JPH082451A - Underground mobile vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an underground mobile vehicle which is provided with a vehicle body shape and a propelling system suitable for travel in the sandy ground. CONSTITUTION:An undergroundmobile is provided with an oval vehicle body 1, driving caterpillars 2 arranged around the vehicle body 1 along its longitudinal direction on the top, the bottom, the left, and the right sides at intervals of 90 degrees each, and driven caterpillars 3 arranged between the driving caterpillars. When the driving caterpillars 3 are rotationally driven while the vehicle body 1 is in the sandy underground, sand is scooped in the moving direction of the respective driven caterpillars 2 (in the direction showed by arrows), and then, the vehicle body 1 is propelled while taking reaction force against the scooped sand.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an underground moving mobile suitable for running in the ground, particularly in sandy ground.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The futuristic development theme includes effective use of moon resources and migration to the moon. In exploring this resource and the state of the moon, the moon wheel used in the Apollo program in the United States was used as a mobile for exploration on the moon. This lunar trolley is a vehicle of a type similar to that of the earth, that is, it moves on the ground surface while rolling tires.

However, the lunar trolley only moves on the surface of the earth, cannot search and move inside the moon, and only collects stones on the ground surface.

[0004]

The surface layer of the moon is covered with sand called regolith. This regolith is a very fine-grained sand, and it is said that its layer thickness is several meters to tens of meters from the rock forming the actual surface layer.

Therefore, in order to know the true surface of the moon,
It is necessary to reach the bedrock while propelling in the sand layer and collect a sample with a manipulator or the like. In addition, the sand layer is relatively stable against severe environmental changes on the lunar surface, and it is necessary to select underground as a means of movement.

In order to propel this underground, it is possible to dig it down against the sand pressure and dive into the sand layer, and to remove the sand to the rear while advancing it by applying a propulsive force to it. It is necessary to freely move up and down and turn left and right.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an underground mobile mobile which has a vehicle body shape and a propulsion system suitable for traveling in a sandy ground on the moon or a similar sandy ground on the earth which satisfies the above conditions. I am trying.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cylindrical or elliptic cylindrical vehicle body having a continuous taper at least at its front end, and a longitudinal direction around the vehicle body. And a plurality of endless caterpillars provided along the line.

[0009]

When at least a part of the plurality of caterpillars is driven, the driving caterpillar is used as a power transmission mechanism for excavating the vehicle body. As a result, at least the front end of the car body has a continuous taper, so the car body scrapes off the sand at this taper part, and the surrounding sand flows backward along the side surface of the car body that is cylindrical or elliptical spherical. Then, the digging force in the sand can be obtained.

If the rotation speed of each drive caterpillar is made equal while the vehicle body is completely buried in the sand, the vehicle can go straight.
By changing or reversing the rotation speed of each drive caterpillar, the direction can be changed vertically and horizontally. The mobile according to the invention can run in regoliths that cover the moon or in sandy ground similar to regoliths on earth.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 is a side view of an underground mobile mobile according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view. The underground mobile mobile in the figure has an elliptic spherical body 1,
The vehicle body 1 is provided with four wide endless drive tracks 2 arranged at 90 ° intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions along the longitudinal direction thereof, and a driven track 3 arranged between the drive tracks 2. There is. Each drive caterpillar 2 is driven to rotate endlessly by a motor (not shown) provided in the vehicle body 1, while each driven caterpillar 3 relatively moves to the rear of the sand along the vehicle body 1 during traveling. The frictional force is reduced by following the simple flow. Each caterpillar 2, 3 is a vehicle body 1
Is guided by a large number of rolling guide wheels 4 arranged along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body 1 and moves in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body 1.

And, this ground-moving mobile has a body 1
When each drive caterpillar 2 is driven in the state where the submerged in the sand, the sand is scraped in the moving direction of the drive caterpillar 2 (the direction shown by the arrow), and a reaction force is applied to the scraped sand and the vehicle body 1
Promote.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the underground moving mobile having the above-mentioned structure is traveling in the sand ground 5, and when the rotational speeds of the respective drive caterpillars 2 are equal to each other, the vehicle moves straight, and the left, right, up and down directions. By changing the rotation speed of the drive caterpillar 2, the traveling direction can be changed to the slower rotation speed side to turn right or left, and ascend / descend motion.
By reversing the upper and lower drive tracks 2, it is possible to change the posture such as a sharp one-point turn.

It should be noted that a collecting tool such as a manipulator may be built in the vehicle body 1 and a preload chamber may be provided so that a person can enter the inside to perform exploratory activities such as driving and collecting. It can also be used as an unmanned vehicle for maneuvering.

Since all of them move in the sand, it is preferable to provide a self-position confirming means such as a navigation device.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the shape of the vehicle body 1 is exemplified as an elliptic spherical shape. Well, in this case, the conical shape may be a conical shape or a pyramidal shape. In other words, it suffices to have a continuous taper at least at the front end so that the sand is scraped off and the scraped sand moves relatively rearward along the side surface of the vehicle body.

Furthermore, the elliptic spherical vehicle body 1 has the continuous taper at the front end portion and the rear end portion, but when the vehicle body 1 is not intended to be retracted, only the front end portion of the vehicle body 1 is provided. It goes without saying that it is sufficient to have a continuous taper.

[0019]

As described above in detail with reference to the embodiments, in the underground mobile mobile according to the present invention, when the drive caterpillar of the plurality of caterpillars is driven, the shape of the vehicle body is continued at least at the front end. By configuring it to have a taper, the car body scrapes through the sand, and the sand surrounding it flows backward along the side surface of the car body to obtain excavation force in the sand, and the drive caterpillar for excavation. It is used as a power transmission mechanism and can go straight if the rotation speed of each drive track is equalized while the car body is completely buried in the sand. Can be converted. Therefore, it can move freely in the sandy ground, and in particular, it can run in the sandy ground similar to the regolith on the moon or regolith on the earth, which is suitable as a means for exploring the underground part and a moving means in the underground part.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of an underground mobile mobile according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the same.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a movement state of the mobile robot in the ground in the sandy land.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 vehicle body 2,3 caterpillar 4 guide wheel 5 sand ground

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cylindrical or elliptic spherical vehicle body having a continuous taper at least at a front end thereof, and a plurality of endless caterpillars provided around the vehicle body along the longitudinal direction thereof. Underground mobile.