JP2008012607A - Small mobile robot - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile robot small enough to be movable in a narrow part or a pipe inhibiting a person from passing and freely moving at an irregular ground and stairs, etc. <P>SOLUTION: This robot is provided with a telescopic arm device 30 having a main body 12, right and left traveling wheels 20 and a telescopic arm 32. Each of the traveling wheels 20 is provided with a worm gear 22 to be rotated and driven by a motor 14 for traveling, a housing 24, a plurality of worm wheel rings 26 to be thin ring-shaped members having elasticity, and a clutch 28 for exclusively connecting the housing 24, the worm gear 22 or a main body. The housing 24 and the worm gear 22 are connected by the clutch 28, and the whole of the traveling wheels 20 are rotated and driven to be moved in a direction intersecting a rotary shaft. By switching the clutch 28, the housing 24 and the main body are connected, and a radial direction inside part of the worm wheel ring 26 is driven in an axis direction to be moved in the axis direction of the rotary shaft. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a small mobile robot that can move in piping, rough terrain, stairs, etc., and can be used for security, disaster relief, and the like.

  Various types of mobile robots have already been proposed as small mobile robots that can be used for disaster relief, such as in-pipe moving devices that can move in piping, security and disaster rescue robots that can move on rough terrain (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

The “in-pipe moving device” of Patent Document 1 is intended to be able to smoothly move in a pipe corresponding to pipes having different diameters. As shown in FIG. 10, a drive shaft 57 of a motor 58 is projected forward and backward to cause a worm gear. 50, and a thin worm wheel ring 56 having elasticity is meshed with the worm gear 50 so as to rotate at a fixed position to constitute a moving mechanism body 52 having at least a two-wheel drive structure.
The moving mechanism body 52 is assembled to the power feeding cable at a required arrangement pitch, and switches 57a and 57b that are turned on when the terminal 55 is pulled are attached to the front and rear ends of the moving mechanism body 52. The wire 53 is connected between the terminals 55 of 57b, a sensor is attached to the front part of the most advanced moving mechanism 52, and the motor 58 is driven by being inserted into a small-diameter pipe.

  The “security and disaster rescue robot” of Patent Document 2 is intended for crime prevention and disaster rescue, and as shown in FIG. 11, a vehicle body 67 capable of traveling on rough terrain, a power generation device arranged on the vehicle body, A sensor 62, a monitoring camera 61, a wireless device 66, a criminal identification bullet launching device 63 and / or an adhesive net launching device 68 arranged on the vehicle body are used to recognize an object detected by the sensor using the power generation device as a power source. When the object is a criminal, the criminal identification bullet firing device fires the criminal identification bullet and / or the adhesive net firing device and issues an alarm.

JP-A-8-327605, “In-pipe moving device” Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-282455, “Power Generation Device and Security and / or Disaster Rescue Robot Using the Power Generation Device”

The above-described mobile robot disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem that it can move in piping but cannot move on rough terrain or stairs. Moreover, although the mobile robot of patent document 2 can run on rough terrain, it has a problem that it cannot move in piping.
In addition, various types of mobile robots have been proposed, but it is possible to move freely in piping, rough terrain, stairs, etc., and remotely observe disaster sites where people cannot approach. There has been no small mobile robot that can be used for rescue.
Furthermore, in actual disaster relief, etc., it can be transported to the disaster site by human power, and it is small and light enough to be thrown by human power at a disaster site where people cannot approach it. There was a demand for a small mobile robot with high impact performance.
Similarly, in the case of security and surveillance robots, since conventional robots are large in size, there is a high possibility that intruders can easily notice and allow escape. In addition, the small one can move only on flat ground, and the moving performance is low.

The present invention has been developed to meet the above-described needs. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a small mobile robot that can be moved freely in piping, rough terrain, stairs, etc., and can be used for disaster relief by remotely observing disaster sites where people cannot approach There is to do.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a small mobile robot that is small and light enough to be thrown by human power at a disaster site and has high impact resistance so as to withstand impacts such as throwing and dropping.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a small mobile robot that can be monitored by remote control without being easily noticed by an intruder at a security site.

  According to the present invention, the main body, the left and right traveling wheels that are provided on both sides of the main body and are driven to rotate about the rotation axis on the same line, and built in the main body and extend and contract perpendicular to the rotation axis. There is provided a small mobile robot including a telescopic arm device having a telescopic arm, and traveling on a traveling wheel while the telescopic arm comes into contact with a traveling surface and prevents rotation of the main body.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the traveling wheel includes a worm gear that is driven to rotate about the rotation shaft by a traveling motor built in a main body, a housing that rotatably supports the worm gear, and elasticity. A thin ring-shaped member having a plurality of worm wheel rings whose radially inner portion meshes with the worm gear and whose radially outer portion extends radially outward from the main body, and exclusively connects the housing and the worm gear or the main body. With a clutch,
Connect the housing and the worm gear, rotate the whole traveling wheel and move in the direction intersecting the rotation axis,
The housing and the main body are connected, and the radially inner portion of the worm wheel ring is driven in the axial direction to move in the axial direction of the rotating shaft.

  The traveling wheel has a plurality of divided wheels provided between the circumferential directions of the plurality of worm wheel rings, an inner portion of each divided wheel is fixed to the housing, and an outer peripheral surface thereof is an outer side of the worm wheel ring. Located inward from the part.

  The telescopic arm device includes an electric take-up drum that winds / rewinds the end of the telescopic arm, and a camera attached to the distal end of the telescopic arm.

  In addition, the outer surface of the telescopic arm in the vicinity of the camera has a protrusion that is caught by an outer edge portion.

  The telescopic arm is composed of two elastic belts joined at both width ends, and each elastic belt is crushed into a flat plate shape and wound around an electric take-up drum, and elastically stretches linearly when rewinding. And it becomes the cross-sectional shape with high bending rigidity convex outward.

  The main body further includes a battery and a control board that controls the traveling motor and the electric winding drum and performs two-way communication with the outside.

  The small mobile robot of the present invention comprises three components: a main body, left and right traveling wheels, and a telescopic arm device. Like a spinning wheel, the telescopic arm contacts the traveling surface and prevents the main body from rotating. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size.

The traveling wheel includes a worm gear, a housing, a plurality of worm wheel rings, and a clutch, and connects the housing and the worm gear to rotate the entire traveling wheel so as to move in a direction intersecting the rotation axis. Are connected, and the inner part of the worm wheel ring in the radial direction is driven in the axial direction to move in the axial direction of the rotating shaft, so that it moves in the direction intersecting the rotating shaft like a spinning wheel only by switching the clutch. It is also possible to move in the axial direction of the rotating shaft.
In addition, since the worm wheel ring is a thin ring-shaped member having elasticity, it has a suspension function that bends in the radial direction and has a high rigidity in the rotational direction, and is applied to uneven edges, steps, edges of stairs, etc. It is easy to get caught and has high performance.
Further, when the worm wheel ring is bent, it is possible to move in an elongated space such as a pipe. Furthermore, it is possible to generate a frictional force by pressing the elastic ring in a narrow space in the pipe and move it in the vertical direction.
Therefore, with this configuration, it is possible to freely move in the piping, rough terrain, stairs and the like, and to have impact resistance performance that can withstand impacts such as throwing and dropping.

  In addition, the telescopic arm device includes an electric take-up drum that winds / rewinds the distal end of the telescopic arm and a camera attached to the distal end of the telescopic arm. You can see the image of the part over the obstacle with the camera.

The telescopic arm is composed of two elastic belts joined at both width ends, and each elastic belt is flattened and wound around the electric take-up drum, and elastically stretches linearly when rewinding. Due to the configuration having a cross-sectional shape with a high convex bending rigidity on the outside, the structure is highly flexible when wound, but has a structure in which the cross-section is bent into an arc and the rigidity is increased when extended.
Accordingly, the telescopic arm device having the telescopic arm can be reduced in size and weight.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a small mobile robot according to the present invention, in which (A) is a front view and (B) is an AA arrow view.
As shown in this figure, the small mobile robot 10 of the present invention includes a main body 12, left and right traveling wheels 20, and a telescopic arm device 30.
The left and right traveling wheels 20 are provided on both sides of the main body 12 and are driven to rotate about a rotation axis ZZ on the same line.
The telescopic arm device 30 includes a telescopic arm 32 that is built in the main body 12 and that can extend and contract perpendicularly to the rotation axis ZZ.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a movement pattern on the surface of the apparatus of the present invention.
With the configuration described above, as shown in this figure, the left and right traveling wheels 20 can be moved in the same direction by rotating the left and right traveling wheels 20 in the state where the telescopic arm 32 is extended. .
In this on-plane movement mode, the main body 12 receives a rotational force in the opposite direction due to the reaction of the rotation of the traveling wheel 20. The telescopic arm 32 has a function of preventing the rotation of the main body 12 due to this reaction by contacting the traveling surface 1. Therefore, the small mobile robot 10 of the present invention can move in the direction intersecting the rotation axis ZZ by rotationally driving the entire traveling wheel.

3 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram of the small mobile robot of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG.
3 and 4, the traveling wheel 20 includes a worm gear 22, a housing 24, a plurality of worm wheel rings 26, and a clutch 28.

The worm gear 22 is driven to rotate about the rotation axis ZZ by a traveling motor 14 built in the main body 12.
The housing 24 is located at both axial ends of the main body 12 and supports the worm gear 22 in a rotatable manner.

The plurality (four in this example) of worm wheel rings 26 are thin ring-shaped members having elasticity. The radially inner portion of the worm wheel ring 26 meshes with the worm gear 22, and the radially outer portion extends radially outward from the main body 12. The worm wheel ring 26 is a thin metal or resin having a slit in the elastic ring-shaped member, and is freely deformed by an external force.
Although the worm wheel ring 26 is elliptical in this figure, it should return to a substantially circular shape due to elasticity when it is not subjected to external force.
Further, an urging device 27 that elastically presses the radially inner portion of the worm wheel ring 26 toward the worm gear 22 is provided.

  The clutch 28 includes a first clutch 28 a that connects / releases the housing 24 and the worm gear 22, and a second clutch 28 b that connects / releases the housing 24 and the main body 12. Only one of the first clutch 28a and the second clutch 28b is exclusively connected.

The traveling wheel 20 has a plurality of divided wheels 29 provided between the circumferential directions of the plurality of worm wheel rings 26. An inner portion of each divided wheel 29 is fixed to the housing 22, and an outer peripheral surface thereof is located inward from an outer portion of the worm wheel ring 26.
When the worm wheel ring 26 is largely bent, the divided wheel 29 has a function of making contact with the traveling surface or the inner surface of the pipe to support the housing 22 and to smoothly rotate the entire traveling wheel.

  With the above-described configuration, the housing 24 and the worm gear 22 are connected by the first clutch 28a, and the housing 24 and the main body 12 are opened by the second clutch 28b, so that the entire traveling wheel is rotationally driven by the traveling motor 14. As shown in Fig. 5, the axis can be moved in the direction intersecting the rotation axis ZZ.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a movement form in the pipe of the apparatus of the present invention.
In the configuration described above, the housing 24 and the worm gear 22 are opened by the first clutch 28a, and the housing 24 and the main body 12 are connected by the second clutch 28b, so that the worm gear 22 and the worm wheel ring 26 are screwed together by the traveling motor 14. The inner portion in the radial direction of the worm wheel ring 26 can be driven in the axial direction via the shaft to move in the axial direction of the rotation axis ZZ.
Note that the telescopic arm 32 is shortened so as not to interfere with the pipe 2 when moving in the pipe.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view (A) along BB in FIG. 3 and a partial cross-sectional view thereof.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the telescopic arm device 30 includes an electric winding drum 34 and a camera 36.
The electric take-up drum 34 incorporates an electric motor and takes up / rewinds the end portion of the telescopic arm 32. The camera 36 is a monitoring CCD camera and is attached to the tip of the telescopic arm 32. The camera 36 is a high-resolution camera with a wide viewing angle, and may be fixed focus or autofocus.

As shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C, the telescopic arm 32 is composed of two elastic belts 32a having both width ends joined. As shown in FIG. 6C, each elastic belt 32a is wound around the electric winding drum 34 in a flat plate shape. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, at the time of rewinding, a cross-sectional shape that is elastic and linearly extends and protrudes outward and has high bending rigidity is obtained.
That is, the telescopic arm 32 has a structure in which two metal springs of a convex (winding type) are combined and has high flexibility when wound, but the cross section is bent into an arc when extended and the rigidity becomes high. It has a structure.
Therefore, since the two elastic belts 32a are combined, it has a strong structure against bending moments from either side during extension.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the telescopic arm 32 further has a protrusion 37 that is hooked to an external edge portion on the outer surface near the camera.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a staircase moving form of the apparatus of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, the telescopic arm 32 is pressed against the floor 1 to generate propulsive force by rotating the left and right traveling wheels 20, and moves to the front of the stairs 3. At this time, as described above, the first clutch 28a is connected and the second clutch 28b is released.
In FIG. 7, when the left and right traveling wheels 20 are rotated from the forward direction to the reverse direction before the staircase, the telescopic arm 32 rises to the staircase side due to the reaction. Extending the telescopic arm 32 while viewing the image of the camera 36 at the tip and raising the upper surface of the staircase, when the telescopic arm 32 is brought into contact with the staircase edge and wound, the protrusion 37 on the arm surface is caught on the edge and further wound. If you take it, you can lift the car body (small mobile robot) to the top of the stairs.
Repeat this to climb the stairs. When the first clutch 28a is released and the second clutch 28b is connected, the elastic ring (worm wheel ring 26) is rotated in the longitudinal direction of the robot by the worm gear 22, and the entire robot is also moved.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a form in which an image of a location beyond an obstacle is monitored by the apparatus of the present invention.
As shown in this figure, even when the obstacle 4 is present, by extending the telescopic arm 32, it is possible to see an image of the portion beyond the obstacle 4 with the camera 36 at the tip.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams showing a usage pattern of the apparatus of the present invention at a disaster site, where FIG. 9A shows a mode of carrying in through a pipe into a disaster site, and FIG. 9B shows a mode of throwing it in manually.
As shown in this figure, the robot 10 of the present invention housed in a short pipe 5 is thrown together with the pipe in a disaster site where a rescue worker cannot approach, or the robot 10 enters the site through the vent hole 6. By doing so, it is possible to confirm the presence and status of the victims.
In FIG. 9A, by pressing an elastic ring (worm wheel ring 26) in a narrow space in the pipe, a frictional force is generated and can move in the vertical direction.

In FIG. 3, the main body 12 further includes a battery 16 and a control board 18.
The battery 16 supplies necessary power to each device.
The control board 18 controls the traveling motor 14 and the electric winding drum 34, and performs bidirectional communication with the outside.
With this configuration, the robot 10 of the present invention can be remotely controlled.

As described above, the small mobile robot of the present invention has the following configuration.
(1) The traveling wheel 20 has an elastic ring (worm wheel ring 26) rotated by the worm gear 32. In addition, a small camera 36 is provided at the tip, and a telescopic arm 32 that freely expands and contracts is provided.
(2) The elastic ring and the clutch 28 can move on a flat ground in a spinning wheel system. The elastic ring bends in the weight direction and has a suspension function, but has high rigidity in the rotational direction, and is easily caught on the edge of the stairs, and has a high climbing performance.
Also, by rotating the elastic ring in the ring circumferential direction by switching the clutch, it is possible to move in a narrow and vertical pipe.
Furthermore, the main body is lifted by hooking the telescopic arm to the edge of the stairs or steps, and the steps are climbed. In addition, the camera image at the tip of the arm can be seen and easily steered.

  With this configuration, it is possible to move in an elongated space such as a pipe by driving the elastic ring with a worm gear. Further, by fixing the worm gear and the elastic ring with a clutch, it becomes possible to move on a flat ground like a conventional spinning wheel type robot. The elastic ring also has a suspension function and has impact resistance against dropping.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above, Of course, it can change variously in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

It is a whole block diagram of the small mobile robot of this invention. It is a figure which shows the movement form on the surface of the apparatus of this invention. It is a cross-sectional block diagram of the small mobile robot of FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is a figure which shows the movement form in piping of the apparatus of this invention. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG. 3, and its partial sectional view. It is a figure which shows the staircase movement form of the apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the form which monitors the image of the location beyond the obstruction by the apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the usage condition of the apparatus of this invention. 10 is a schematic diagram of “in-pipe moving device” in Patent Document 1. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of “a robot for security and disaster relief” in Patent Document 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Running surface, 2 piping, 3 stairs, 4 obstacles, 5 pipes, 6 vents,
10 small mobile robot, 12 body, 14 travel motor,
16 batteries, 18 control boards,
20 running wheels, 22 worm gears, 24 housings,
26 worm wheel ring, 28 clutch,
28a first clutch, 28b second clutch,
30 telescopic arm device, 32 telescopic arm, 32a elastic belt,
34 Electric take-up drum, 36 camera, 37 protrusion

Claims (7)

  Telescopic arm having a main body, left and right traveling wheels that are provided on both sides of the main body and are driven to rotate about a rotating shaft on the same line, and a telescopic arm that is built in the main body and can extend and contract perpendicularly to the rotating shaft And a telescopic arm that travels on traveling wheels while preventing rotation of the main body by contacting the traveling surface. The traveling wheel is a worm gear that is driven to rotate about the rotation shaft by a traveling motor built in a main body, a housing that rotatably supports the worm gear, and a thin ring member that has elasticity and has a radius. A plurality of worm wheel rings whose inner portions in the direction mesh with the worm gear and whose radially outer portions extend radially outward from the main body, and a clutch that exclusively connects the housing and the worm gear or the main body,
Connect the housing and the worm gear, rotate the whole traveling wheel and move in the direction intersecting the rotation axis,
The small mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the housing and the main body are connected, and the radially inner portion of the worm wheel ring is driven in the axial direction to move in the axial direction of the rotating shaft.   The traveling wheel has a plurality of divided wheels provided between circumferential directions of the plurality of worm wheel rings, an inner portion of each divided wheel is fixed to the housing, and an outer peripheral surface thereof is formed from an outer portion of the worm wheel ring. The small mobile robot according to claim 2, which is located inward.   2. The small-sized device according to claim 1, wherein the telescopic arm device includes an electric winding drum that winds / rewinds a distal end portion of the telescopic arm, and a camera attached to a distal end portion of the telescopic arm. Mobile robot.   The small mobile robot according to claim 4, further comprising a protrusion hooked to an external edge portion on an outer surface of the telescopic arm near the camera.   The telescopic arm is composed of two elastic belts joined at both width ends, and each elastic belt is crushed into a flat plate shape and wound around an electric take-up drum. The small mobile robot according to claim 4, wherein the mobile robot has a cross-sectional shape having a high convex bending rigidity. The small mobile robot according to claim 1, wherein the main body further includes a battery, and a control board that controls the traveling motor and the electric winding drum and performs bidirectional communication with the outside.

Images