KR20220101623A - Robots for repair by pickling and/or paint coating and/or inspection of large surfaces and/or high-height walls, related methods of operation, and application to pickling and painting of ship hulls - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention essentially provides information useful to the control unit 12 for determining the very precise spatial position of the platform 25 of the aerial lift 2 and thus of the tool carrier 3 mounted on the platform 25 . An aerial lift (2) which can be metered in a standard way by a plurality of sensors (5, 6, 7, 9, 80, 81) capable of accurately compensating for the absence of instrumentation by the builders of the aerial lift, in order to provide It relates to a robot produced based on

Description

Robots for repair by pickling and/or paint coating and/or inspection of large surfaces and/or high-height walls, related methods of operation, and application to pickling and painting of ship hulls

The present invention relates to the general field of inspection and/or renovation by surface treatment and painting of large structures/objects.

In particular, it relates to the field of repair by removing paint films and, if necessary, painting large-area and/or high-height walls, in particular the hulls of ships.

"Wall of large area and/or great height" means that it cannot be inspected and/or repaired by one person and generally must use at least scaffolding and/or handling means to move persons. means any object.

The present invention aims more specifically to propose an autonomous robot for the repair and/or inspection of such walls in order to reduce the intervention time and the accompanying costs.

Although described with reference to the advantageous application of hull repair, the present invention applies to any robot for any type of inspection and/or repair work on large structures.

A ship's hull requires regular maintenance after a period of use and typically requires maintenance operations that include several operations to provide the necessary aesthetic appearance, such as scrubbing, abrasive blasting, surface treatment, and painting.

Due to its obligatory nature, this maintenance operation requires the vessel to be installed in a dry dock.

In fact, it is a matter of removing the old exterior coating and oxidation and replacing it with a new one.

Maintenance or refurbishment usually consists of performing surface preparation suitable for a new paint coating. This preparation can consist, for example, of water spraying at ultra-high pressure (UHP), which can remove paint films by spraying abrasives, commonly known as abrasive sprays, or create specific surface roughness for adhesion and application of new paint coatings. have.

Each given ship repair process step must be performed with extreme care to avoid the presence of defects that can significantly degrade the final aesthetic quality.

Although constraints and implementations vary and vary, all shipyards implementing hull repair processes face the same challenges: high repair costs, long service outages, major impacts on ships, personnel safety, and the effectiveness of repairs.

To date, the various retrofit steps are typically performed manually by an operator or using a plurality of suitable tools for removing the paint film and spraying the paint over the required areas of the hull.

These manual steps have several major drawbacks.

First of all, each job requires a long execution time which affects the final cost of the job. Each step is thus relatively relatively, as the tools used to remove, for example, paint film, ultra-high pressure (UHP) water lances of about 3000 bar or abrasive blasting lances have a relatively limited active area and require constant vigilance from the operator. It should be accurate. As a result, these operations can be time consuming both for work and overhaul, especially since the ship's hull area is very large.

Then, the effectiveness of the step is highly dependent on the ability of the weaver to perform it.

Also, with respect to the painting step, the latter is carried out with the aid of a paint spraying tool that creates a spray of paint particles, some of which do not adhere to the surface to be painted and spread into the environment. Since the corrosion protection paints used in these applications typically contain toxic or contaminants, it is easy to understand that spreading these paints can be detrimental to the environment and people working near the painting zone.

On this issue, recent community standards provide increasingly restrictive measures regarding the release of such substances into the environment.

Applicants therefore wanted to automate the maintenance or repair of these hulls and use a robot that could perform these repair tasks.

However, the specifications imposed for this kind of robot are stringent and massive, especially because of the high constraints inherent in moving ships into dry docks.

Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention have compiled a list of existing solutions.

They first came to the conclusion that none of the existing robotic or mechanical systems could meet all the requirements for hull maintenance.

Some devices for painting the hulls of ships and the like are known from patent documents.

WO01/34309 discloses a device for spraying paint on the hull of a ship from a dry dock comprising a row of spray nozzles housed in a hood mounted on the end of a telescopic arm itself mounted to pivot on a chassis that can be translated on rails along the hull. Explain.

US5398632 proposes a scaffolding system installed on the bottom of a dock around the hull with a basket that can be moved in height, can be near or far from the hull, and where the painter can stand.

US4890567 describes a washing system having a washing head which can be moved and fixed to the hull of a ship by means of an electromagnetic track and which comprises washing means by application of ultrasonic waves.

EP2090506B1 discloses a double lifting platform of scissor type supporting an elongated table provided with a platform with two sets of wheels and rails on which a six-axis robot carrying a paint spray gun can slide to paint the hull surface.

CN105643587 discloses a system for painting the hull of a ship with a six-axis robot carrying a painting tool mounted on the articulated arm end of an aerial lift moving on the dock floor.

CN2019158233 discloses a type of painting robot system in which the drive motor and the chassis supporting the cables are moved by cables along the hull installed inside and around the dry dock, and the height movement of the paint spraying nozzles is carried out by the cables. Transmission and horizontal movement are imparted by telescoping arms that support the nozzle.

CN108942897 discloses a system for painting the hull of a ship comprising a robotic paint head that is moved along the hull by means of a cable, the cables being fixed to two bogies, one moving on the ground and the other moving over the ship .

CN108313237 discloses a system for abrasive blasting of a hull comprising a robot that is moved by a winch on a ship board and secured to the hull surface by a sucker plate.

CN107253147 and CN107081771 describe a paint film removal system by abrasive blasting comprising an abrasive blasting robot which rolls over the hull of a ship and is held by permanent magnets, by means of a fixed point on the hull and a cable winch for movement, respectively .

KR10144392B1 relates to a paint application system having a six-axis robot mounted on the end of a crane boom.

WO2012/080448 discloses a complete maintenance system (UHP cleaning, painting) with a scaffolding tower near the hull on which a telescopic arm system supporting working tools can move vertically.

WO2010/057942 discloses a system similar to WO2012/080448, but with the essential difference that the scaffold tower carries a number of work cabins, one of which is directly commanded and controlled by the person inside and articulated to support the work tools. that it carries food cancer.

WO2018/209367 describes a rail system assembled together to move along a hull assembly for maintenance (cleaning, painting) of the hull.

EP2618942B1 discloses the use of a six-axis robot supported by an aerial lift of an aerial work platform for carrying a painting spray gun and for painting a hull in a dry dock. The aerial lift is equipped with a distance sensor for measuring the distance of the latter to the hull surface to be painted, the operation of which is subject to a command and control unit for platform movement. In addition, the proposed system necessarily involves drawing air along the surface to be painted and the command and control process can adjust the distance between the aerial lift and the surface to be painted to optimize the drawn air flow rate.

Neither of the proposed solutions would be fast, inexpensive and effective at the same time, regardless of profile (flat, concave, convex), to eliminate strong defects on the hull surface, especially those due to corrosion, or to apply a uniform coating over the same area of the hull. can't

Furthermore, the proposed solution does not enable spatial positioning accurate enough to ensure a uniform repair treatment for all areas of the hull to be repaired.

Finally, there is no certainty that at least one of all proposed solutions can be implemented in a completely autonomous manner for all areas of the hull, ie without human intervention.

There is therefore a need to improve robots for repairs by removing paint films and/or painting large areas and/or high-height walls, more specifically hulls in dry docks, which in particular significantly reduce the duration of intervention and the costs involved. Reduce the aforementioned disadvantages to reduce the difficulty of work and increase the efficiency and homogeneity of the surface treatment for all areas of the wall to be repaired.

It is an object of the present invention to at least partially solve this requirement.

To this end, in one of its aspects, the present invention relates to a robot for repair and/or inspection by means of paint film removal and/or paint coating of walls of large area and/or high height, said robot comprising:

- as a telescopic aerial lift,

● mobile base;

● a turret mounted to rotate on the base about a first axis;

a telescopic boom mounted for rotation on said turret about a second axis, said telescopic boom telescopically telescopic along said third axis;

a telescoping aerial lift comprising a platform, mounted for rotation about a fourth axis at the mobile end of the telescoping boom;

- a tool carrier adapted to carry repair and/or inspection tools, to rotate on said platform about three mutually orthogonal axes, respectively a fifth, a sixth and a seventh axis and an eighth a tool carrier mounted for rotation on said platform about an axis;

- as a plurality of sensors,

- a first angle sensor adapted to measure the angular position of the turret with respect to the base;

• a second angle sensor adapted to measure the angular position of the boom relative to the turret;

• a linear displacement sensor adapted to measure telescoping deployment of the boom;

• at least two ranging sensors each adapted to measure the distance of a point on the tool carrier to the wall being repaired and/or inspected;

- a plurality of sensors, including a tilt sensor adapted to measure the tilt of the tool carrier relative to at least horizontal;

- a command and control unit connected to a plurality of sensors and means for displacement of said tool carrier along said first to said eighth axis and for displacement of an aerial lift element, said command and control unit being configured by said plurality of sensors According to a predefined sequence of repair and/or inspection of a section of the wall without the mobile base of the aerial lift to be moved and along one and/or the other of the first to eighth axes as a function of the information conveyed. and a command and control unit, adapted to automatically move the elements of the aerial lift and the tool carrier.

The present invention therefore provides a metrology element provided by the aerial lift manufacturer to essentially provide the command and control device with information useful for determining the very precise real-time position of the space of the aerial lift platform and thus of the tool carrier mounted on the platform. It consists of an aerial lift-based robot, which can be of the standard type, metered by multiple sensors that precisely compensate.

The command and control unit is thus able to execute movement commands about the various axes of the aerial lift as a function of real-time precise knowledge of its position in space.

As will be described in detail below, if necessary, the robot according to the invention ensures the flexibility and accuracy of the tool for the operation (paint film removal, painting) compatible with the movement of the tool carrier and the subsequent inspection or intended modification of the hull. For this purpose, it is possible to advantageously incorporate a device for compensating the operational play of the aerial lift.

When inventors began to be interested in the design of robotic systems capable of carrying out the removal of paint films and painting of the hulls of ships, they found existing solutions, in particular existing solutions, in particular the solutions described in the above-mentioned patents and patent applications. A list of

Because of cost, inefficiency, or implementation complexity, you can move quickly from solutions that require dedicated infrastructure for each dry dock (solutions with integrated rails and/or scaffolding along the hull), or completely new machines (platforms of specific designs) or existing It is based on equipment (a 6-axis robot at the end of an air lift).

The inventors therefore thought of robotizing the existing standard aerial lifts, and therefore compiled a list of aerial lift types to ascertain which ones are best suited for their application.

Articulated boom aerial lifts do not appear to be particularly suitable for the following reasons:

- The number of connecting shafts is very high from the end of the aerial lift to the point where too much flexibility is introduced.

- Command and control laws for automated operation can be very complex.

Scissor aerial lifts have only a vertical axis of movement and cannot in any case address the intended maintenance requirements.

Telescoping aerial lifts are essentially for performing work on high-height structures. In addition, the telescoping boom of the aerial lift is extremely rigid and the simplicity of the kinematics facilitates the automation of the movement.

Therefore, the present inventors have chosen this type of aerial lift.

Then they thought carefully about metering standard airlifts using multiple sensors that precisely complement the instrumentation elements provided by airlift manufacturers.

According to one advantageous variant, the first angle sensor is an absolute optical coder comprising an optical barcode reader fixed against a turret and a ring fixed against a mobile base, the periphery of which is arranged opposite the optical reader. A light beam from the reader during rotation of the turret with respect to the mobile base, including a plurality of distinct mutually adjacent barcodes, intercepts a portion of at least one of one of the barcodes to determine an angular position of the turret.

The arrangement of the annular bands for the barcode reader is preferably such that light rays intercept at least three portions of distinct barcodes.

According to another advantageous variant, the second angle sensor is an absolute cable coder comprising a cable mechanism comprising a coder fixed to the mobile turret and a drum fixed to the mobile turret, the cable being wound around the turret and said The free end of the cable is secured to one of the elements of the telescoping boom.

According to another advantageous variant, the linear displacement sensor is an absolute cable coder comprising a cable mechanism comprising a coder fixed to the end of the fixed element of the telescoping boom and a drum fixed to the end of the fixed element of the telescoping boom, The cable is wound around the center and the free end of the cable is secured to the end of the mobile element of the telescoping boom where it is most placed.

According to another advantageous variant, the at least two distance measuring sensors are two first laser rangefinders fixed at a constant distance from each other to the tool carrier for measuring the two distances between the tool carrier and the wall to be repaired and/or inspected. to be. An equally conceivable alternative is an absolute coder installed at the connection between the platform and telescoping boom.

Another laser range finder is preferably fixed to the center of the tool carrier and the two first range finder is fixed to the bottom and top of the tool carrier.

According to another advantageous variant, the inclination sensor is a two-dimensional sensor fixed to the platform and adapted to measure the inclination of the platform on two separate axes.

According to one advantageous embodiment, the robot comprises a device for compensating the mechanical play of the toothed ring for orienting the mobile turret, which device, in addition to the toothed ring and the motor for rotationally driving the rotating turret, and at least one gear meshing with the toothed ring and one motor for driving the gear in a rotational direction opposite to the rotational direction of the toothed ring.

According to another advantageous embodiment, the robot comprises a device for compensating mechanical play between the platform and the telescoping boom, said device comprising a connecting assembly between the platform and the telescoping boom, the connecting assembly comprising: a fourth axis and a connecting element fixed to a second connecting element fixed to the platform, the first and second connecting elements being connected to each other by an orientation ring adapted for rotation by a cylinder, preferably an electric type cylinder connected, and one end of the cylinder is fixed to the first connecting element and the other end is fixed to the second connecting element.

According to another advantageous embodiment, the command and control unit comprises an automatic command and controller for the aerial lift, preferably connected to each of a plurality of sensors by means of an ADC bus, a first computer named aerial lift computer connected to the aerial lift automatic controller and said a second computer, named robotic computer, preferably connected via an Ethernet connection to the aerial lift automatic controller, the robotic computer coordinating to transmit command and control instructions to the aerial lift automatic controller and the aerial lift automatic controller coordinates to transmit control instructions to the aerial lift computer for commanding and controlling movement of the components of the aerial lift and tool carrier about one and/or the other of the first to eighth axes. do.

According to another advantageous embodiment, the mobile base comprises a translational motion motor defining a ninth axis and movement in at least one steerable axle defining a tenth axis.

The command and control unit is advantageously configured to automatically move the mobile base about one and/or the other of the ninth and tenth axes upon completion of a predefined sequence.

According to another advantageous embodiment, the platform pivots relative to the moving end of the telescoping boom about a pivot axis defining an eleventh axis orthogonal to the fourth axis. It goes without saying that, in the context of the present invention, this eleventh axis may be independent of the ninth and tenth axes and vice versa. Thus, by convention the ninth axis is the axis of pivoting of the platform relative to the mobile end of the boom in a configuration in which the mobile base does not define a ninth and tenth axis.

According to one advantageous feature, the tool carrier is configured to carry an abrasive spray nozzle provided with a suction hood for recycling the abrasive or a nozzle for spraying water at high pressure together with a hood for re-aspiration of sprayed water.

It has the object of a method of operating a robot as described above along a wall of a large area and/or of a large height, comprising the following steps carried out automatically by a command and control unit, said steps comprising:

i/ disposing a platform such that the tool carrier carries the repair tool to a given point on the wall;

ii/ moving the tool carrier along a first vertical band along a wall defining a first repair pass;

iii/ upon completion of the first maintenance pass, automatically lowering by raising and/or stretching the platform above a height corresponding to the first working pass below a predefined overlap area;

iv/ repeating steps ii/ and iii/ according to one or more work passes in addition to the first task until the platform reaches an extremely low position;

v/ command and control device evaluating whether a second band parallel to the first band can be swept by the tool carrier without moving the mobile base;

- if the evaluation of step v/ is positive, placing the platform at a given point in a second band, then repeating steps ii/ to iv/ in said second band;

- if the evaluation of step v/ is negative, stopping a renovation pending movement of the mobile base.

That is, the method of operation according to the present invention is based on information transmitted by sensors fitted with corrections or corrections to create bands of vertical operation (cleaning, removal or painting in the case of hulls) along the wall to be repaired. sequenced.

The command and control unit of the robot according to the invention can operate in spot mode (the specific area to be treated) or by continuously processing large areas of the hull. To this end, in the method according to the invention, the command and control unit processes the automatically sequenced series of vertical bands.

The number of vertical bands a robot can handle is evaluated taking into account the unique technical characteristics of the turret direction, boom extension and platform direction.

Likewise, the evaluation takes into account the need for overlap between bands.

At each positioning of the tool carrier with respect to the platform and thus the wall to be repaired, the horizontality and orientation of the platform can be modified to obtain equal distances from the two ranging sensors.

If the surface of the wall is vertical, this modification is sufficient. In situations where the hull is not vertical (eg bottom swell or curve in the case of a hull), when both sensors are at the same distance from the wall, the value may be greater or less than the previous pass. To correct for this difference, the rotation angle of the turret is modified.

The result of modifying this angle is to modify the horizontal distance between the turret axis and the wall to be repaired, and should not evolve to maintain the initial verticality. Therefore, the effect of this angle modification must be calculated in the command and control unit to define a new boom extension setpoint.

Subsequent movement of the mobile base may also be effected autonomously about the ninth and tenth axes of the aerial lift.

The invention finally aims at the use of the robot as described above for hull repairs, preferably by spraying abrasives or removing the paint film with water, and, if necessary, including painting, including the removal of the paint film.

Other advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention provided by way of non-limiting example with reference to the following drawings.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a robot according to the present invention for the purpose of inspection and repair of large-area and large-height walls, and FIG. 1 shows a robot configured for hull repair of a ship in a dry dock.
Figure 2 is another perspective view of the robot of Figures 1 and 2, showing the components of the aerial lift of the robot and all axes of movement of the tool carrier carried by the platform of the aerial lift;
Fig. 3 is another schematic perspective view of a robot according to the present invention, in which Fig. 3 shows a first embodiment of a tool carrier.
[FIG. 3A] is a detailed view of FIG.
Figure 4 repeats Figure 3a in a front perspective perspective view and shows removal of the paint film tool carried by the tool carrier and one of the various positions taken by the tool carrier.
FIG. 5 repeats FIG. 3A in a front perspective view and shows removal of the paint film tool carried by the tool carrier and one of the various positions taken by the tool carrier.
FIG. 6 repeats FIG. 3A in a front perspective view and shows the removal of the paint film tool carried by the tool carrier and one of the various positions taken by the tool carrier.
Fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view of a part of a robot according to the invention, and Fig. 7 shows a second embodiment of the tool carrier.
Fig. 8 is a replica of a photograph showing the placement of an absolute optical coder for measuring the angular position of the turret with respect to the mobile base of the aerial lift.
[Fig. 8a] is a detailed view of Fig. 8;
[FIG. 9] is a schematic diagram showing the principle of operation of the absolute optical coder according to FIG.
10 is a duplicate photograph showing the placement of an absolute cable coder for measuring the angular position of a telescoping boom relative to the turret of an aerial lift.
Figure 11 is another replica showing the placement of the absolute cable coder for measuring the angular position of the telescoping boom relative to the turret of the nacelle.
[Fig. 12] is a replica photograph showing the arrangement of the absolute cable coder for measuring the expansion and contraction of the boom.
13 is a schematic side view showing a platform and tool carrier of a robot according to the present invention in a repair configuration close to the hull with a curved profile, and FIG. 13 is a two distance between a point of the tool carrier and the hull to be repaired The distance measurement by each of the measuring instruments is further illustrated.
[Fig. 14] is a replica photograph showing the arrangement on the platform of the robot according to the invention of the inclination sensor for measuring the inclination of the tool carrier with respect to at least the horizontal.
Fig. 15 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the underside of a robotic aerial lift according to the present invention, transparently showing the arrangement of the device for compensating for mechanical play of the ring for directing the turret relative to the mobile base;
[FIG. 15A] is a detailed view of FIG.
Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a connection between a telescoping boom and a platform of a robotic aerial lift according to the present invention, showing the arrangement of a device for compensating for mechanical play between the platform and the telescoping boom;
Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of the connection between the position and distance sensors of the robot according to the invention with the automatic controller of the computer and the command and control unit and the connection between the computer and the automatic controller;
Fig. 18 schematically shows the vertical repair band as a function of the movement characteristics of a first category of commercial aerial lifts that are expected to handle according to the method of operating a robot according to the present invention.
Fig. 19 schematically shows the vertical repair band as a function of the movement characteristics of a second category of commercial aerial lifts that are expected to handle according to the method of operating a robot according to the present invention.

Thus throughout this application the terms “below”, “above”, “low”, “high”, “lower” and “upper” refer to this Designated as representing the operational configuration of an aerial lift of a robot according to the invention. Thus, for example, the top position of an aerial lift platform is the maximum height that can be reached with the maximum lift of the boom combined with the maximum deployment of the boom.

1 for inspection by means of a video camera and/or paint by abrasive blasting or water spray at high pressure, if applicable to the painting of the hull c of the ship in the dry dock in the shipyard in the context of the maintenance of the ship in FIG. 1 . A robot according to the present invention in a configuration for repair by film removal is presented in FIG. 1 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the robot 1 comprises, among other things, a telescoping aerial lift 2 . This aerial lift (2) is, in a manner known per se, a mobile base (20) having two axles (21, 22) each, at least one of which forms a steerable axle; A telescoping boom (24) mounted to rotate in a base about a first axis "axis 1", a telescoping boom mounted to rotate in a turret (23) about a second axis "axis 2", said boom It comprises a telescoping boom, telescoping along a third axis "axis 3", a platform 25 known as a basket mounted for rotation at the mobile end of the telescoping boom about a fourth axis "axis 4". .

According to the invention, the tool carrier 3 rotates on the platform about three mutually orthogonal axes, the fifth axis "axis 5", the sixth axis "axis 6" and the seventh axis "axis 7" respectively and the eighth axis It is mounted for rotational movement on the platform about an axis "axis 8".

A tool 4 for repair and/or inspection of the hull to be repaired is fixed to this tool carrier 3 . For paint film removal the tool 4 is preferably an abrasive blasting nozzle provided with a suction hood for recirculating a nozzle for high-pressure water jetting with a hood for re-aspiration of the abrasive or jetted water.

A number of embodiments are conceivable for mounting the tool carrier 3 on the platform 25 of the aerial lift 2 .

According to the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 , the tool carrier 3 is mounted on a biaxial orthogonal robot 30 and one end of the gantry is mounted to pivot on a platform 25 .

More precisely, as can be seen in FIGS. 3 to 6 , the translational motion of the tool carrier 3 along the two axes of the orthogonal robot is driven by two independent motors 31 , 32 fixed to the gantry. On the other hand, the pivoting of the gantry 30 with respect to the platform 25 is performed by means of two cylinders 33 , 34 , preferably electric, articulated between the gantry of the orthogonal robot 30 and the platform 25 . is driven

Thus, movement of the biaxial orthogonal robot 30 produces movement of the tool carrier 3 along axes 5 and 6, while pivoting of the gantry produces movement along axes 7 and 8.

A second embodiment is shown in FIG. 7 . Two independent motors 35 , 36 respectively drive lead screw and nut systems 37 , 38 along axis 5 and axis 6. The tool 4 is carried by a nut system along axis 6 on a swing arm 39 which is rotationally driven by a lead screw and another independent motor 390 . This rotation of the swing arm creates movement along axes 7 and 8.

Furthermore, the robot 1 according to the invention is calibrated by a plurality of sensors which accurately compensate for the absence of instrumentation provided by the aerial lift manufacturer for positioning the tool carrier 3 and thus the tool 4 in space with great precision. do.

Accordingly, an absolute optical coder 5 is installed to measure the angular position of the turret 23 with respect to the mobile base 20, as shown in FIGS. 8, 8A, and 9 .

Before choosing this kind of sensor, the inventor made a list of possible solutions. In fact, the point of rotation of the turret 23 was specifically inaccessible because it was occupied by a rotary seal that enables the routing of hydraulic commands between the turret 23 and the mobile base 20 . For this reason, the coder cannot be installed directly on the axis of the turret 23 .

Another solution was to place the coder on the side of the ring to orient the turret 23 driven by the gear itself which is driven by the outer teeth of the alignment ring. It turned out not to be simple to install, and the teeth of the ring for orienting the turret were worn out, which was not advantageous for precise measurements. Therefore, we finally decided to decorrelate a suitable rotational measurement from the dynamics of the ring to orient the turret.

The finally adopted absolute optical coder 5 comprises an optical reader 50 fixed to the underside of the turret 23 and a ring 51 fixed to the mobile base 20 . The perimeter of the ring 51 is adjacent to each other and directs the optical reader 50 such that light rays from the reader 50 during rotation of the turret relative to the mobile base intercept at least three portions of the barcode that are distinct as shown in FIG. Supports an annular band 52 comprising a plurality of discrete barcodes 53 arranged to Thus, this optical coder 5 makes it possible to obtain absolute information independent of play in the mechanical part for orienting the turret 23 with respect to the base 20 .

The annular band 52 may take the form of an adhesive tape, which has the advantage that it is very economical and can be replaced as often as needed. It is equally conceivable by the alternative of etching the barcode 53 directly onto the ring 51 .

10 and 11 , the absolute cable coder 6 makes it possible to measure the angular position of the boom 24 with respect to the turret 23 .

The choice of this type of sensor is due to the fact that it is physically impossible to install a coder on the boom lift axis, and also the kinematics vary from airlift to airlift and sometimes complicated by the fact that the ascending pivot point moving upwards and backwards relative to the mobile base is complex. was guided Therefore, the only solution is to have a sensor that is constantly moving with respect to the ascent and to calibrate this measurement for the actual angle of ascent. In addition, the use of a cable coder provides mechanically robust yet accurate measurements.

The absolute cable coder (6) comprises a cable mechanism (61) comprising a coder (60) secured to a mobile turret and a drum secured to the mobile turret, around which the free end is attached to one of the elements of the telescoping boom. The fixed cable 62 is wound.

As shown in FIG. 12 , another cable coder 7 is used: another cable coder constitutes a linear displacement sensor for measuring telescoping deployment of the boom 24 . The coder 7 comprises a coder, not shown, fixed at the end of the fastening element of the telescoping boom and to a cable mechanism comprising a drum (not shown), the drum being fixed to the end of the fastening element of the telescoping boom and A cable 70 is wound around the drum and the free end 71 of the cable is secured to the end of the mobile element 240 of the telescoping boom 24 in its largest deployment.

Indeed, the inventors have found that the deployment of the mobile element of the telescoping boom forms a slightly concave (downward) curve. Thus, for the measurement provided by the coder 7 , the actual distance between the platform 25 and the axis of rotation of the boom 24 is less than that measured by the coder 7 . We then evaluated the maximum error corresponding to the fully deployed boom. Knowing that this evolution of error is continuous and repeatable across stretch movements, the inventors were able to correct the measurements from the coder 7 by calculation.

As shown in FIG. 13 , two laser rangefinders 80 , 81 respectively fixed to the ends of the tool carrier 3 are points on the frame of the tool carrier 3 with respect to the hull of the vessel to be repaired and/or inspected. Allows the measurement of distances T1 and T2 from During operation of the robot according to the invention, if there is a difference between T1 and T2, the motor 390 for tilting the tool carrier 3 starts in one direction or the other as a function of the higher value until T1 = T2. do.

A third laser rangefinder 82 is advantageously fixed in the center of the frame of the tool carrier 3 for determining the distance from the tool 4 to the hull C, which is the minimum in case of convex curvature and the maximum in the case of concave curvature. can be

In ship hull maintenance, the ship's frame of reference is connected to the bottom of the dock and thus to the a priori horizontal plane. It is therefore of utmost importance to keep the base of the platform 25 and thus the support of the tool carrier 3 horizontal.

To this end, as shown in FIG. 14 , a two-dimensional sensor 9 is fixed to the platform 25 for measuring the inclination of the platform about two separate axes.

All sensors 5 to 9 installed on telescoping aerial lift 2 and tool carrier 3 and just described are command and control device of robot according to useful invention information for determining the position of tool 4 in space. to be supplied to the dedicated computer of

In order to ensure the flexibility and accuracy of the movement of the tool carrier 3 and thus to ensure that the tool 4 is compatible with the target maintenance of the ship's hull, the robot 1 according to the invention is advantageously a It is possible to incorporate devices for compensating operating play.

A first mechanical play compensation device 10 is shown in FIGS. 15 and 15 a , which makes it possible to compensate for play of a toothed ring 230 for orienting the turret 23 .

As can be seen in FIGS. 15 and 15A , rotation of the turret 23 is driven by a drive motor 231 that drives a gear 232 that directly meshes with a toothed ring 230 .

The play compensating device 10 includes a motor 101 for driving at least one gear 102 in a direction of rotation opposite to a gear 232 which meshes with a toothed ring 230 but drives the toothed ring 230 . .

A second mechanical play compensation device 11 is shown in FIG. 16 : this makes it possible to compensate the play between the platform 25 and the telescoping boom 24 .

The device 11 consists of a connection assembly added between a platform 25 and a telescoping boom 24 . This connecting assembly 11 comprises a first connecting portion 110 fixed to a shaft 240 defining an axis 4 and a second connecting portion 111 fixed to a platform 25 . The two connecting parts 111 , 112 are connected to each other by an orientation ring 113 , which is adapted to be rotated by a cylinder 114 of preferably electric type, one end of the cylinder being fixed to the first connecting part 111 . and the other end is fixed to the second connection part 112 .

It can also be seen in this figure that the platform 25 is mounted to pivot about the end of the boom 24 about a pivot shaft 241 defining an eleventh axis (axis 11 ). This "axis 11" is orthogonal to axis 4.

The robot 1 according to the invention finally has a command and control unit connected to a plurality of sensors 5 to 9 and to means for moving the tool carrier and moving the components of the aerial lift with respect to the first to eighth axes. (12), wherein said command and control unit as a function of information communicated by a plurality of sensors and/or a predefined maintenance of a wall section without a mobile base (20) of an aerial lift that needs to be moved and/or applied to automatically move the components of the aerial lift and tool carrier about one and/or another of the first and eighth axes as a function of the information conveyed according to a predefined sequence of inspections.

An advantageous embodiment of the command and control unit 12 is shown in FIG. 17 : it comprises an existing automatic controller 120 of the air lift connected to each of a plurality of sensors 5 , 6 , 7 , 80 , 81 , 9 . . This connection is preferably made via the ADC bus.

The existing aerial lift computer 121 is connected to the aerial lift automatic controller 120 .

A second computer, referred to as the robot computer 122, is connected to the aerial lift automatic controller 120, preferably via an Ethernet connection.

In operation of the robot, the robot computer 122 sends its command and control instructions to the aerial lift automatic controller 120 , which by itself transmits the command and control instructions to the aerial lift computer 121 . and the aerial lift computer controls movement of a component of the aerial lift movement of the tool carrier and components of the aerial lift about one and/or the other of the first to eighth axes.

The described operation of the robot 1 comprises the following steps performed automatically by a command and control unit, said steps comprising:

i/ disposing a platform such that the tool carrier carries the repair tool to a given point on the wall;

ii/ moving the tool carrier along a first vertical band along a wall defining a first repair pass;

iii/ upon completion of the first maintenance pass, automatically lowering by elevating and/or stretching the platform above a height corresponding to the first working pass below a predefined overlap area;

iv/ repeating steps ii/ and iii/ according to one or more work passes in addition to the first task until the platform reaches an extremely low position;

v/ command and control device evaluating whether a second band parallel to the first band can be swept by the tool carrier without moving the mobile base;

- if the evaluation of step v/ is positive, placing the platform at a given point in a second band, then repeating steps ii/ to iv/ in said second band;

- if the evaluation of step v/ is negative, stopping the mobile base's reward pending movement.

The command and control unit thus processes a series of automatically sequenced vertical bands.

There is no need to initially evaluate the number of bands that can be handled without moving the mobile base 20 of the aerial lift, ie the area that can be handled automatically without operator intervention. When evaluating the number of bands that can be handled, the need for overlap between bands should be considered.

18 and 19 schematically show evaluations performed on two different designs of telescopic aerial lifts currently on the market.

The mobile base 20 can be moved in an autonomous manner by a command and control unit along axes 9 and 10 as shown in FIG. 2 .

Other variations and modifications of the robot according to the invention can be envisioned without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, other types of sensors than those described may be used in telescoping aerial lifts and measuring instruments for various axes of movement of components of the tool carrier.

Claims (17)

As a robot (1) for paint film removal and/or renovation by paint coating and/or inspection of walls of large areas and/or large heights,
- as a telescopic aerial lift (2),
● mobile base (20),
- a turret 23 mounted to rotate on said base about a first axis (axis 1);
- a telescopic boom 24 mounted for rotation on said turret about a second axis (axis 2), telescopic boom 24, telescopic boom 24 along a third axis (axis 3);
A telescoping aerial lift (2) comprising a platform (25) mounted for rotation at the mobile end of the telescoping boom about a fourth axis (axis 4);
- a tool carrier 3 adapted to carry a maintenance and/or inspection tool 4, comprising three mutually orthogonal axes, respectively a fifth axis (axis 5), a sixth axis (axis 6), and a tool carrier (3) mounted for rotation on said platform about a seventh axis (axis 7) and for rotation on said platform about an eighth axis (axis 8);
- As multiple sensors:
- a first angle sensor (5) adapted to measure the angular position of the turret with respect to the base;
- a second angle sensor (6) adapted to measure the angular position of the boom relative to the turret;
- a linear displacement sensor (7) adapted to measure telescopic deployment of the boom;
- at least two distance measuring sensors (80, 81) each adapted to measure the distance of a point on the tool carrier to the wall being repaired and/or inspected;
- a plurality of sensors, comprising a tilt sensor (9) adapted to measure the tilt of the tool carrier with respect to at least horizontal;
- a command and control unit (12) connected to a plurality of sensors and means for displacement of said tool carrier along said first to said eighth axis and for displacement of an aerial lift element, said command and control unit comprising said plurality of predefined of repair and/or inspection of areas of the wall without the mobile base of the aerial lift to be moved and along one and/or the other of the first to eighth axes as a function of the information conveyed by the sensors A robot (1) adapted to move the elements of the aerial lift and the tool carrier automatically according to a sequence. The method of claim 1,
The first angle sensor is an absolute optical coder 5 comprising an optical barcode reader 50 fixed to the turret and a ring 51 fixed to the mobile base, the periphery of the ring being the arranged opposite the optical reader such that during rotation of the turret relative to the mobile base a light beam from the reader intercepts at least a portion of one of the barcodes to determine an angular position of the turret. A robot (1) supporting an annular band (52) comprising distinct and mutually adjacent barcodes (53) of 3. The method of claim 2,
and the arrangement of the annular band relative to the barcode reader causes the light beam to intercept at least three portions of distinct barcodes. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The second angle sensor comprises an absolute cable coder (6) comprising a coder (60) fixed to the mobile turret and a cable mechanism (61) comprising a drum fixed to the mobile turret. (6), wherein a cable (62) is wound around the mobile turret and the free end of the cable is secured to one of the elements of the telescoping boom. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
wherein said linear displacement sensor is an absolute cable coder (7) comprising a cable mechanism comprising a coder fixed to an end of a fixed element of said telescoping boom and a drum fixed to an end of said fixed element of said telescoping boom, said drum A robot (1), wherein a cable (70) is wound around it and the free end (71) of the cable is secured to the end of the largest deploying mobile element of the telescoping boom. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
At least two distance measuring sensors are two first laser rangefinders (80, 81) fixed at a constant distance from each other to the tool carrier so as to measure two distances between the tool carrier and the wall to be repaired and/or inspected. In, Robot (1). 7. The method of claim 6,
robot (1) comprising another laser rangefinder (82) fixed to the center of said tool carrier (3), while said first two rangefinders are fixed to the lower end and upper end of said tool carrier. 8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
wherein the inclination sensor is a two-dimensional sensor (9) fixed to the platform and adapted to measure the inclination of the platform in two separate axes. 9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
a device (10) for compensating for mechanical play of a toothed ring (230) to orient the mobile turret, the device (10) comprising: a motor for rotationally driving the toothed ring and the toothed ring A robot (1) comprising, in addition to (231), at least one gear (102) meshing with the toothed ring (230) and one motor (101) for driving the gear in the opposite rotational direction of the toothed ring. 10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
a device (11) for compensating mechanical play between the platform and the telescoping boom, the device comprising a connecting assembly between the platform and the telescoping boom, the connecting assembly being on the fourth axis a first connecting element (111) fixed against the platform, and a second connecting element (112) fixed against the platform, said first and second connecting elements being connected to a cylinder (114), preferably electric A robot (1) articulated to each other by an orientation ring (113) adapted to cause rotation by means of an orientation ring (113), one end of which is fixed to the first connecting element and the other end fixed to the second connecting element. 11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The command and control unit (12) is a second controller named for the aerial lift computer (121) connected to the aerial lift automatic controller (120) connected to each of a plurality of sensors, preferably by means of an ADC bus. one computer, and a second computer named robotic computer (122), preferably connected to said aerial lift automatic controller via an Ethernet connection, said robotic computer transmitting its commands and control instructions to said first to first sending the command and control instructions to an airlift automatic controller that is self-coordinated to transmit to the airlift computer commanding and controlling the movement of the components of the airlift and tool carrier about one and/or the other of the eight axes A robot (1) adapted to do so. 12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
The mobile base (20) comprises a translational motor defining a ninth axis (axis 9) and at least one steerable axle defining a tenth axis (axis 10). 13. The method of claim 12,
and the command and control unit is coordinated to move the mobile base automatically about one and/or the other of the ninth and tenth axes upon completion of the predefined sequence. 14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13,
the platform (25) pivots relative to the mobile end of the telescoping boom about a pivot axis (241) defining an eleventh axis (axis 11) orthogonal to the fourth axis (axis 4) ). 15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14,
The tool carrier is a robot configured to carry an abrasive spray nozzle 4 provided with a nozzle for spraying water at high pressure into an aspiration hood for recycling abrasive or a hood for breathing sprayed water ( One). 16. A method of operating a robot according to any one of claims 1 to 15 along a wall of large area and/or of a large height, comprising the following steps, which are carried out automatically by a command and control unit, said step Is:
i/ positioning the platform so that the tool carrier carries the repair tool to a given point on the wall;
ii/ moving the tool carrier along a first vertical band along a wall defining a first repair pass;
iii/ upon completion of the first repair pass, automatically lowering by elevating and/or telescoping the platform above a height corresponding to the first work pass below a predefined area of overlap;
iv/ repeating steps ii/ and iii/ according to one or more work passes in addition to the first until the platform reaches its extremely low position;
v/ command and control device evaluating whether a second band parallel to the first can be swept by the tool carrier without moving the mobile base;
- positioning the platform at a given point in the second band if the evaluation of step v/ is positive, then repeating steps ii/ to iv/ in the second band;
- if the evaluation of step v/ is negative, stopping the repair pending movement of the mobile base. Robot according to any one of claims 1 to 16 for repairing the hull of a ship by removing the paint film, preferably by spraying abrasives or using water and removing the paint film, if necessary together with painting. use of.

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