JP2002011679A - Multiped walking robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multiped walking robot having a freedom in arrangement of a driving system for an articulated part while securing the articulated part with the sufficient power and rigidity. SOLUTION: A body 22 of a robot 21 is provided with first turning shafts 31 having the axial direction parallel to the side surface of the body 22 and turning the legs 24A-24D within the vertical surface against the side surface. The legs 24A-24D are provided with second turning shafts 32 having the axial direction vertical to the side surface of the body 22 and the turning the legs 24A-24D within the parallel surface against the side surface. By constructing first joint parts 28 with these first and second turning shafts 31, 32, the body 22 is secured the degree of freedom in the width direction, so as to adopt a cylindrical motor 30 as a driving system of the revolute joint parts 28 for improving a power performance while improving the rigidity of the revolute joint part 28 by widening the face width of a gear.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-legged walking robot, and more particularly, to a structure of a leg joint of the robot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various multi-legged walking robots having two or more legs in the shape of a human or an animal such as a dog or a cat have been developed. These multi-legged walking robots are provided with a joint mechanism that allows each leg to move forward and backward and left and right with respect to the trunk.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 9, a small multi-legged walking robot 1 in the form of an animal such as a dog or a cat has a torso 2, a head 3, a left front leg 4A, a right front leg 4B, a left rear leg. It has a foot 4C and a right rear foot 4D. Each foot 4A-4D, respectively
A second unit 6 attached via a first joint 8 to a first unit 5 that constitutes a part or all of one side of the body 2 (in FIG. 1, the whole of one side of the body 2 is formed); The third unit 7 is attached to the second unit 6 via the second joint 9.

The first joint 8 has a first rotating shaft 11 having an axial direction perpendicular to the side surface of the body 2 and a second rotating shaft 11 having an axial direction parallel to the side surface of the body 2. Rotation axis 1
Consists of two. The legs 4 </ b> A to 4 </ b> D are rotatable in a plane parallel to the side surface of the body 2 by the first rotation shaft 11, and are perpendicular to the side surface of the body 2 by the second rotation shaft 12. In the direction. The first rotation shaft 11 and the second rotation shaft 12 are housed in the first unit 5 and the second unit 6, respectively. The first unit 5 accommodates a drive system including a motor for rotating the feet 4A to 4D around the first rotation shaft 11, a gear train, a rotation sensor, electric wiring, and the like. Accommodates a drive system similar to that described above for rotating the feet 4A to 4D about the second rotation shaft 12.

[0005] The second joint 9 comprises a third rotating shaft 13 disposed inside the upper end of the third unit 7.
Its axial direction is oriented in a direction perpendicular to 2. Third
The unit 7 houses a drive system for rotating the third unit 7 around the third rotation shaft 13.

The drive system housed in each of the units 5, 6, and 7 receives an electric signal from a control device housed in the main body 14 of the body 2 and independently receives the electric signal from each of the rotation shafts to a designated angle. 11, 12, and 13 are operated to enable the robot 1 to walk and perform complicated operations. It should be noted that such a technique relating to motion control and posture control of a multi-legged walking robot is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-11-90866 and
It is disclosed in detail in, for example, JP-A-00-61872.

[0007]

In the multi-legged walking robot 1 having the above-described structure, the first rotating shaft 11 is disposed in a direction perpendicular to the side surface of the body 2, and from the viewpoint of design, the body is Since the width (thickness) of the first unit 5 constituting a part of the body 2 is also limited because the width of the second unit 2 is determined,
Conventionally, the motor for rotating the first rotating shaft 11 is constituted by a flat motor having a short motor driving shaft, or the tooth width of each gear connecting the motor driving shaft and the first rotating shaft is reduced. Was.

However, this configuration has a problem in that the first joint 8 to which the largest load is applied, particularly the first rotating shaft 11, cannot have sufficient power and rigidity. Generally, high response, high output, and high durability are required for the joints of robots.In pursuit of these, a cylindrical motor with a long drive shaft is used as a motor to provide high power performance, In order to enhance durability, it is necessary to increase the tooth width of each gear constituting the gear train of the drive system.

On the other hand, if a cylindrical motor is used as the motor for rotating the first rotating shaft 11, it is necessary to make the drive unit including the cylindrical motor 10 bite into the body 14 as shown in FIG. Occurs. However, since the main body 14 accommodates a control device such as a CPU, a power supply device and a power circuit including a battery, and a drive system for driving the head 3, the first joint is provided inside the main body 14. It is difficult to secure a sufficient space for disposing the drive system of the unit 8.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides a multi-legged walking robot capable of giving a degree of freedom in the layout of a drive system of a joint and at the same time providing the joint with a sufficient power and rigidity. The task is to

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a robot body having an axial direction parallel to a side surface of the body, and First to rotate the robot's feet in a vertical plane
A second rotation axis for providing a rotation axis and for rotating the foot in a plane parallel to the side surface, the foot having an axial direction perpendicular to the side surface of the body; Is provided to form a joint between the body and the foot. As a result, it is possible to use a cylindrical motor arranged in parallel with the first rotating shaft as the motor for rotating the first rotating shaft, and it is possible to obtain high power performance of the joint.

According to the structure of the present invention, the degree of freedom in the width direction of the torso is higher than in the prior art, and an efficient layout structure inside the torso including the drive system of the joint can be obtained. It is possible to increase the tooth width of each gear constituting the drive unit as compared with the related art, thereby increasing the rigidity of the joint.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a multi-legged walking robot 21 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The multi-legged walking robot 21 includes a torso 22, a head 23, a left forefoot 24A,
It has a right forefoot 24B, a left hindfoot 24C and a right hindfoot 24D. Each of the legs 24 </ b> A to 24 </ b> D is attached to a first unit 25 constituting a part or all of one side surface of the body 22 via a first joint 28.
And a third unit 27 attached to the second unit 26 via a second joint 29.

The first joint 28 has a first rotating shaft 31 having an axial direction parallel to the side surface of the body 22 and a second rotating shaft 31 having an axial direction perpendicular to the side surface of the body 22. And a rotating shaft 32. The legs 24 </ b> A to 24 </ b> D are rotatable in a plane perpendicular to the side surface of the body 22 by the first rotation shaft 31, and are parallel to the side surface of the body 22 by the second rotation shaft 32. It is rotatable in the plane. The first rotation shaft 31 and the second rotation shaft 32 are accommodated in the first unit 25 and the second unit 26, respectively.

The second joint 29 includes a third rotating shaft 33 housed inside the lower end of the second unit 26, and its axial direction is directed in a direction parallel to the second rotating shaft 32. Therefore, the third unit 27 is rotatable in the front-rear direction of the second unit 26 about the third rotation shaft 33 as a fulcrum.

In the present embodiment, the first rotating shaft 31 is arranged in a direction parallel to the side surface of the body 22, so that the cylindrical motor 30 is used as a driving source for driving the first rotating shaft 31 in the first direction. It can be easily accommodated in the unit 25. Further, since the first rotation shaft 31 is configured as described above, the degree of freedom in the width direction of the body 22 is increased as compared with the related art, and the inside of the body including the drive system for the first rotation shaft 31 is included. Since an efficient layout configuration can be obtained, the tooth width of each gear communicating between the motor 30 and the first rotation shaft 31 can be increased. Therefore, high rigidity of the first joint portion 28 and high power performance can be realized.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the multi-legged walking robot 21 showing a modification of the structure of the first joint 28. As shown in FIG. In this example, the first rotating shaft 31 is pivotally supported at one end, and the second rotating shaft 32
Is provided with a bracket 35 for holding the robot at the other end.
When the foot 1 is in a standing posture in which the feet 24A to 24D are grounded, the second rotation is performed at a position deviated to the abdomen side (lower side in the figure) of the body 22 with respect to the axis of the first rotation shaft 31. The axis of the dynamic shaft 32 is arranged. Specifically, in this example, the first rotating shaft 3
The one axial center is at the same level as or higher than the upper end surface of the second unit 26. Thereby, the rotation angle of the feet 24A to 24D by the first rotation shaft 31 becomes 90 degrees or more, and the movable range of the feet 24A to 24D can be increased.

Next, the details of the feet 24A to 24D will be described.
A description will be given with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8 based on the configuration example shown in FIG. In each of the drawings, only the left forefoot 24A is shown. 5 is a front perspective view of the foot 24A, FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of the foot 24A, FIG. 7 is a front view showing the internal structure of the first and second units 25 and 26, and FIG. It is a side view which shows the internal structure of 2nd unit 25,26.

The first rotating shaft 31 is supported by one end of a bracket 35 and housed in the first unit 25.
The first unit 25 further accommodates a cylindrical motor 30 for driving the first rotating shaft 31 with its axial direction being the same as the first rotating shaft 31. 31
The gears 38, 39, and 40 for communicating the motor and the motor 30 are accommodated.

A second fixed to the other end of the bracket 35
The rotation shaft 32 is housed inside the upper end of the second unit 26. The second rotating shaft 32 has a motor 36 and gears 44, 45, 46 also housed in the second unit 26.
The second unit 26 is entirely rotatable around the second rotation shaft 32 by the driving of the motor 36.

A third rotating shaft 33 constituting the second joint 29 is accommodated in the lower end of the second unit 26, and a motor 37 for rotating the third rotating shaft 33, a gear 47, 48 and 49 are accommodated in the second unit 26. The third unit 27 includes a third rotating shaft 33 (not shown).
And is rotatable with respect to the second unit 26.

In the drawings, reference numerals 41, 42, 4
Reference numeral 3 denotes a sensor (potentiometer) for detecting each operation angle of the first, second, and third rotation shafts 31, 32, and 33.
It is.

According to the present embodiment, since the second rotating shaft 32 and the third rotating shaft 33 are respectively arranged in the same direction, the drive system (motor 36, 3
7, the gears 43 to 49) can be housed together in the second unit 26. That is, in the conventional multi-legged walking robot 1, since the second rotation axis 12 and the third rotation axis 13 are arranged in directions orthogonal to each other, the two drive systems are accommodated in one unit. The driving system for the second rotating shaft 12 is housed in the second unit 6, and the driving system for the third rotating shaft 13 is housed in the third unit 7, respectively. I had to.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the second
The unit 26 and the third unit 27 can be assembled from the same direction, thereby facilitating the assembling workability as compared with the related art, and greatly reducing the number of assembling steps.

Further, since the drive system does not exist in the third unit 27, the number of electric wires in the third unit 27 can be basically eliminated, which is advantageous in terms of cost and quality. Becomes Further, since the weight balance of the feet 24A to 24D is biased toward the body 22, the first
The load applied to the joint 28 can be reduced as compared with the conventional art (the moment of inertia can be reduced), and the durability of the first joint 28 can be improved.

According to the present embodiment, the body 22
All or a part of one side is constituted by the first unit 25,
Since this and the second and third units 26 and 27 constituting the legs 24A to 24D are blocked, the robot can be assembled by simply combining the blocked first to third units 25 to 27 with the main body 34 of the body 22. 21 can be manufactured, and there is an advantage that component management becomes easy.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is, of course, not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made based on the technical concept of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, the description has been given by taking the four-legged multi-legged walking robot 21 as an example.
The number of feet is not limited to this.

The present invention is also applicable to a multi-legged walking robot in which a third unit is further provided at the end of the third unit 27 to form a fourth unit.

[0031]

As described above, according to the multi-legged walking robot of the present invention, the degree of freedom in the width direction of the torso is higher than before, so that a cylindrical drive motor is employed for the drive system of the joint. High power performance can be obtained, and the tooth width of the gears constituting the drive system can be increased to improve the durability of the joint.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the first and second units constituting the foot are manufactured by assembling the first unit fixed to the side of the torso, thereby forming the element constituting the foot. , The labor for parts management can be reduced, and the assembling of the robot can be facilitated.

According to the third aspect, since the second and third rotating shafts can be assembled in the same direction in the second unit, the workability of assembling the second unit is improved and the cost of parts is reduced. Can be achieved. In addition, this configuration eliminates the necessity of accommodating the drive system of the joint portion in the third unit, thereby reducing the number of components and reducing the load on the first and second rotating shafts during driving. Can be.

According to the fourth aspect, the angle of rotation of the foot in a plane perpendicular to the side surface of the trunk can be increased, and the degree of freedom in selecting the operation mode of the robot can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a multi-legged walking robot according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a multi-legged walking robot showing a modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the joint between the torso and the foot as viewed obliquely from the front.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the internal structure of the joint when viewed obliquely from behind.

FIG. 7 is a partial front sectional view showing the internal structure of the joint.

FIG. 8 is a partial side sectional view showing the internal structure of the joint.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view schematically showing a conventional multi-legged walking robot.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

21: Multi-legged walking robot, 22: Torso, 24A, 24
B, 24C, 24D ... feet, 25 ... first unit, 26 ...
2nd unit, 27 ... 3rd unit, 28 ... 1st joint part, 29 ... 2nd joint part, 30, 36, 37 ... Motor, 3
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... 1st rotation axis, 32 ... 2nd rotation axis, 33 ... 3rd rotation axis, 35 ... Bracket.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A multi-legged walking robot provided with a plurality of legs on a side surface of a body, wherein the robot has an axial direction in a direction parallel to the side surface of the body and is perpendicular to the side surface. A first rotation axis for rotating the foot in a plane, the body having an axial direction perpendicular to a side surface of the body, and a surface parallel to the side surface; A multi-legged walking robot, wherein a second rotation axis for rotating the foot inside the foot is provided on the foot. 2. A part of or a whole of a side surface of the body is constituted by a first unit accommodating the first rotation shaft, and the foot has one end accommodating the second rotation shaft. 2. The device according to claim 1, comprising two units and a third unit attached to the other end of the second unit via a third rotation axis parallel to the second rotation axis. Multi-legged robot. 3. The multi-legged walking robot according to claim 2, wherein the third rotating shaft is housed inside the second unit together with a motor driving the third rotating shaft. 4. When the foot is in a standing posture in which the foot is in contact with the ground, the axis of the second rotation shaft is biased toward the abdomen of the body with respect to the axis of the first rotation shaft. The multi-legged walking robot according to claim 1, wherein the robot is located at a position.