JP2000052282A - Robot travelling in t-shaped branch pipe and its directional control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve working efficiency of inspection by carrying out travelling control of travelling drive wheels provided on segments on a front end and a rear end and steering control of the travelling drive wheels through a controller out of a pipe connected by a robot and a cable. SOLUTION: An inspection head 6 is integrally provided frontward and backward on segments of a front end and a rear end, and a travelling drive wheel and a driven wheel making contact with a pipe inner surface are furnished. A travelling motor 9 as travelling power is provided on the travelling drive wheel, and a sterring mechanism to change a travelling direction of the travelling drive wheel and a steering motor 11 are provided. Lead wires of equipment 17-20 for inspection equipped on the inspection heads 6 provided on the segments of the front end and the rear end, an electric power source wire of the travelling motor of the travelling drive wheel, a steering motor control wire and an electric power source wire of the steering mechanism of the travelling drive wheel are constitued to be included in a cable 21 to connect a robot and a controller 22 out of the pipe to each other. Consequently, it is possible to improve efficiency of work of inspection, etc.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention belongs to the technical field of an inspection robot which travels in a pipe as a means for inspecting a damaged or present condition of a small-diameter underground pipe or other piping which cannot be entered by a person, More specifically, a traveling robot in a T-junction pipe and a direction control thereof that travels while changing the direction at a substantially right angle into a T-junction pipe or a cruciform pipe, as well as straight traveling and bending (elbow pipe) traveling in the pipe. About the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the technology of an inspection robot that travels in a pipe as means for inspecting the damage or the present condition of pipes has been considerably studied, and there are many practical examples. For example, JP-A-64-63844 and JP-A-64-65
The in-pipe traveling device described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 438 discloses a turning operation means for connecting a plurality of segments to each other so as to be able to swing around a single axis, and turning the segments around the core. A camera is provided at the node, a monitor for visualizing information from the camera is provided, and the turning operation means is remotely operated while monitoring the posture of the body segment by the monitor. Have been.

[0003] The in-pipe traveling robot described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-9331838 has an expansion and contraction and bending in order to easily and reliably perform a direction change and a straight traveling on a bent pipe, a T-shaped branch pipe, a cross pipe, and the like. Connect a plurality of free segments in series, provide a radial tensioning mechanism in contact with the inner surface of the tube in each segment, and attach an inspection device inside the tube to the front end segment,
It is configured to include a monitor for observing an image by the inspection device.

The in-pipe traveling robot described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-304294 is controlled by radio control, and has a configuration in which a front portion and a rear portion are flexibly connected by a tube. The vehicle is configured to smoothly bend and travel with a total of three wheels directed toward the vehicle.

The in-pipe traveling robot described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-218160 has a configuration capable of expanding and contracting a main body frame, and is configured to be able to freely enter and exit a small-diameter pipe provided in the middle of a pipe. ing.

[0006]

As described above, conventional in-pipe traveling robots having various structures and performances have been developed according to the purpose of use.

[0007] By the way, an important function and performance of the in-pipe traveling robot for inspecting the damage or the present condition of the pipes is to realize a directional control capable of entering and traveling in a T-shaped branch pipe including up and down in the vertical direction. Conceivable. Only when such a function is provided, it is possible to freely move to and from any place of various piping paths.

[0008] In this regard, it is noted that the above-described in-pipe traveling robot is described as being capable of entering and traveling into a T-shaped branch pipe, as well as straight passage through a cross pipe. However, this in-pipe traveling robot has a configuration in which a plurality of telescopic units that can be extended and retracted are connected in series. Furthermore, the telescopic unit has a coil spring as a main frame, a plurality of air tubes as telescopic driving means disposed inside the body, and an electric pipe connected to an air pipe for sending compressed air for driving the air tube and an electric cable. I have. Then, it is fixed to the inner surface of the tube via two tension mechanisms, and in this state, the front and rear free telescopic units are sequentially expanded and contracted or bent, so that the structure and each operation of the robot are very complicated. . In addition, the direction control also requires individual control of all telescopic units, which is extremely complicated, and the traveling speed in the pipe is due to the repetition of the telescopic operation of each telescopic unit like a caterpillar. The problem is that efficiency is low.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is that the structure of the robot itself is simple, the traveling operation is simple, and only the traveling drive wheels of the two segments of the front end and the rear end need to be controlled. An object of the present invention is to provide a traveling robot in a T-junction pipe and a method for controlling the direction thereof, which are simple and the traveling speed in the pipe is high enough to increase the work efficiency of the inspection.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a robot for traveling in a T-junction pipe, which is capable of entering the T-junction pipe and traveling in the pipe. A traveling robot, wherein a plurality of body segments are
A series of freely connected pin joints capable of bending up to about 90 °, and the front and rear end segments are arranged radially at least in four directions at right angles, and at least one pair of traveling drive wheels in contact with the inner surface of the pipe. A driving motor is attached to the traveling drive wheel, and a steering mechanism and a steering motor for changing the traveling direction of the traveling drive wheel are attached to the traveling drive wheel. Except for the end segment,
Radial arrangement at least in four directions at right angles, having a driven wheel in contact with the inner surface of the pipe, traveling control of traveling drive wheels provided on the front and rear end segments and steering control of the traveling drive wheels are: It is characterized in that it is performed through a controller outside the tube connected to the robot with a cable.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the traveling robot in the T-shaped branch pipe according to the first aspect, the front end and the rear end of the body have a headlight, a television camera, and a position detection sensor for the T-shaped branch pipe. It is equipped with a pulse counter for mileage measurement.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the T-branch traveling robot according to the first aspect, the controller outside the tube includes a power source as a power source, a monitor screen for displaying an image taken by a television camera, and A pipe map for displaying a pipe diagram of the inspection object is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a direction control method for a traveling robot in a T-junction pipe according to the present invention. A control method, in which the inside of a pipe illuminated by a headlight is visually checked with an image of a television camera, and the distance measured by a pulse counter is compared with a pipe map to predict the position of the T-junction pipe, and the position is fixed. When the robot reaches the approaching position, the robot performs spiral running to match the posture of the robot with the direction of the T-junction pipe, and the position detection sensor confirms the position of the T-junction pipe, and based on the signal confirming the position of the T-junction pipe, the body segment at the front end The steering is controlled so that the direction is directed to the T-junction tube, and the following segment is caused to follow the segment at the front end.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of a T-branch traveling robot according to the first to third aspects of the present invention.

The traveling robot in the T-shaped branch pipe is shown in FIGS.
As described in FIG. 6, the T-branch pipe 2 is connected to the middle of the pipe 1 at a maximum position of 90 °, as well as traveling straight in the pipe 1. Regardless of whether it is a connection or a connection vertically up and down,
It is configured such that it can enter into the T-shaped branch pipe 2 and travel inside the pipe.

As a means for this, the body of the in-pipe traveling robot is composed of a plurality of segments 4... Which are small and compact so as to be suitable for in-pipe traveling with a small diameter, and are connected by a universal joint 5 capable of bending to approximately 90 °. It is configured so as to be freely connected to. Therefore, this robot body can not only bend in the pipe but also change its direction into a 90-degree T-shaped branch pipe.

In particular, hemispherical inspection heads 6 equipped with instruments necessary for the inspection of the inside of the tube are provided integrally on the body segment 4 at the front end and the rear end in a forward direction and a rearward direction (see FIG. 4 and the like). And a pair of traveling drive wheels 7, 7 in contact with the inner surface of the pipe and another pair of driven wheels 8, 8 in radial arrangement at least in four directions at right angles. Accordingly, the pair of traveling drive wheels 7, 7 and the pair of driven wheels 8, 8 always travel in contact with two surfaces on the diameter line in two perpendicular directions in the pipe. A traveling motor 9 as traveling power is attached to the traveling drive wheel 7, and further, a steering mechanism 10 and a steering motor 11 for changing the traveling direction of the traveling drive wheel 7 are attached. The pair of driven wheels 8 are pressed against the inner surface of the pipe by a suspension mechanism 16 such as a coil spring so that the robot can support its own weight, stabilize the running direction and posture, and have at least a small inner diameter of the pipe. The vehicle is configured to travel while allowing a change. Therefore, only the front and rear end segments are traveling drive units, and the other intermediate segments are driven units.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the steering mechanism 10 is provided with a sun gear at a root portion of a fixed shaft 12 (trunnion shaft) protruding from the body section 4 in a symmetrical arrangement in the diameter direction of the pipe 1. 13 is fixed. In addition, the fixed shaft 1
A drive wheel support 14 is attached to an outer portion of the drive wheel 2 so as to be rotatable about the axis. The steering motor 11 is installed on the drive wheel support 14, and a pinion 11 a of the steering motor 11 is connected to the sun. It is meshed with the gear 13. The steering mechanism 10 is configured separately and independently for the left and right traveling drive wheels 7,7.

Therefore, when the steering motor 1 rotates,
The drive wheel support 14 rotates at a reduction ratio based on the reciprocal ratio of the number of teeth between the pinion 11a and the sun gear 13, and the direction of the traveling drive wheel 7 supported by the drive wheel support 14 is changed. In addition, the traveling directions of the left and right traveling drive wheels 7, 7 can be independently and freely changed (steerable), so that the traveling direction of the robot can be freely controlled, and even spiral traveling described later is possible.

The traveling motor 9 is mounted on the driving wheel support 14. The rotation shaft of the traveling motor 9 and the axle of the traveling drive wheels 7 are connected by a rotation transmission mechanism 15 such as a gear train. Therefore, irrespective of the operation of the steering mechanism 10, traveling in the pipe by the traveling drive wheels 7 can be freely performed without any trouble. Then, the propulsion force of the traveling drive wheels 7 rotated by the traveling motor 9 causes the in-pipe traveling robot to pull and follow the following body segments 4 to perform the in-pipe traveling at a designed speed. Of course, speed control for increasing or decreasing the traveling speed of the robot can be freely performed as needed by motor control. At the same time, the traveling drive wheel of the body segment at the rear end can also be made to travel forward, and the driving of the dual locomotive system can be performed by applying a propulsive force to push from behind. However, the traveling drive wheels of the body segment at the rear end are useful when the vehicle is traveling backward when inspection is necessary.

As means for absorbing a change in the inner diameter of the pipe caused by a manufacturing error or deformation of the pipe 1 or adhesion of foreign matter, etc., a fixed shaft 12 on which the sun gear 13 is fixed is used as a means for smooth running. The inner end portion is mounted so as to be able to enter and exit the body segment 4 as a configuration such as a square axis for suppressing rotation, and a suspension mechanism equipped with a restoring spring 30 is employed.

On the other hand, in the segments other than the front end and the rear end, FIG.
As shown in (1), only the driven wheels 8 that are in contact with the inner surface of the pipe are mounted in a radial arrangement at least in four directions at right angles. The supporting portion of each driven wheel 8 employs an elastic suspension mechanism 16 using a spring or the like so that the robot can support its own weight, and is configured to press against the inner surface of the pipe.

In the in-pipe traveling robot having the above structure, the inspection heads 6 provided integrally with the front and rear end segments 4 respectively have headlights 17 as instruments necessary for the inspection of the inside of the pipe.
And a television camera (CCD camera) 18, a position detection sensor 19 for the T-junction tube 2, and a pulse counter 20 for measuring the traveling distance of the robot (the invention according to claim 2). As the position detection sensor 19 in the illustrated example, an elastic linear contact-type sensor that comes into contact with the inner surface of the tube is employed. This position detection sensor 19 is provided in FIG.
As illustrated in A and B, they are provided in a pyramid arrangement in four directions at right angles diagonally forward.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the lead wires of the above-mentioned inspection devices 17 to 20 mounted on the inspection head 6 provided on the front and rear end segments, and the traveling motor of the traveling drive wheel 7 The power supply line and the control line, and the steering motor control line and the power supply line of the steering mechanism of the traveling drive wheel 7 are cables 2 connecting the robot and the controller 22 outside the tube, respectively.
1 is included.

For this reason, the controller 22 outside the pipe includes a power supply 23 for each motor, a monitor screen 24 for displaying an image taken by the television camera 18, and a pipe map 25 for displaying a pipe diagram of the inspection object by processing it by a personal computer. And a control device 26 for remotely controlling the in-pipe traveling robot (the invention according to claim 3).

In the following, a direction control method for guiding the robot having the above-described structure (the in-pipe traveling robot according to claims 1 to 3) particularly to the T-shaped branch pipe 2 (claim 4).
Will be described.

The basics of the directional control are as schematically shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 and the control flow is shown in FIG.
That is, the inside of the tube illuminated by the headlight 17 of the inspection head 6 is photographed by the television camera 18, and the image is taken by the controller 22.
On the monitor screen 24 for visual confirmation by the operator. At the same time, the pipe reference point 7 is set by the pulse counter 20.
The running distance from the robot is continuously measured, and the measured distance L is checked on a piping map 25 image-processed by a personal computer process from the design drawing of the pipe to be inspected in advance, and the current position of the robot and a known T-shaped branch are compared. The position or the degree of approach of the tube 2 is predicted. When the robot reaches the target position of the T-junction pipe 2, for example, the remaining approaching position of about 1 m, the robot posture,
In particular, the spiral running is performed so that the direction of the inspection head 6 at the front end is aligned with the direction of the T-shaped branch pipe 2. In the spiral running, the steering mechanism 10 is controlled so that the direction of the drive wheels 7 is slightly inclined with respect to the axis (center line) of the pipeline as shown in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 10, the robot runs in a spiral as a whole in the pipe, and as a result, the robot body substantially rotates around the pipe axis. Somites and their driving wheels 7
Can be matched with the direction.

More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the direction of the driving wheels 7 is always controlled to be the same as the center line of the pipe 1. Is controlled so that up to the intersection of the center line of the pipe 1 and the center line of the pipe 1 is located on a diameter line orthogonal to the center line of the T-shaped branch pipe 2 (FIGS. 4A and 4B). At the stage where the intersection point is reached, the traveling drive wheel 7 is turned by 90 ° until it is oriented parallel to the center line of the T-shaped branch pipe 2 to continue traveling (FIG. 5A,
B, FIG. 6). The direction and posture of the traveling drive wheels 7 are checked and controlled by measuring the rolling angle and the turning angle of the drive wheel support 14.

The fact that the inspection head 6 at the front end of the robot has reached the position of the T-shaped branch pipe 2 as shown in FIG. 4 is confirmed by a signal indicating that at least one position detection sensor 19 has come out of contact in the illustrated example. . Based on this detection signal, the front end of the body segment is first subjected to steering control, and the direction is directed to the T-shaped branch pipe 2 as shown in FIG. Thereafter, when the following segment 4 is caused to follow the segment at the front end, the T-junction pipe 2 smoothly moves thereafter.
Continue to enter and drive inside. However, FIGS. 4 to 6 show the direction control of the robot in an easily understandable manner, and the actual control is based on the degree of reaching the position of the T-shaped branch pipe 2 as shown in FIG. The direction is changed little by little, and finally the direction change of 90 ° proceeds smoothly.

In short, the directional control method according to the present invention is capable of predicting the position of the T-junction pipe 2 and controlling the steering mechanism 10 approximately.
The entry and running control into the T-shaped branch pipe can be easily and reliably achieved by the items.

[0031]

The T according to the first to third aspects of the present invention.
According to the traveling robot in the T-shaped branch pipe and the directional control method according to the invention described in claim 4, the robot can freely enter and run into the T-shaped branch pipe, and therefore can be moved to any place in the piping path. It can be freely moved back and forth and contributes greatly to the achievement of the purpose such as inspection.

Further, the structure of the robot for entering and traveling into the T-shaped branch pipe and the direction control device thereof are simple and highly practical.

Further, the traveling speed in the pipe of the robot can be made sufficiently high, which contributes to the improvement of the efficiency of work such as inspection.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an outline of the structure of a pipe running robot according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams showing a situation immediately before a robot enters a T-shaped branch pipe.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory views of a stage in which the front end of the robot has changed its direction into the T-shaped branch pipe.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a stage in which the robot has advanced into a T-junction pipe.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are explanatory diagrams showing an arrangement of a position detection sensor. FIGS.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a device mounted on the robot and a controller outside the tube.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of spiral running of the robot.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of spiral running of the robot.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating direction control of the robot.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a direction change of the robot.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 pipe 2 T-shaped branch pipe 4 body section 5 universal joint 7 traveling drive wheel 8 driven wheel 9 traveling motor 10 steering mechanism 11 steering motor 21 cable 22 controller 17 headlight 18 television camera 19 position detection sensor 20 pulse counter 23 power supply 24 Monitor screen 25 Piping map

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masanori Kurata 8-21-1, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Inside Takenaka Corporation Tokyo Main Store (72) Inventor Katsura Fujii 8-21 Ginza, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo No. 1 Takenaka Corporation Tokyo Main Store (72) Inventor Toru Inaoka 1-5-1, Otsuka, Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture Inside Technical Research Center Takenaka Corporation (72) Inventor Kenichi Miyazaki Otsuka One, Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture 5th Street 1 F-Term in Takenaka Corporation Technical Research Institute (reference) 2G051 AA82 AA83 AB20 AC16 BA20 CA03 CA04 CA11 EB01 EB02 FA02 3F059 AA11 BB04 CA06 DA08 DB04 DC08 DD01 FB01 3F060 BA03 CA17 GA13 GD03

Claims (4)

[Claims] An in-pipe traveling robot capable of entering a T-junction pipe and traveling in a pipe, wherein a plurality of body segments are freely connected in series by a pin joint that can be bent to approximately 90 °. The front end and the rear end of the body are provided with at least one pair of traveling drive wheels and another pair of driven wheels in contact with the inner surface of the pipe in a radial arrangement at least in four directions at right angles. A motor is attached, and a steering mechanism for changing the traveling direction of the traveling drive wheel and a steering motor are attached. Except for the front and rear end segments, the inner surface of the pipe is radially arranged at least in four directions at right angles. The driving control of the driving wheels provided on the front and rear end segments and the steering control of the driving wheels are performed by an extra-tube controller connected to the robot by a cable. Do through A robot running in a T-junction pipe, characterized in that: 2. The front and rear end segments are equipped with a headlight, a television camera, a position detection sensor for a T-junction tube, and a pulse counter for measuring a traveling distance. 2. The robot for traveling in a T-shaped branch pipe described in 1. 3. A controller outside the pipe comprising a power source as a power source, a monitor screen for displaying an image taken by a television camera, and a pipe map for displaying a pipe diagram of the inspection object. The T according to claim 1,
A robot that moves in a branch pipe. 4. A directional control method for causing a traveling robot in a pipe according to claim 1 to enter a T-shaped branch pipe, wherein the pipe illuminated by a headlight is visually checked with an image of a television camera. While performing, the position of the T-junction is predicted by comparing the distance measured by the pulse counter with the piping map, and after reaching a certain approach position, the posture of the robot is adjusted to the direction of the T-junction. The helical running is performed and the position detection sensor controls the steering of the front end segment based on the signal confirming the position of the T-junction tube so that the direction is directed to the T-junction tube and follows the front end segment. A direction control method for a robot running in a T-junction pipe, characterized in that the robot moves following a body segment.