JPH03260263A - Walking type work robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance workability by arranging legs, and by arranging a work device for executing work on a concrete floor, a sensor for detecting the level of the work device, and a control equipment for controlling walking action and posture, and the level and working of the device respectively. CONSTITUTION:At a scaffolding with projected hindrance in a field for uniforming concrete roughly, by a pitch angle sensor 38 and a roll angle sensor 40, self inclination is detected, and the lengths of four legs 12-1 - 12-4 are regulated, and a robot body 10 is always horizontally retained. After that, laser from a laser lighthouse set at one corner in site is received by a laser receiving aperture 42, and a reference level is detected, and the level of a trowel 18 is retained to be a fixed level. After that, by a motor 22 in connection with the reciprocating rotation of an arm 16 and the walking movement of the legs 12-1 - 12-4, the concrete is roughly leveled through the trowel 18. As a result, workability can be enhanced.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a walking robot used at a construction site for rough leveling work associated with concrete pouring. [0002]

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, concrete floor finishing robots shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, for example, are known as working robots used for working on concrete floors. Figure 81 In Figure 9, this robot is used for the final finishing process of concrete floor construction, and is composed of a running section 2 equipped with wheels 1, two sets of rotating trowels 3, and a bumper part 4. The rotating iron 3 is rotated and moved by the wheels 1 of the traveling section 2 to finish the concrete floor surface flat. [0003] Touch sensors are attached to the entire circumference of the bumper part 4, and if an obstacle such as a pillar is detected while the vehicle is running, the vehicle will stop. Furthermore, the size of the bumper part 4 is determined by the movement locus of the outer circumference of the rotary iron 3 when the robot turns. is necessary. [0004]

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, such conventional wheel-driven work robots require a large area for turning, making it difficult to change direction in narrow spaces, and it is difficult to move unless the floor of the work place is flat. Can not. However, work sites where concrete is placed usually have exposed obstacles such as reinforcing bars and poor footing, which greatly limits the scope of use of wheeled robots, such as in concrete floor finishing work. There was a problem that it could only be used in work environments where the floor surface was flat. [0005] The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a walking work robot that is capable of stable movement even when the footing is poor, and that requires only a small area for turning. With the goal. [0006]

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve this purpose, the walking working robot of the present invention has at least four legs on the robot body, a working device for working on a concrete floor, and a height of the working device. It is characterized by being equipped with a sensor for detection, a control system for controlling the walking motion and posture of the legs, and a control system for controlling the height and motion of the device that performs work on the concrete floor. [0007] Here, the apparatus for performing work on a concrete floor has a structure in which a rotation axis is approximately at the center of the robot body, and a trowel that can be adjusted in the vertical direction is attached to the end of a rotatable arm. In addition, a power source is attached to the rear end of the arm of the working device so that the center of gravity of the working device coincides with the rotation axis. A battery or generator is installed as this power source. Furthermore, a height sensor for detecting the height of the working device is attached to the upper part of the working device that is driven vertically with respect to the robot body. [0008]

[Effect]

According to the walking work robot of the present invention having such a configuration, even if obstacles such as reinforcing bars are exposed on the floor, it can move over the obstacles, making it possible to move over the obstacles, making it possible to move over concrete in poor footing conditions. Even rough leveling work of concrete immediately after pouring can be carried out efficiently. [0009] Furthermore, since the robot can turn by moving its legs in a circular motion without changing its location, it can freely change its direction even in a narrow space. [0010]

【Example】

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of a walking type working robot of the present invention, taking as an example a case where a working device for rough leveling concrete is mounted. Figure 1. , 10 is a robot torso, and on the underside of the robot torso 10 there are four legs 12 in this embodiment.
-1.12-2.12-3.12-4 are provided. For example, if arrow A is the traveling direction, 12-1, 12-2 are the front legs, and 12-3, 12-4 are the hind legs. [0011] Each of the legs 12-1.12-2.12-3.12-4 has a three-dimensionally expandable and contractible mechanical structure. That is, leg 12
-1 to 12-4 can move their tips to any three-dimensional position within a predetermined range using the base of the base on the body 10 side as a fulcrum. If concrete roughing work is scheduled here, the height of legs 12-1 to 12-4 will be approximately 1
It can be shortened by about 30 centimeters in meters, and the diameter of the tip of the legs is about 30 centimeters to increase stability. [0012] A working device for coarsely leveling concrete is mounted on the upper part of the robot body 10. That is, a trowel 18 is attached to the tip of an L-shaped arm 16, and the arm 16 is rotatably supported by a shaft 20 to the robot body 10 at approximately the center, and a motor 22 is attached to the rear end of the arm 16. For example, by passing a belt around between the pulley in the arm 16 of the motor 22 and the fixed pulley of the shaft 20 fixed to the robot body 10, the rotation of the motor 22 causes the arm to move around the shaft 20. 16 can be driven to rotate. [0013] Further, the arm 16 can be driven in the vertical direction indicated by the arrow 24 with respect to the shaft 20. Furthermore, the L-shaped arm 16 mounted on the robot body 10 can align the center of gravity of the arm 16 with the rotation axis 20 of the robot body 10 by mounting a motor 22 on the opposite side of the iron 18 at the L-shaped end. This ensures that the weight balance is always maintained. Furthermore, the angle α of the trowel 18 attached to the tip of the L-shaped arm 16 can be adjusted with respect to the horizontal plane. [0014] Reference numeral 60 is an indicator light that displays the state of the robot, and three lamps of red, yellow, and green are stacked. FIG. 2 is an embodiment configuration diagram showing the configuration of the control device for the walking robot of the present invention shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, 26 is a control device realized by program control of the CPU, including a leg control section 28 and an attitude control section 3.
0 and a working device control section 32. [0015] For the control device 26, the legs 12-1 to 12 shown in FIG.
-4 leg drives 34-1, 34-2.
34-3, 34-4 are provided, and each of the legs 12-1 to 12-4 can be individually driven, for example, by motor drive or hydraulic drive. Further, a height sensor 36, a pitch angle sensor 38, and a roll angle sensor 40 are connected to the control device 26, and the detection signals of these three sensors are given to the posture control section 30, and the robot body 10 is Control is performed to maintain the horizontal position at a predetermined height. [0016] Here, the height sensor 36 can detect the height by receiving laser light from a laser lighthouse installed at the construction site that optically provides a reference height, and for this purpose, A laser light receiving window 42 is provided on the side surface of the robot body 10 for receiving laser light from a laser lighthouse. Furthermore, a gyro compass or the like can be used as the pitch angle sensor 38 and the roll angle sensor 40. [0017] Further, the control device 26 is provided with a iron angle adjustment device 44, a iron rotation device 46, and a iron height adjustment device 48,
These devices are controlled by a working device control section 32. That is, the iron angle adjusting device 44 adjusts the angle α of the saw 18 with respect to the horizontal plane as shown in FIG.
The iron height adjustment device 48 rotates around the arrow 24.
The height of the arm 16 relative to the shaft 20 is adjusted as shown in . [0018] Therefore, the control sequence of the trowel angle α, trowel rotation speed, and height adjustment required for concrete roughing is pre-installed in the work equipment control unit 32, and can be manually controlled by remote control using a remote control device or the like. Alternatively, concrete rough leveling work can be performed automatically. On the other hand, walking patterns necessary for concrete roughing work are registered in advance in the leg control unit 28 provided in the control device 26, and one of the plural types of registered patterns can be selected. The leg drive devices 34-1 to 34-
4, the robot can walk using the legs 12-1 to 12-4.

○019 FIG. 3 shows an example of the walking pattern of the four legs 12-1 to 12-4 applied to the walking work robot of the present invention. It shows. First, FIG. 3(a) shows the initial state for starting walking, and when trying to walk downward in the paper, the left leg 12-1, 12-3 is placed in the center as shown in the figure. Take an initial posture that is close to the body. Next, as shown in FIG. 3(b), first take one step with leg 12-1. At this time, since the robot body is supported by the remaining three legs 12-2 to 12-4, the posture of the robot is controlled so that the center of gravity of the robot is located within the triangle connecting these three legs. [0020] Here, since the center of gravity of the arm 16 coincides with the rotation axis 20 and is fixed with respect to the robot body 10, the influence of the rotation of the arm 16 due to the movement of the iron must be taken into account when calculating the center of gravity of the robot. No need to worry. Next, as shown in Figure 3 (C), the leg 12 that took the first step
Take one step with leg 12-4 located diagonally opposite to -1. In this case as well, the posture is controlled so that the center of gravity is within the triangle connecting the remaining legs 12-1 to 12-3. Below, Figure 3(d)
As shown in FIG. 3A, when the user takes a third step with leg 12-2 and then takes a fourth step with leg 12-3, the robot returns to the initial position shown in FIG. 3A, and this process is repeated thereafter. [0021] In the walking pattern shown in FIG. 3 in which one leg is raised one by one while walking, the trowel 18 is used because even if one leg is suspended in the air, the remaining three legs allow the user to stand up stably. Used for movement during rough finishing of concrete. On the other hand, if you want to walk at high speed, such as when moving to a work site, you may alternately move pairs of pairs at diagonal positions. [0022] FIG. 4 shows a turn in the walking work robot of the present invention, for example, legs 12-1.12-3.1.
By sequentially moving in the direction of the arrows in the order of 2-4 and 12-2, that is, to the circumferential position passing through the legs, it is possible to turn with the force f without changing the location. Next, concrete roughing work by the walking robot of the present invention will be explained. [0023] First, concrete roughing work is a process of leveling the concrete poured by a pump truck to a specified height.The scaffolding that the robot moves for this concrete roughening is a At such concrete rough-leveling sites where reinforcing bars are arranged in a lattice pattern and the height is not constant, the walking robot/nod of the present invention can be used to prevent obstacles from protruding scaffolding. Also, the pitch angle sensor 38 and the roll angle sensor 4
0 to detect your own inclination and move the four legs 12-1 to 12
-4 can be adjusted to keep the robot body 10 horizontal at all times. [0024] Further, a laser light from a laser lighthouse installed in a corner of the work site is received by the laser light receiving window 42 to detect a reference height, and the height of the trowel 18 is constantly adjusted based on this reference height. hold at a certain level. Attitude control to keep the robot body 10 horizontal,
By controlling the height of the trowel 18 to be constant, the arm 16 is rotated back and forth by the motor 22 while the trowel 18 is held at a constant height, so that the poured concrete is leveled at a specified height. It can be roughly leveled. Of course,
This rough leveling work is performed in conjunction with the walking movements of the legs 12-1 to 12-4. [0025] FIGS. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams showing other embodiments of the present invention. In this embodiment, a power source such as a battery or a generator is mounted on the rear end of the arm as a counterbalance for the working device, and a laser height sensor is mounted on the top of the iron that is driven vertically. , the iron height adjustment mechanism is attached to the tip of the arm. Also, Figure 1
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a force plate is provided with a trowel adjustment device 44 for adjusting the angle of the trowel 18. Since the angle adjustment of the trowel 18 is often unnecessary in actual work, it is omitted. are doing. Other points are the same as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 19 and 2. [0026] Referring to FIG. 5, the counterbalance of the working device will first be described in detail. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a trowel rotating motor 22 is mounted on the arm 16 on the opposite side of the trowel 18 to align the center of gravity of the working device with the center of the robot body 10. However, in an actual device, the iron rotation motor 22 is very light compared to the iron 18, and it is not possible to maintain the weight balance only by using the iron rotation motor 22. [0027] Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG. 5, the iron rotation motor 22
is housed in the robot body 10 to rotate the shaft 20, and the arm 16 is equipped with a battery 50 serving as a power source for the robot as a counterbalance. Of course, it would be easiest to simply add a weight as a counterbalance, but this would make the robot heavier and less efficient. [0028]Also, it is possible to counterbalance by mounting a plurality of light units on the rear side of the arm 16, but since the arm 16 rotates with respect to the robot body 10, the units mounted on the arm 16 and The number of cables such as power lines and signal lines between the units in the robot body 10 is increased, and the structure is complicated due to the need for rotary couplings.Furthermore, the unit mounted on the arm 16 may be damaged due to shock or vibration. Easy to damage. Furthermore, allowing the counterbalance section, trowel 18, and the entire arm 16 to be removed from the robot body 10 for transportation requires many connectors. [0029] In contrast, the battery 50 in the embodiment of FIG. 5 is generally the heaviest among the components of the robot,
Suitable for counterbalance in terms of mass. Further, wiring with the robot body 10 only requires a power line, and even if a connector is attached, only one wire is required. Furthermore, the battery 50 is resistant to vibrations and shocks, and there is no risk of damage even when it is mounted on the arm 16. Note that instead of the battery 50 mounted as a counterbalance, a generator with an engine may be mounted. [0030] Next, the point that the height sensor 42 is provided on the top of the vertically adjustable trowel 18 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 will be explained. In this regard, in the embodiment of FIG.
is attached to the side of the robot body 10, and the four legs 1
By controlling the lengths 2-1 to 12-4, the height of the robot body 10 is always maintained at a predetermined height determined by laser beam irradiation. [0031] However, what is actually desired to be maintained at a predetermined height is not the robot body 10 but the trowel 18, and even if the height of the robot body 10 is accurately matched, the posture of the robot body 10 will not be as shown in FIG. If it is tilted by a small angle θ from the horizontal as shown in FIG. Here, L is the horizontal distance from the center of rotation of the arm 16, that is, the center of the robot body 10 to the iron 18. [0032] Applying the actual values to Figure 7, L is approximately 200
C) mm and θ=0.1 degree, the error Δh=3.
5mm, and if θ=1 degree, the error Δh=35m
m. For rough leveling work, the height of the trowel 18 is ±1~
It is necessary to control with an accuracy of about 3 mm, so Fig. 1
In this embodiment, the height of the robot body 10 must be controlled with very high precision. [0033] On the other hand, in the embodiment shown in FIG. The height of the iron 18 can be controlled with high accuracy without being affected by the accuracy of posture control of the robot body 10. Furthermore, by making it possible to control the height of the iron 18 by separating it from the robot body 10, the height of the robot body 10 only needs to be maintained at a constant height from the ground, and this height can be controlled by separating the robot body 10 from the ground. By setting it at the center of the operating range from 1 to 12-4, it is possible to efficiently walk over obstacles. [0034] Furthermore, the fact that the trowel 18 and the vertical arm 52 can be driven vertically by the lifting mechanism 54 means that when moving without leveling work, only the trowel 18 can be pulled up. Therefore, even if the elevating mechanism 54 is provided, the number of driving parts will not be increased. Furthermore, the height sensor 42 attached to the upper part of the vertical arm 52 is an omnidirectional height sensor that detects the height by receiving laser light from all directions of 360 degrees. [0035] In the above embodiment, the robot body 10 has four 3
Although the case where legs which can be expanded and contracted in one dimension are provided as an example has been taken, the number of legs may be increased to five or six in order to further improve stability. Furthermore, although the above embodiment takes as an example a case in which a working device for rough leveling of concrete is mounted, an appropriate working device can be mounted on the robot body 10 as needed. can do. [0036]

【Effect of the invention】

As explained above, according to the present invention, walking is driven by at least four three-dimensionally expandable legs, so stable movement is possible even on poor footing with exposed obstacles such as reinforcing bars. Moreover, since it can be turned without changing its location, it has a small turning radius and can efficiently work in narrow spaces and corners of rooms.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1] Example configuration diagram showing an example of the present invention

[Figure 2] Example configuration diagram showing the configuration of a control device of the present invention

[Figure 3] An explanatory diagram showing a linear movement pattern of the present invention

[Figure 4] An explanatory diagram of the turning walking pattern of the present invention

[Figure 5] Embodiment configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention

[Figure 6] Example configuration diagram showing the configuration of the control device used in the example of Figure 5

[Figure 7] Explanatory diagram when the robot body is tilted

[Figure 8] Top view of a conventional wheeled robot

[Figure 9] Side view of a conventional wheeled robot

[Explanation of symbols]

10: Robot body 12-1 to 12-4: Legs 16: Arm 18: Here 20: Axis 22: Motor 26: Control device 28: Membrane control section 30: Attitude control section 32: Work equipment control section 34-1 to 34-4: Leg drive device 36: Height sensor 38: Pitch angle sensor 40: Roll angle sensor 42: Laser receiving window 44: Iron angle adjustment device 46: Trowel rotating device 48: Trowel height adjustment device 50: Battery :Vertical arm 54: Lifting mechanism

[Document base]

drawing

[Figure 1]

[Figure 2]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 4]

[Figure 5]

[Figure 6]

[Figure 7]

[Figure 8]

[Figure 9]

Claims (5)

[Claims] Claim 1: A robot body is provided with at least four legs, a working device for performing work on a concrete floor, a sensor for detecting the height of the working device, and a walking motion and posture controlled by the legs. 1. A walking concrete floor construction robot characterized by being equipped with a control system that controls the height and operation of the device, and a control system that controls the height and operation of the device. 2. The walking concrete floor construction robot according to claim 1, wherein the working device includes a trowel that can be adjusted in the vertical direction at the end of a rotatable arm with a rotation axis approximately at the center of the robot body. A walking concrete floor construction robot characterized by having a structure equipped with. 3. The walking concrete floor construction robot according to claim 1, wherein a power source is attached to the rear end of the arm of the working device so that the center of gravity of the working device coincides with the rotation axis. A walking concrete floor construction robot with special features. 4. The walking concrete floor construction robot according to claim 3, wherein a battery or a generator is attached as the power source. 5. The walking concrete floor construction robot according to claim 1, further comprising: a height sensor for detecting the height of the working device;
A walking concrete floor construction robot characterized by being attached to the upper part of a working device that is driven vertically relative to the robot body.