JPS6228181A - Working section movement type submarine working robot - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a working unit moving type underwater working robot that has a working unit that has a manipulator that performs various tasks under the sea, and has an enhanced work response capability.

[Prior art]

For example, underwater work robots are used for various tasks such as operating various equipment in submarine oil fields installed underwater, laying submarine cables, and refloating ships sunk on the ocean floor.

In order to increase stability underwater, this underwater robot has a large distance between its center of gravity and the center of buoyancy, so it always maintains a horizontal posture. Also,
The manipulators that perform various tasks are fixed to the front of the robot, so the operating range of the working part is extremely narrow. Therefore, in order to widen the working range, it is necessary to change the direction and posture of the entire robot, It had to depend on the rise and fall of the robot.

For this reason, it is difficult to appropriately position the manipulator with respect to the object to be worked on underwater and maintain it stably, resulting in poor workability and efficiency.

[Purpose of the invention]

The purpose of the present invention is to increase the operating range of the manipulator and improve workability and efficiency without changing the posture and direction of the main body or floating or sinking the robot as in conventional underwater work robots. It is something.

[Structure of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the working part moving type underwater working robot of the present invention has an upper main body rotatably supported on a lower main body having seating/fixed legs, and a groove section extending across the center of the upper main body. and a working part having a manipulator,
It is configured to be movable along the groove, extendable and retractable with respect to the upper body via a telescopic or pantograph telescopic arm, and adjustable in angle.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a working part moving type underwater working robot according to the present invention.

The robot R includes a lower body 1, a lower body 2 with a hemispherical outer shape that can rotate laterally with respect to the lower body 1, and a working part that moves along a groove 3 provided in the diametrical direction of the upper body 2. It is composed of 4th grade.

The lower body 1 is composed of a lower structure 5 and an upper structure 7,
Inside the lower structure 5, heavy objects such as batteries are housed in order to improve the stability of the robot R, and furthermore, inside the upper structure 7, a plurality of pressure containers 6 containing control equipment are mounted. ing.

Furthermore, seating/fixation legs 8 are provided at the front and rear of the upper structure 7, which grip a fixed object 9 in the sea to fix the robot R.

At the rear of the upper structure 7 of the lower body 1, there is a thruster 1 for forward and backward movement.
0, and a vertical thruster 11 is provided in the center.

The upper body 2 is equipped with a thruster 12 for turning, a hydraulic power unit 13, an ultrasonic communication antenna 14, an ultrasonic visual device 15, a position detection transponder 16, and the like.

Further, a manipulator 18 is provided on both sides of a working part 4 that is supported by the upper body 2 and moves along a groove 3 provided in the diametrical direction of the upper body 2, and a manipulator 18 is provided on the upper part of the working part 4 to prevent a front obstacle. A detection sonar 19 is provided, and the front portion is equipped with a television camera 20, a tool box 21, and the like.

Figure 1 shows the seat and seat provided on the lower body 1 of the robot R.
The figure shows a state in which the robot R is fixed by being gripped to a fixed object 9 by fixed legs 8, and the manipulator 18 provided in the working section 4 is operated to open and close the valve 22 of the underwater pipeline.

The upper body 2 is rotatably supported by the lower body 1, and the structure shown in FIG. 2 is adopted as an example of this structure.

That is, a circular hole 2 is formed in the center of the upper structure 7 of the lower body 1.
5 is provided, a groove 26 is formed in the circumferential direction of this hole 25, and a bearing 27 and a ball race 2 are inserted in this groove 26.
A support 2 provided at the lower end of the upper body 2 with 8
9 is movably supported.

A rack 30 is provided on the inner surface of the support body 29, and this rack 30 is connected to a hydraulic motor 31 fixed to the wall surface of the hole 25.
, is configured to mesh with a pinion 33 driven via a speed reducer 32 to rotate the hemispherical upper body 2 relative to the lower body 1 in the direction of arrow C in FIG.

Next, as described above, the working part 4 having the manipulator 18 is movable in the direction of the arrow Y along the groove part 3, but furthermore, this working part 4 is arranged in a telescopic type or a pantograph type with respect to the upper body 2. It is provided so as to be extendable and retractable in the direction of arrow X via an extendable arm 40, and its working part 4 is provided so as to be able to adjust its angle.

Therefore, each embodiment of the telescoping arm 40 will be described, and the same parts in each embodiment are indicated by the same part numbers.

First, in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the working section 4 is
By operating the solenoid valve 41 and expanding and contracting the cylinder in the direction of the arrow b-a, the direction of the arrow c-d is made with respect to the robot R body.
The angle can be finely adjusted in the direction.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2, the mounting portion of the working section 4 includes a rack 43 and a pinion 44, a motor 45 for vertically moving the working module, and a tension rope for extending and contracting the working module. As shown in FIG. 4, which is a perspective view in direction B of FIG. 2, a lock arm motor 48 is provided for driving a lock arm 47 and a HIFUKU arm. Working part 4 with manipulator 18 shown only in Figure 1
The distal end thereof is provided so as to be extendable and retractable in the direction of arrow X via a telescoping arm 40, and a work module pitch angle adjustment motor 49 and a work module pitch angle adjustment motor 49 are provided at the distal end thereof to enable the angle of the working section 4 to be adjusted in the directions of arrows e-f. A work module angle adjustment motor 5o is provided.

Therefore, as this telescopic arm 4o, a conical spring coil shown in Embodiment 1 in FIG. 5 is used as the tension rope 5.
1, which expands and contracts in the direction of arrow X by being pulled by a tension rope motor 46, or as shown in Embodiment 2 of FIG.
A so-called telescopic type telescopic arm 40 is used, which is provided with a telescopic arm 3 and pulled through a tension rope 51.

FIG. 7 shows the driving flow of the working unit 4 shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 above.

Next, the side views of FIGS. 8 and 9 show a third embodiment in which a pantograph type is used as the telescoping arm 40. In the figure, 54 is a shaft for the telescoping arm, and 55 is a gear box. , 56 is a motor for extending and retracting the work module, and 57 is a motor for horizontally rotating the upper main body.

Here, FIG. 10 is a view taken in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 58 is a motor shaft, 59 is a first joint, and 60 is a guide roller.

Therefore, FIG. 13 shows the expansion and contraction flow of the working section 4 which is provided to be extendable and rotatable via the pantograph type extendable arm 40 as in the third embodiment.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Therefore, the robot according to the present invention fixes the lower body to the seabed or a structure, rotates the upper body, and moves the working part in the diametrical direction of the upper body to position the manipulator at an appropriate position relative to the work object. Since it can be moved up to , work efficiency is significantly improved.

Furthermore, the operating range of the manipulator moves along the arcuate rail provided on the upper body, and since the upper body itself rotates, the manipulator can freely move on a hemispherical surface. Its working range can be significantly increased.

In particular, in the submarine working robot of the present invention, the working part is provided so that it can extend and contract with respect to the upper body via a telescopic or pantograph-type telescoping arm, and the angle can be adjusted. This has the advantage that the space and weight of the equipment mounted on the robot can be increased.

Furthermore, in the underwater work robot of the present invention, there is no need to move the lower body in order to move the manipulator to a position suitable for work, and by moving only the position of the work part, it increases the ability to handle work and provides stability. It is possible to have the worker perform the work in a relaxed state.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of a working part moving type underwater working robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the rotating mechanism of the upper body and the working part of FIG. A in Figure 2
4 is a view taken from arrow B in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a side view of Embodiment 1 showing the telescoping arm in FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is a side view of Embodiment 2 of the telescoping arm. 7 shows the drive flow of the working part shown in FIG. 2, FIGS. 8 and 9 are side views of Embodiment 3 of the telescoping arm, and FIG.
1 is a view taken in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 9, FIG. 12 is a view taken in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 9, and FIG. 13 shows the expansion and contraction flow of the working part of the third embodiment. 1... Lower body, 2... Upper body, 3... Groove,
4... Working part, 5... Lower structure, 7... Upper structure, 8... Seating/fixation leg, 18... Manipulator,
40... Telescopic arm, R... Robot.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An upper body is rotatably supported on a lower body having seating/fixation legs, a groove is provided across the center of the upper body, a working part having a manipulator is movable along the groove, and 1. An underwater work robot with a mobile working part, characterized in that it is provided so as to be extendable and retractable with respect to an upper body via a telescopic or pantograph-type telescoping arm, and to be adjustable in angle.