JP2022141601A - Travel robot - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a travel robot capable of reliably traveling a part to be traveled, while being attracted to the part, from the undersurface toward the upper surface of the part.SOLUTION: A travel robot includes: a device body 10 including a body front part 11 and a body rear part 12 rotatably coupled to each other; a front wheel 20 and a rear wheel 30 supported by the body front part 11 and the body rear part 12, respectively; a front wheel drive device 25 and a rear wheel drive device 35 for driving the front wheel 20 and the rear wheel 30, respectively; a push-out device 40 for moving a pressing body 44 forward and backward while being rotatably supported by the body front part 11; and a control device for controlling the actuation of the front wheel drive device 25, the rear wheel drive device 35, and the push-out device 40. In a state where, during forward movement from the undersurface toward the upper surface of a part to be traveled, the front wheel 20 and the rear wheel 30 are attracted to the upper surface and the undersurface, respectively, the control device actuates the push-out device 40, thereby pushing out the pressing body 44 from the state of abutting on the upper surface of the part to be traveled, and pulling up the body rear part 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a traveling robot, and more particularly to a traveling robot that travels by being magnetically attracted to a traveling surface of a portion to be traveled.

2. Description of the Related Art As a traveling robot that travels on a wall surface of a structure such as a bridge, for example, a mobile device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. In this moving device, second non-deformable portions are respectively supported via deformable portions in front of and behind first non-deformable portions fixed to both left and right sides of a base member. A suspension member is attached that supports a wheel having magnets.

According to this moving device, the deformation of the deformable portion allows the moving device to move while flexibly responding to the conditions of the running surface. It is possible.

JP 2016-68702 A

However, the conventional traveling robot may not be able to move smoothly when traveling from the lower surface of the portion to be traveled toward the upper surface. FIG. 9 is a side view showing an example of a conventional traveling robot 100. A main body front portion 11 and a main body rear portion 12 supporting front wheels 20 and rear wheels 30, respectively, are rotatably connected to each other by a rotating shaft 13. As shown in FIG. ing.

When the traveling robot 100 travels in the direction of arrow A from the lower surface 91 toward the upper surface 92 on the flat plate-shaped portion to be traveled 90, the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 adhere to the upper surface 92 and the lower surface 91, respectively. In this state, a moment in the direction of arrow C acts on the traveling robot 100 due to movement in the direction of arrow B by driving the rear wheels 30 . On the other hand, on the main body front part 11 and the main body rear part 12, along with the rotation of the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30, counter-torques in the directions of arrows D1 and D2 are applied, and force in the direction of arrow D3 is applied due to their own weight. Therefore, a moment in the direction of arrow E, which is the opposite direction to the direction of arrow C, acts on the traveling robot 100 as a resultant force. Therefore, under the condition that the moment in the direction of arrow E is larger than the moment in the direction of arrow C, there is a problem that the traveling robot 100 cannot travel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a traveling robot that can reliably perform suction travel from the lower surface to the upper surface of a portion to be traveled.

The above-described object of the present invention is a traveling robot capable of traveling from the lower surface to the upper surface of a flat plate-like driven portion having magnetism and arranged horizontally, wherein the traveling robot is arranged at the front and rear in the traveling direction and is rotatable relative to each other. a device body having a front body portion and a body rear portion connected to a body, front wheels and rear wheels supported by the body front portion and the body rear portion, respectively and attracted to the driven portion by magnetic force, and the front wheels and the rear wheels; A front-wheel drive device and a rear-wheel drive device that are driven respectively, a pushing device that is rotatably supported by the front part of the main body and moves the pressing body forward and backward, and controls the operations of the front-wheel drive device, the rear-wheel drive device and the pushing device The control device operates the pushing device in a state in which the front wheels and the rear wheels are attracted to the upper surface and the lower surface, respectively, while the front wheels and the rear wheels are moving forward from the lower surface to the upper surface of the driven part. and a traveling robot that pushes the pressing body out of contact with the upper surface of the traveling portion and pulls up the rear portion of the main body.

In this traveling robot, when the control device detects that the front wheels and the rear wheels are stuck to the upper surface and the lower surface of the part to be driven, respectively, and the controller detects that the robot is unable to travel, the controller moves the rear wheels backward while maintaining the forward movement of the front wheels. It is preferable that the device main body is brought closer to the end of the driven portion. In this case, it is preferable to further include an edge detection sensor that detects that the device main body has approached an edge of the portion to be run, and the control device controls the extrusion device based on detection by the edge detection sensor. can be activated.

It is preferable that the controller causes the front wheels to move forward once after moving the front wheels forward while moving the rear wheels forward after pulling up the rear portion of the main body by operating the pushing device.

It is preferable to further include a rotating device that rotates the pushing device with respect to the front part of the main body, and the control device controls the rotating device so that the pressing body is pushed out in a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the driven portion. It is preferred to activate the motion device.

It is preferable that the pressing body includes a rolling member that contacts the driven portion. It is preferable that the rolling member is provided so as to protrude from the center of the lower end surface of the pressing body, and the control device, when pulling up the rear part of the main body, adjusts the pushing direction of the pressing body to the traveled object. Even after being inclined from the direction orthogonal to the upper surface of the part, the amount of extrusion of the pressing body is gradually increased so as to maintain the contact state between the pressing body and the upper surface, and the peripheral edge portion of the lower end surface is adjusted to the above-mentioned It is preferable to abut on the upper surface.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the traveling robot which can carry out adsorption|suction reliably toward an upper surface from the lower surface of a to-be-traveled part can be provided.

1 is a perspective view of a traveling robot according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a front view of the traveling robot shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the traveling robot shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a side view of the traveling robot shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is an operation process diagram of the traveling robot shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is an operation process diagram of a traveling robot according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main portion of the traveling robot shown in FIG. 6; FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a modification of the main part shown in FIG. 7; FIG. 10 is a side view for explaining the operation of a conventional traveling robot;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a traveling robot according to one embodiment of the present invention. 2 to 4 are a front view, a bottom view and a side view of the traveling robot shown in FIG. 1, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the traveling robot 1 includes an apparatus main body 10, front wheels 20, rear wheels 30, an extrusion device 40, a rotation device 50, and a control device 60 as main components.

The apparatus main body 10 includes a main body front portion 11 and a main body rear portion 12 which are arranged in front and rear in the running direction. The main body front portion 11 and the main body rear portion 12 are formed in a rectangular flat plate shape, and edge portions thereof are rotatably connected to each other by a rotating shaft 13 so as to be bendable along the running direction.

The front wheel 20 includes a wheel body 21 made of an annular permanent magnet and a pair of ring members 22, 22 made of a ferromagnetic material and having gear-shaped outer peripheral surfaces. It is sandwiched by 22 , 22 . The front wheel 20 is supported by a U-shaped bracket 23 fixed to the lower surface of the front part 11 of the main body via a rotating shaft 24, and is rotated by a front wheel drive device 25 such as a servomotor to generate magnetism. Adhering and running on the part to be run. The shape of the outer peripheral surface of the ring members 22, 22 does not necessarily have to be gear-shaped, and may be, for example, circular.

Like the front wheel 20, the rear wheel 30 is constructed by sandwiching a wheel body 31 between a pair of ring members 32, 32, and is supported via a rotating shaft 34 by a bracket 33 fixed to the lower surface of the rear body 12. It is driven to rotate by a rear wheel drive device 35 such as a servomotor, thereby attracting and running on a magnetic driven portion.

The front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 are provided at two locations on the left and right sides of the main body front portion 11 and the main body rear portion 12, respectively, and are driven independently by a front wheel drive device 25 and a rear wheel drive device 35, which are separately provided. be able to. The number of front wheels 20 and rear wheels 30 is not particularly limited, and three or more of each may be provided. Alternatively, if the traveling direction is only one direction, the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 may be single.

2, the extrusion device 40 includes a housing 41, a lift plate 42 housed inside the housing 41, and a nut 42a provided on the lift plate 42, which are screwed together. A feed screw 43 such as a trapezoidal screw shaft, a pressing body 44 protruding downward from the lifting plate 42 through the bottom wall opening of the housing 41, and a motor 45 such as a servomotor for advancing and retracting the pressing body 44 are provided. . Although the motor 45 is provided on the front side of the housing 41 in the present embodiment, it may be provided on the rear side of the housing 41, so that, for example, when the traveling robot 1 shifts from the horizontal plane to the vertical plane, , the motor 45 can be reliably prevented from interfering with the vertical plane and hindering movement.

The housing 41 is accommodated in a notch formed in the center of the main body front portion 11 and arranged between the left and right front wheels 20 , 20 , and is rotatable to the main body front portion 11 by a rotating shaft 51 . Supported. The elevating plate 42 is formed in a band plate shape, and a feed screw 43 passes through a nut 42a provided in the center. The feed screw 43 has a driven gear 43 a at its upper end and is supported at its lower end by a bearing 43 b provided at the bottom of the housing 41 . The driven gear 43a meshes with a drive gear 45a provided on the output shaft of the motor 45, and the driving of the motor 45 causes the lifting plate 42 to move up and down, thereby moving the pressing body 44 supported by the lifting plate 42 back and forth. be able to. The mechanism for advancing and retracting the pressing body 44 may be another known mechanism that converts rotary motion into linear motion, such as a crank mechanism or a rack and pinion mechanism, or a hydraulic cylinder or the like may be used.

The pressing body 44 is formed in a bar shape, and its upper end is fixed to the lower surface of the elevating plate 42 . A spherical rolling member 44a is rotatably accommodated in the lower part of the pressing body 44 so as to partly protrude from the lower end surface. In this embodiment, two pressing bodies 44 are provided on the left and right sides, and are constructed so as to integrally move forward and backward when the elevating plate 42 is raised and lowered. However, the number of pressing bodies 44 is not particularly limited, and may be single or three or more.

The rotating device 50 is composed of a servomotor or the like, and a driving gear 50a provided on an output shaft meshes with a driven gear 51a of a rotating shaft 51 that supports the extruding device 40, thereby moving the extruding device 40 to the front part of the main body. 11 can be rotated.

The control device 60 controls driving of the front wheel drive device 25 , the rear wheel drive device 35 , the pushing device 40 and the rotating device 50 . The controller 60 can be located on the top surface of the rear body 12, as shown in dashed lines in FIG. In drawings other than FIG. 4, illustration of the control device is omitted. In addition to the control device 60, an inspection device for inspecting the presence or absence of corrosion of structures such as bridges, towers, and tanks can be mounted on the upper surface of the device main body 10. FIG.

The traveling robot 1 having the above configuration can travel not only on the top surface of the structure but also on the side and bottom surfaces of the structure by having the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 adhere to the walls of the structure having magnetism. When an obstacle or the like is present while the vehicle is running, the front wheels 20 can easily overcome the obstacle by operating the pushing device 40 to advance the pressing body 44 to press the running surface.

Since the main body front part 11 and the main body rear part 12 of the device main body 10 are rotatably connected to each other, for example, even when the traveling robot 1 travels from a horizontal plane to a vertical plane, it can be reliably shifted. can. However, when traveling from the bottom surface to the top surface of a horizontally arranged flat plate-shaped driven part such as a bridge flange, there is a possibility that it may become impossible to run as described above, so the following drive control is done.

As shown in FIG. 5(a), while the traveling robot 1 is moving forward from the lower surface 91 toward the upper surface 92 of the horizontal plate-like driven portion 90, the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 are attracted to the upper surface 92 and the lower surface 91, respectively. In this state, when the traveling robot 1 becomes unable to travel, the control device operates the rotation device 50 (see FIG. 1, etc.) based on the detection of the travel-impossible state to rotate the extrusion device 40 in the arrow direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5(b), the pushing device 40 is erected so that the pressing body 44 can move back and forth in the vertical direction. The impossibility of running can be detected by detecting an overload of the front wheel drive device 25 and the front wheel drive device 35 that drive the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30, for example, based on current values or the like. Alternatively, a posture sensor such as a gyro sensor may be separately provided in the main body front portion 11 and the main body rear portion 12, and the state in which the main body front portion 11 and the main body rear portion 12 are in a predetermined posture may be detected as the state in which the vehicle cannot travel. . The pushing device 40 may be configured to rotate by its own weight without providing the rotating device 50 as long as it can rotate so as not to interfere with the driven portion 90 during travel.

In FIG. 5B, when the front wheel 20 and the rear wheel 30 are rotated in the directions indicated by the arrows, the front wheel 20 moves in the forward direction F and the rear wheel 30 moves in the backward direction R. As shown in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5C, the rolling member 44a of the pressing body 44 rolls along the upper surface 92, and the device body 10 approaches the end 93 of the driven portion 90 by a predetermined distance. In order for the pressing body 44 to move smoothly along the upper surface 92, it is preferable that the tip of the pressing body 44 is provided with the rolling member 44a as in the present embodiment. The tip of body 44 may be configured to slide on upper surface 92 with low frictional resistance.

The approaching state between the device main body 10 and the end portion 93 shown in FIG. It can be measured based on the detected value of the encoder and detected based on this moving distance. Alternatively, an edge detection sensor such as a pressure sensor, an optical sensor, a magnetic sensor, or a proximity sensor that detects approach to the edge 93 may be separately provided in the apparatus main body 10 to detect the approach state.

In FIG. 5(c), when the pressing body 44 of the pushing device 40 is pushed out in the direction of the arrow from the state in which it is in contact with the upper surface 92, the rear body 12 is pulled up as shown in the arrow and shown in FIG. 5(d). As shown, the front wheels 20 and rear wheels 30 move forward slightly. In FIG. 5(d), the front wheels 20 and rear wheels 30 are rotated in the directions indicated by the arrows, and the front wheels 20 and rear wheels 30 are moved in the reverse direction R and the forward direction F by predetermined distances, respectively, as shown in FIG. 5(e). As shown, front wheels 20 and rear wheels 30 are positioned near end 93 . The pushing direction of the pressing body 44 by the pushing device 40 is preferably a direction orthogonal to the upper surface 92, but is not necessarily limited to this direction. Body 44 may be pushed slightly rearward. In the process in which the traveling robot 1 moves from the state shown in FIG. 5D to the state shown in FIG. At the same time, control may be performed such that the amount of extrusion of the pressing body 44 is gradually increased.

From the state shown in FIG. 5(e), when the front wheels 20 are rotated in the direction of the arrow and moved in the forward direction F while maintaining the movement of the rear wheels 30 in the forward direction F, the result is shown in FIG. 5(f). As such, the rear wheel 30 is pulled upwards through the end 93 . Thus, front wheels 20 and rear wheels 30 can be advanced along upper surface 92 .

As shown in FIG. 5(c), the traveling robot 1 of the present embodiment has the front wheels 20 and the rear wheels 30 attracted to the upper surface 92 and the lower surface 91, respectively, while moving forward from the lower surface 91 to the upper surface 92 of the part 90 to be driven. In this state, the control device 60 operates the pushing device 40 to push the pressing body 44 out of contact with the upper surface 92 and pull up the main body rear portion 12 as shown in FIG. 5(d). By pulling up the rear portion 12 of the main body, it is possible to increase the forward-direction moment (the moment in the direction of arrow C shown in FIG. 9) acting on the traveling robot 1 due to the forward movement of the rear wheels 30, so that the traveling robot 1 can be moved from the bottom surface 91. It is possible to reliably perform suction travel toward the upper surface 92 . The amount of lifting of the rear body 12 is not necessarily limited, but as shown in FIG. It is preferable to pull up the main body rear part 12 to the position where it is.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5(b), the pushing device 40 is operated by moving the rear wheels 30 backward while maintaining the forward movement of the front wheels 20, so that the device main body 10 approaches the end portion 93 of the portion 90 to be driven. Since the pressing is carried out after the pressing, the pressing body 44 can be reliably brought into contact with the upper surface 92 .

Further, after pulling up the rear portion 12 of the main body by operating the pushing device 40, as shown in FIGS. , the body rear portion 12 can be pulled up smoothly.

In this embodiment, the extrusion amount of the pressing body 44 is kept constant during the process of moving from the state of FIG. 5(e) to the state of FIG. 5(f). may be increased. That is, when the main body rear portion 12 is pulled up, the traveling robot 1 is moved in the direction of arrow F from a state in which the push-out direction of the pressing body 44 is orthogonal to the upper surface 92 as shown in FIG. By gradually increasing the amount of extrusion, as shown in FIG. 6B, even after the pushing direction of the pressing body 44 is inclined from the direction orthogonal to the upper surface 92, the contact state between the pressing body 44 and the upper surface 92 is maintained. may be controlled to maintain The pressing of the upper surface 92 by the pressing body 44 is preferably continued until, for example, the angle θ formed between the normal line N of the flat plate-shaped main body rear portion 12 and the horizontal direction becomes 15 degrees or more.

As shown in FIG. 7, the rolling member 44a is provided so as to protrude from the center of the lower end surface 44b of the pressing body 44, and when the pressing body 44 tilts, the peripheral edge of the lower end surface 44b contacts the upper surface 92. touch. Therefore, even after the pressing body 44 is tilted, the pressing of the upper surface 92 can be reliably continued, thereby facilitating the pulling up of the main body rear portion 12 . As shown in FIG. 8, a stopper 44c made of a material having a large coefficient of friction such as rubber may be provided on the periphery of the lower end surface 44b of the pressing body 44. As shown in FIG.

1 Traveling robot 10 Device main body 11 Main body front part 12 Main body rear part 13 Rotating shaft 20 Front wheel 25 Front wheel drive device 30 Rear wheel 35 Rear wheel drive device 40 Pushing device 44 Pressing body 44a Rolling member 50 Rotating device 60 Control device 90 Subject Running portion 91 Lower surface 92 Upper surface 93 End

Claims (7)

A traveling robot capable of traveling from the lower surface to the upper surface of a flat plate-like driven portion having magnetism and arranged horizontally,
a device main body having a front main body portion and a rear main body portion which are arranged in front and rear in the running direction and are rotatably connected to each other;
a front wheel and a rear wheel supported by the main body front portion and the main body rear portion, respectively, and magnetically attracted to the driven portion;
a front wheel drive device and a rear wheel drive device that respectively drive the front wheels and the rear wheels;
an extrusion device that is rotatably supported by the front part of the main body and moves the pressing body forward and backward;
A control device that controls the operation of the front wheel drive device, the rear wheel drive device and the extrusion device,
The control device operates the pushing device in a state in which the front wheels and the rear wheels are attracted to the upper surface and the lower surface of the driven portion while they are advancing from the lower surface to the upper surface of the driven portion, thereby moving the pressing body to the upper surface of the driven portion. A traveling robot that pulls up the rear part of the main body by pushing it out from a state in which it is in contact with the upper surface of the traveling part. When the control device detects that the front wheels and the rear wheels are stuck to the upper surface and the lower surface of the driven portion, respectively, and the vehicle is unable to travel, the control device causes the rear wheels to move backward while maintaining the forward movement of the front wheels. 2. The traveling robot according to claim 1, wherein the main body is brought close to the end of the portion to be traveled. further comprising an edge detection sensor that detects that the device body has approached an edge of the portion to be run;
3. The traveling robot according to claim 2, wherein the control device operates the pushing device based on the detection of the end detection sensor. 4. The traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control device causes the rear wheels to move forward while moving the rear wheels forward after pulling up the rear portion of the main body by operating the pushing device, and once moving the front wheels backward and then forward. . Further comprising a rotation device for rotating the extrusion device with respect to the front part of the main body,
5. The traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the control device operates the rotating device so that the pressing body is pushed out in a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the traveling portion. 6. The traveling robot according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the pressing body includes a rolling member that abuts on the portion to be traveled. The rolling member is provided so as to protrude from the center of the lower end surface of the pressing body,
The control device maintains a state of contact between the pressing body and the upper surface even after the pushing direction of the pressing body is inclined from a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the driven portion when the rear portion of the main body is pulled up. 7. The traveling robot according to claim 6, wherein the pushing amount of said pressing body is gradually increased in such a manner as to bring the peripheral edge of said lower end surface into contact with said upper surface.

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