KR20070064063A - Four legs walking robot - Google Patents

Abstract

A four legs walking robot is provided to enable of the robot to walk freely and smoothly by controlling a driving of a plurality of legs independently. A four legs walking robot includes a wireless communication unit(150), a leg driving unit(160), a memory(170), and a micom(180). The wireless communication unit transceives data with a user computer. The leg driving unit lifts up/down legs, and moves the lifted legs forward/backward. The memory stores an operational program having progression and rotation algorithms. The micom has a progression control unit(181), a leg control unit(182), and a rotation control unit(183). The progression control unit sets a progression direction along a progression course which is outputted from the wireless communication unit. The leg control unit outputs a control signal to the leg driving unit to sequentially drive the leg according to the progression direction set by the progression control unit. The rotation control unit outputs a control signal to the leg control unit so that two legs are alternatively operated according to the rotation command of the progression control unit.

Description

Four legs walking robot

1 is a plan view schematically showing a quadruped robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a quadruped robot according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the bridge structure of the quadruped robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a leg driving sequence of a quadruped robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the leg driving sequence in the rotation of the quadruped robot according to one preferred aspect of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a quadruped robot according to another aspect of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a traveling method of a quadruped robot, and more particularly, to a method of driving a leg in a quadruped robot having a large number of groups and a traveling and rotating technology of the quadruped robot using the same.

Robots have been developed for industrial use and as part of factory automation, or have been used to collect or collect information on behalf of humans in extreme environments that humans cannot tolerate. This field of robotics has been developed in recent years as it is used in the cutting-edge space development industry, and recently, until a human-friendly home robot was developed. A representative example of such a human-friendly home robot is a cleaning robot.

One of the robots, the cleaning robot, is a device that inhales dust or foreign substances while driving itself in a certain cleaning area such as a house or office. Such a cleaning robot is provided with a driving means including a right wheel and a left wheel motor for transmitting a driving force to a wheel to drive the cleaning robot as well as a vacuum cleaner that sucks dust or foreign matter. As the wheel is rotated by the rotation of the right wheel and the left wheel motor, the cleaning robot can travel.

On the other hand, there is a quadruped robot that runs the robot using four legs in addition to the method of traveling using wheels, such as a cleaning robot. This quadruped robot travels according to the forward and backward driving of the bridge.

However, such quadruped robots are provided with a plurality of legs on the left and right quadruped robots, and the legs installed on the left and right sides are driven back and forth and left and right by interlocking with one driving means, so that it is difficult to maintain an accurate direction of travel, and the running floor and the quadruped robot are left and right. There is a disadvantage in that the driving is affected by the balance a lot.

In addition, since the left and right legs are interlocked with each other by one driving means to drive the front, rear, left and right, the rotation radius is wide, so that rotation is impossible in a narrow space, and accurate rotation control is impossible.

The present invention was devised to solve this problem, and an object thereof is to provide a quadruped robot that guarantees driving in a more accurate traveling direction.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a quadruped robot capable of rotating in a narrow space and allowing accurate rotation control.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a quadruped robot that controls the driving of a plurality of legs, thereby ensuring a more natural quadruped robot.

Quadruped robot according to an aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication unit for transmitting and receiving data to and from the user computer, a leg drive for raising or lowering the legs, advancing or retracting the raised leg, and an operating program including a driving and rotation algorithm The driving control unit controls the stored memory, the overall device, and sets the driving direction according to the driving course output from the wireless communication unit, and the leg driving unit to sequentially drive each leg according to the driving direction set by the driving control unit. And a microcomputer including a leg control unit for outputting a control signal and a rotation control unit for outputting a control signal to the leg control unit so that the two legs are alternately operated in pairs to the leg control unit according to the rotation command of the driving control unit. .

For example, when a user inputs a driving command including a driving course to the quadruped robot using a computer connected to the quadruped robot by wireless communication, the computer transmits the operation command to the quadruped robot via wireless communication.

The wireless communication unit of the quadruped robot receives a traveling command transmitted from a computer and transmits it to the microcomputer. The microcomputer sets the travel direction according to the travel course of the received travel command, and drives each leg by a predetermined algorithm so that the quadruped robot proceeds according to the set travel direction.

The leg drive unit is connected to each leg, and includes a first servomotor for raising or lowering each leg and a second servomotor for advancing or reversing the leg lifted by the first servomotor.

The leg drive unit selectively driven according to an algorithm determined from the microcomputer raises the leg through the first servomotor, and moves the leg along the driving direction, that is, forward or backward, through the second motor. When the leg is moved through the second motor, the leg driving unit drives the first servo motor again to lower the moved leg. At this time, the remaining legs stop the driving, supporting the quadruped robot. After one leg is moved, the other leg is sequentially moved in the same way.

In addition, when the left and right rotation commands are transmitted from the user computer, the rotation control unit outputs a control signal to the leg control unit according to the rotation algorithm. The rotation algorithm causes the quadruped robot to rotate by alternately raising, moving, and lowering the pair of two legs, which are positioned diagonally to each other. One pair of raised legs supports the quadruped robot, while the other pair of legs that are descending moves.

Therefore, by raising and moving each leg, it is possible to ensure stable running regardless of the balance and the ground state of the quadruped robot as well as the natural driving, and the rotation algorithm raises the pair of two legs positioned diagonally to each other, By alternating the movement and descending process, it can rotate in place and has the advantage of being able to rotate in a narrow space.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the quadruped robot according to the present invention includes a light emitting part for irradiating a laser to the bottom of the quadruped robot and a light receiving part for receiving the reflected light reflected from the bottom, and using the reflected light received by the light receiving part. And a moving amount calculating unit configured to calculate and output a moving amount, wherein the microcomputer calculates the moving direction of the quadruped robot according to the moving amount output from the moving amount calculating unit, and corrects the moving direction by comparing with the moving direction set by the driving controller. The apparatus further includes a direction corrector.

Therefore, it is possible to calculate and correct the heading of the quadruped robot more accurately.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the quadruped robot according to the present invention detects an obstacle located in a traveling direction and runs by avoiding the detected obstacle. Accordingly, the quadruped robot according to the present invention further includes an obstacle detection unit for detecting an obstacle in a driving direction and outputting a detection signal, and the microcomputer avoids the obstacle avoidance processing unit so as to avoid the corresponding obstacle according to the obstacle detection signal output from the obstacle detection unit. It includes more. Therefore, even if an obstacle exists in the driving direction, it is possible to travel by avoiding it.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the four-foot robot according to the present invention further includes a press detection unit for detecting a pressure applied from an upper end and notifying the pressure when the pressure is enough to cause an obstacle in the running of the four-foot robot.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily understand and reproduce the present invention.

1 is a plan view schematically showing a quadruped robot according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a quadruped robot according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown, as shown, the quadruped robot 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a main body 110 and a main body 110 is provided with a plurality of circuits therein for driving the quadruped robot 100 The left and right are composed of a plurality of legs 120 for driving. Legs 120 on the left and right sides of the main body 110 are individually driven to allow the quadruped robot 100 to move back and forth as well as to rotate left and right.

The quadruped robot 100 according to the present invention includes a power supply unit 130 for supplying power required for driving the quadruped robot 100, and a power switch 140 for applying power supplied from the power supply unit 130 to each part of the apparatus. ), A wireless communication unit 150 for transmitting and receiving data to and from a user computer, a leg driving unit 160 for raising or lowering a leg, advancing or reversing the raised leg, and an operating program including a driving and rotation algorithm. A driving control unit 181 for controlling the memory 170, the whole apparatus, and setting the driving direction according to the driving course output from the wireless communication unit 150, and the driving direction set by the driving control unit 181, respectively. The leg control unit 182 outputs a control signal to the leg driving unit 160 so as to sequentially drive the legs, and the leg control unit 182 according to the rotation command of the driving control unit 181 has two legs. The microcomputer 180 includes a rotation controller 183 outputting a control signal to the leg controller 182 to alternately operate in pairs.

The power supply unit 130 is preferably composed of a battery according to the point that the autonomous four-way robot 100, and supplies power to each part of the device for driving the four-way robot 100 selectively by the power switch 140. do.

The wireless communication unit 150 may be any wireless communication module of various methods including, for example, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and IR, and includes a user computer equipped with the above-described wireless communication module. Establishes a connection and receives and outputs a control signal from the user's computer.

The leg driving unit 160 is provided on each leg, and raises or lowers the legs according to a driving signal output from the leg control unit 182 of the microcomputer 180, and moves the leg which is raised according to the driving direction forward or backward. Each of the leg drives 160 includes a first servomotor 161 for raising or lowering the legs and a second servomotor 162 for advancing or reversing the legs raised by the first servomotor 161. It is composed.

For example, in the case of the quadruped robot 100 having two legs each on the left and right, each leg is provided with a leg drive unit 160 including the first servo motor 161 and the second server motor. Therefore, the four-legged robot 100 is installed four leg drive unit 160, each leg drive unit 160 is provided with two servo motors.

Detailed description of the leg drive unit 160 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the bridge structure of the quadruped robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the legs according to the present invention are hinged so that a number of joints are collapsible. Accordingly, each leg is connected to the rotary shaft of the first servomotor 161 to be raised or lowered, and may be advanced or reversed by the second servomotor 162.

Referring to Figure 3, the bridge structure, a circular plate is connected to the rotation axis of the first servomotor 161, the circular plate is connected to one end of the rod 111 eccentrically so that the rotational movement of the circular plate can be converted to vertical movement do. The other end of the rod 111 is connected to the first hinge 113 to be foldable with one end of the first joint 112. In addition, the first joint 112 is connected to the support plate 120 by a second hinge 114 so as to be rotatable, and the other end of the third hinge 116 to rotate angularly with one end of the second joint 115. Leads to. The second joint 115 is again connected through the third joint 117 and the fourth hinge 118 supporting the second joint 115, and the other end of the third joint 117 is the support plate and the fifth end. It is rotatably connected via the hinge 119.

Referring to the rise or fall of the leg through such a configuration, when the first servomotor 161 is rotated, the rod 111 converts the rotational movement to the vertical movement. When the rod 111 connected thereto descends according to the rotation of the circular plate, the first joint 112 connected to the other end of the rod 111 descends once according to the principle of the lever with respect to the second hinge 114. And the other end is raised. When the other end is raised, the second joint 115 connected through the third hinge 116 is raised. At this time, the third joint 117 connected through the second joint 115 and the fourth hinge 118 also rises. Here, the third joint 117 serves to support the second joint 115.

Meanwhile, both ends of the support plate 120 are vertically connected to the main body so as to be rotatable, and one side thereof is connected to the second servomotor 162 through a gear. When the leg is raised by the first servomotor 161, the leg driver 160 rotates by outputting a control signal to the second servomotor 162, and the support plate 120 connected by gears according to the rotation is the main body. It rotates around the connecting means connected with. Accordingly, the legs are moved back and forth of the mobile robot 100.

When the leg is moved forward or rearward by the second servomotor 162, the leg driver 160 outputs a control signal to drive the first servomotor 161 to lower the raised leg.

When the circular plate rotates in the opposite direction as the leg rises as the first servomotor 161 rotates, the rod 111 rises, and the first joint 112 connected to the other end of the rod 111 is the second white paper. According to the principle of the lever around the 114, one end is raised, and the other end connected to the second joint 115 is lowered. Accordingly, the second joint 115 connected through the third hinge 116 is lowered, so that the raised leg is lowered. At this time, the remaining legs to stop the driving, to support the mobile robot 100. When the movement of one leg is completed, the other robot is sequentially moved in the same way to drive the mobile robot 100.

The memory 170 is implemented with a nonvolatile memory device such as, for example, an EEPROM or a flash memory, and a driving algorithm according to an operation program of the quadruped robot 100 and a driving command of the quadruped robot 100 transmitted from a user computer. Stored.

The microcomputer 180 may be implemented as a microcontroller in which a microprocessor for calculation and a peripheral circuit thereof are mounted on a single chip, and control the overall apparatus of the quadruped robot 100. The microcomputer 180 includes a driving control unit 181 for setting a driving direction according to a driving course output from the wireless communication unit 150, and a leg to sequentially drive each leg according to the driving direction set by the driving control unit 181. The leg controller 182 outputs a control signal to the driver 160.

The driving control unit 181 receives the driving command including the driving direction output through the wireless communication unit 150 and sets the direction according to the traveling course of the quadruped robot 100. For example, when the user inputs the forward command to the user computer, the driving controller 181 receives the corresponding straight command through the wireless communication unit 150 to set the driving course and the direction thereof, and thereby the leg driving unit 160. Will output

The leg control unit 182 receives the driving course output from the driving control unit 181 and direction information corresponding thereto, and accesses a driving algorithm stored in the memory 170 so that each leg can be driven sequentially. Outputs a control signal. The driving order of the legs according to the respective leg control signals output by the leg controller 182 will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

4 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a leg driving sequence of a quadruped robot according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, each leg driver 160 is provided with order information, and the leg controller 182 outputs a control signal to each leg driver 160 according to the leg driving order of the driving algorithm.

For example, when a forward command is input from the user, the control signal is output to the leg driving unit 160 of the first leg shown in FIG. 4. The leg drive unit 160 of the first leg raises the leg through the first servomotor 161 and advances the first leg through the second motor. When the leg is advanced through the second motor, the leg driving unit 160 of the first leg drives the first servomotor 161 again to lower the moved leg. At this time, the remaining legs 2, 3, and 4 stop the driving, thereby supporting the quadruped robot 100. When the movement of the first leg is completed, the second leg of the sequence is moved in the same manner, so that the quadruped robot 100 travels.

The rotation controller 183 receives a rotation command transmitted from the user computer through the wireless communication unit 150 and outputs a control signal to the leg controller 182 according to a rotation algorithm stored in the memory 170. The rotation process of the quadruped robot 100 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 5.

5 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the leg driving sequence in the rotation of the quadruped robot according to one preferred aspect of the present invention. As shown, the quadruped robot 100 according to the present invention allows the quadruped robot 100 to rotate by alternately raising, moving, and lowering a pair of two legs positioned at different angles during rotation.

In the quadruped robot 100 shown in FIG. 5, the first and fourth legs perform the same operation by making a pair, and the second and third legs form the other pair when the first and fourth legs are driven. By not driving, the quadruped robot 100 is supported.

For example, when the right turn command is input, the rotation controller 183 outputs a control command according to the driving of the first and fourth legs to the leg controller 182. Accordingly, the first and fourth leg driving unit 160 raises the first and fourth legs, and the first leg, which is raised, moves the legs to the rear of the fourth leg and lowers the two legs. At this time, the second and third legs are not driven to support the quadruped robot 100 during rotation.

When driving of the first and fourth legs is finished, the rotation controller 183 outputs a control command according to the driving of the second and third legs to the leg controller 182 again. Accordingly, the second and third leg driving unit 160 raises the second and third legs, and the second leg is moved forward and the second leg is moved forward and the second leg is lowered, and the two legs are lowered. At this time, the first and fourth legs are not driven to support the quadruped robot 100 during rotation.

By repeating this series of leg movements, the quadruped robot 100 can rotate in place, which has the advantage of more accurate rotation control.

6 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a quadruped robot according to another aspect of the present invention. As shown, the quadruped robot 100 according to the present invention includes a light emitting unit 191 for irradiating light to the bottom on the back, and a light receiving unit 192 for receiving the reflected light reflected from the bottom, the light receiving unit 192 The apparatus further includes a movement amount calculator 190 for calculating and outputting a movement amount by using the reflected light received by the microcomputer, and the microcomputer 180 proceeds with the quadruped robot 100 according to the movement amount output from the movement amount calculator 190. The apparatus further includes a traveling direction correcting unit 184 that calculates a direction and corrects the traveling direction in comparison with the traveling direction set by the travel control unit 181.

The movement amount calculating unit 190 is provided on the rear surface of the quadrupedary robot 100, a light emitting unit 191 for irradiating light to the floor on which the quadrupedary robot 100 is traveling, and a light receiving unit for receiving the reflected light reflected from the bottom. (192). The light irradiated by the light emitter 191 is reflected by the floor, and the signal received by the light receiver 192 is output to the digital signal processor DSP. The DSP detects a pattern of each image, and the DSP calculates and outputs a movement amount of the quadruped robot 100 based on a change in a series of image patterns input as the quadrupped robot 100 travels.

The traveling direction correcting unit 184 compares the traveling direction set by the traveling control unit 181 of the microcomputer 180 with the actual moving amount of the quadruped robot 100 calculated by the moving amount calculating unit 190, and thereby the quadruped robot 100 It monitors whether it is moving in the calculated travel direction. If the driving direction calculated as a result of the monitoring and the driving direction according to the actual movement are different from each other, the traveling direction correcting unit 184 outputs a control signal to the leg control unit 182, and according to the driving direction calculated by the driving control unit 181, Let the robot 100 run.

According to an additional aspect of the present invention, the quadruped robot 100 according to the present invention further includes an obstacle detecting unit 200 that detects an obstacle in a driving direction and outputs a detection signal, and the microcomputer 180 includes the obstacle detecting unit 200. The obstacle avoidance processing unit 185 may further include an obstacle avoidance unit in accordance with an obstacle detection signal output from the block.

For example, the obstacle detecting unit 200 includes an ultrasonic wave or an infrared sensor, and detects an obstacle by using reflected light that is reflected by the obstacle by returning ultrasonic wave or infrared ray. The obstacle detecting unit 200 is installed on the front and rear of the quadrupedary robot 100 to detect an obstacle within a predetermined distance on the traveling of the quadrupedary robot 100 and output a detection signal. The detection signal output by the obstacle detection unit 200 may be a voltage level according to the collision intensity.

The obstacle avoidance processor 185 receives the detection signal output from the obstacle detector 200 and outputs a direction change command to the leg controller 182 according to the obstacle avoidance algorithm. The leg control unit 182 drives the leg driving unit 160 to the left or the right side in response to the direction telephone command so as to avoid the obstacle.

According to an additional aspect of the present invention, the quadruped robot 100 according to the present invention includes a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure applied from an upper end, and a press detection unit for notifying when the pressure detected by the pressure sensor is greater than a predetermined pressure ( 210) is further included.

Press detection unit 210 is, for example, is installed in the upper center of the quadrupedary robot 100, it is also implemented as a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure. When the pressure applied is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the pressing detection unit 210 outputs a detection signal to the microcomputer 180. The microcomputer 180 receives the detection signal output from the push detection unit 210 to notify the push detection voice guidance through a voice output means such as, for example, a speaker.

As described above, the quadruped robot according to the present invention controls the driving of a plurality of legs, respectively, by moving each leg after lifting, and by using a method of lowering the moved leg, the more natural running and running of the quadruped robot It is possible to guarantee the driving in the correct direction, and as the pair of two legs located at diagonal to each other to alternate the ascending, moving, and descending processes, it can rotate in place and has the advantage of being able to rotate even in a narrow space. .

Furthermore, it detects the floor surface being driven, calculates the movement amount of the quadruped robot, compares the calculated movement amount with the driving direction, detects the driving in the correct direction, and has the advantage of correcting the abnormal driving.

Furthermore, the obstacle can be detected and avoided, as well as the pressure applied to the upper end is checked and notified to the user, thereby preventing the deterioration and damage of the quadruped robot in advance.

The present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, but is not limited thereto, and is interpreted by the appended claims, which are intended to cover many modifications that will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention. Should be done.

Claims (5)

A wireless communication unit for transmitting and receiving data to and from a user computer; A leg drive unit for raising or lowering the leg and advancing or reversing the raised leg; A memory in which an operating program including a driving and rotation algorithm is stored; A control signal for controlling the entire apparatus and setting a driving direction according to a driving course output from the wireless communication unit, and a control signal to the leg driving unit to sequentially drive each leg according to the driving direction set by the driving control unit; A microcomputer including a leg control unit for outputting a control unit and a rotation control unit for outputting a control signal to the leg control unit so that two legs are alternately formed in pairs to the leg control unit according to a rotation command of the driving control unit; Quadruped robot comprising a. The method of claim 1, wherein the leg drive unit: A first servomotor which raises or lowers each leg; A second servomotor for advancing or reversing the leg lifted by the first servomotor; Quadruped robot comprising a. The robot of claim 1, wherein the quadruped robot is: And a light emitting part for irradiating a laser to the bottom of the back, and a light receiving part for receiving the reflected light reflected from the bottom, further comprising a moving amount calculating part for calculating and outputting a moving amount by using the reflected light received by the light receiving part; The microcomputer: A moving direction correcting unit for calculating a moving direction of the quadruped robot according to the moving amount output from the moving amount calculating unit and correcting the moving direction in comparison with the moving direction set by the traveling control unit; Quadruped robot characterized in that. The robot of claim 1, wherein the quadruped robot is: An obstacle detector configured to detect an obstacle on a driving direction and output a detection signal; The microcomputer: A obstacle avoidance processing unit for avoiding a corresponding obstacle according to an obstacle detection signal output from the obstacle detecting unit; Quadruped robot characterized in that. The robot of claim 1, wherein the quadruped robot is: And a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure applied from an upper end, and further comprising a press detection unit for notifying when the pressure detected by the pressure sensor is greater than or equal to a predetermined pressure.

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