10, and are respectively connected with the outside through the left cavity vent hole 3 and the right cavity vent hole 4.

The driving layer 2 and the limiting layer 1 can be connected through a silica gel adhesive or integrally formed in the manufacturing process.

In one driving layer 2, the thickness of the driving units 7 located at the top and bottom is greater than the thickness of the remaining driving units 7, and the thickness of the remaining driving units 7 is the same.

Referring to fig. 5-6, the diameter of the pneumatic connector 11 is greater than the diameters of the left cavity vent hole 3 and the right cavity vent hole 4, and the pneumatic connector 11 is connected with the left cavity vent hole 3 and the right pneumatic channel 6 in an interference fit manner, that is, the pneumatic connector 11 is inserted into the left cavity vent hole 3 and the right pneumatic channel 6, and because the silica gel synthetic material has good ductility, the air tightness of the execution unit 10 during pneumatic driving can be better ensured by adopting interference fit.

Referring to fig. 7, when the left pneumatic channel 5 and the right pneumatic channel 6 are simultaneously supplied with the same positive air pressure, the driving cavity 8 of each driving unit 7 in the driving layer 2 is subjected to the same pressure to cause deformation and expansion of the air bag (i.e., the driving cavity 8), and the left pneumatic channel 5 and the right pneumatic channel 6 are formed by longitudinally penetrating a channel (i.e., the left cavity 9 or the right cavity) through a plurality of air bags (i.e., the driving cavity 8), so that the side walls of the adjacent air bags are expanded and pressed by inflating the air bags, and the longitudinal distance is simultaneously increased, but because the limiting layer 1 is subjected to only small tensile deformation under the action of the air pressure, that is, under the action of the air pressure, the elongation of the driving layer 2 is much greater than that of the limiting layer 1, so that the entire execution unit 10 is subjected to inward bending deformation under the action of the air pressure.

Referring to fig. 8, when the left pneumatic channel 5 and the right pneumatic channel 6 are simultaneously subjected to the same negative pressure, the inner wall of the driving layer 2 is subjected to the same negative pressure, so that the airbag is contracted inwards, the side wall of the driving layer 2 is more obviously contracted due to the fact that the side wall thickness of the driving layer 2 is thinner than the top wall thickness and the bottom wall thickness, the driving layer 2 is obviously contracted and extruded to deform, the longitudinal distance is also reduced at the same time, and the execution unit 10 is subjected to outward bending deformation due to the existence of the limiting layer 1.

Referring to fig. 9, when the left pneumatic channel 5 is subjected to positive pressure and the right pneumatic channel 6 is subjected to negative pressure, the left pneumatic channel 5 undergoes expansion deformation and the right pneumatic channel 6 undergoes contraction deformation, and the execution unit 10 undergoes rightward bending deformation and, similarly, leftward bending deformation. The actuator unit 10 can change the bending degree of the whole actuator unit 10 by adjusting the pressure of the left and right

pneumatic channels

5 and 6.

Referring to fig. 10, the embodiment further discloses a soft manipulator capable of being operated in hand, the soft manipulator includes a plurality of execution units 10, a pneumatic connector 11 connected with the execution units 10, and a fixing device 500 for fixing the execution units 10, the fixing device 500 includes a central connection structure, a support slide rail, and a slider, the support slide rail includes a cross-shaped support and four slide rails installed on the cross-shaped support, the top of the cross-shaped support is fixedly connected with the central connection structure, each slide rail is connected with a slider in a sliding manner, and each slider is connected with an execution mechanism. The four execution units 10 are uniformly distributed on the circumference, the limiting layer 1 faces the circle center, the driving layer 2 faces outwards, and the four execution units are installed on the sliding block. The distance between the execution units 10 can be changed through the sliding blocks, so that the soft manipulator can be suitable for multiple scenes to grab articles with different shapes and sizes, and the applicability of the manipulator is improved. The central connection structure may be connected to the robotic arm via a flange.

Referring to fig. 11-13, when 8 pneumatic connectors 11 are simultaneously supplied with positive air pressure, each execution unit 10 is bent inwards as shown in fig. 11 and 12, and the soft manipulator realizes the gripping control. When 8 pneumatic connectors 11 are simultaneously charged with negative air pressure, each execution unit 10 is bent outwards as shown in fig. 13, and the soft manipulator realizes opening control. Due to the flexibility and the ductility of the material of the soft manipulator, the bending degree of the soft manipulator is controlled by the shape and the size of a grasped object, and the soft manipulator is represented by high compliance to the outside and high safety during interaction and has high stability for grasping a fragile and fragile or irregular object.

Referring to fig. 14 to 15 in conjunction with fig. 10, for convenience of description, all the pneumatic joints 11 in fig. 10 are respectively referred to as a first pneumatic joint 101, a second pneumatic joint 102, a third pneumatic joint 103, a fourth pneumatic joint 104, a fifth pneumatic joint 105, a sixth pneumatic joint 106, a seventh pneumatic joint 107, and an eighth pneumatic joint 108, and all the execution units 10 are respectively referred to as a first execution unit 100, a second execution unit 200, a third execution unit 300, and a fourth execution unit 400. After the soft manipulator has realized the object grabbing control as shown in fig. 11, when the gas pressure in the right pneumatic channel 6 of each execution unit 10 is increased, that is, when a larger positive pressure is introduced into the second pneumatic joint 102, the fourth pneumatic joint 104, the sixth pneumatic joint 106, and the eighth pneumatic joint 108, each execution unit 10 will continue to generate leftward bending deformation on the basis of the inward bending deformation, so as to realize the manual operation of the grabbed object rotating counterclockwise along the Z axis.

Referring to fig. 16-17 in conjunction with fig. 10, after the soft robot has achieved the object capture control of fig. 11, the second pneumatic joint 102, the third pneumatic joint 103, the fourth pneumatic joint 104 and the fifth pneumatic joint 105 are led to have higher gas pressure, and weakens the pressure of the gas introduced into the seventh pneumatic joint 107 and the eighth pneumatic joint 108, even if the first actuator unit 100 continues to undergo leftward bending deformation on the basis of having been inwardly bent, the third actuator unit 300 continues to undergo leftward bending deformation, the degree of inward bending of the second actuator unit 200 increases, the degree of inward bending of the fourth actuator unit 400 decreases, thereby realizing the in-hand operation of the gripped object in translation along the X axis, and similarly, as shown in figure 17, the in-hand operation of the gripped object in translation along the Y axis can be realized, by adjusting the air pressure, the amount of translation of the grasped object can be varied while a greater distance of translation can be achieved using the slide rails and slides on the fixture 500.

This embodiment can design locking structure on the slide rail, and after the slider moved the suitable position of slide rail, accessible locking structure was with slider fixed connection on the slide rail, and locking device can adopt the bolt.

The embodiment discloses a soft manipulator capable of being operated in hand, which is composed of four execution units 10 and a fixing device 500, can realize grabbing and opening control through air pressure driving, and can realize grabbed hand operation through adjusting the air pressure.

Features of combinations of parts not described in detail in this specification are readily ascertainable and would not be objectionable to those skilled in the art or to practice the present invention. The above embodiments are only descriptions of preferred embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily implement the embodiments within the scope of the present application without changing the claims to change or replace the basic principles, and the scope of the present application shall be covered by the claims.

Claims

1. A can the software manipulator of operation in hand which characterized in that: comprises a fixing device and a plurality of actuating mechanisms;

a plurality of actuating mechanisms are connected to the fixing device;

the execution unit is made of a bendable and deformable material.

2. The soft manipulator of claim 1, wherein: the execution unit is made of silica gel composite material.

3. The soft manipulator of claim 2, wherein: the left pneumatic channel and the right pneumatic channel are symmetrical about the central axis of the execution unit.

4. The soft manipulator of claim 1, wherein: in one driving layer, the thickness of the driving units located at the top and bottom is greater than the thickness of the remaining driving units, and the thickness of the remaining driving units is the same.

5. The soft manipulator of claim 1, wherein: the diameter of the pneumatic connector is larger than the inner diameters of the left cavity vent hole and the right cavity vent hole, and the pneumatic connector is connected with the left cavity vent hole and the right cavity vent hole in an interference fit mode.

6. The soft manipulator of claim 1, wherein: fixing device includes central connection structure, support slide rail and slider, the support slide rail includes the cross support and installs four slide rails on the cross support, the top fixedly connected with central connection structure of cross support, every equal sliding connection has the slider on the slide rail, every all be connected with actuating mechanism on the slider.

7. The soft manipulator of claim 6, wherein: the four actuating mechanisms are uniformly distributed on the fixing device along the circumferential direction, and the limiting layer is connected to the sliding block towards the circle center of the circumferential direction.