WO2009110592A1

WO2009110592A1 - Movement auxiliary arm and movement apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2009110592A1
Application number: PCT/JP2009/054287
Authority: WO
Inventors: 茂男廣瀬; ミケレグアラニエリ; パウロデベネスト
Original assignee: 国立大学法人東京工業大学
Priority date: 2008-03-07
Filing date: 2009-03-06
Publication date: 2009-09-11
Also published as: JPWO2009110592A1

Abstract

Provided is a movement auxiliary arm which can constitute a small and inexpensive movement apparatus capable of moving stably on a movement surface having unevenness. Also provided is the movement apparatus which is provided with the movement auxiliary arm. At least one movement auxiliary arms (10), which are used for the movement apparatus moving on the movement surface, are installed so as to project from at least one end portion of the moving direction of the movement apparatus (1), thereby stabilizing the movement of the movement apparatus in contact with the movement surface. Therefore, the movement apparatus gets longer substantiallywith the movement auxiliary arms, thereby being capable of moving stably even on the movement surface having unevenness such as stairs. Moreover, the movement apparatus itself excepting the movement auxiliary arms is small and the movement auxiliary arms have a simple structure; thereby the movement apparatus including the movement auxiliary arms can be inexpensive.

Description

Movement assist arm and moving device

The present invention relates to a movement assist arm used for a movement apparatus that moves on a movement surface and a movement apparatus including the movement assist arm, and in particular, movement that can stabilize movement of the movement apparatus on a movement surface having a step. The present invention relates to an auxiliary arm and a movement device including the movement auxiliary arm.

Conventionally, as a moving device that can move smoothly on a moving surface with steps such as stairs, a moving device with an endless track, that is, a movement with a crawler that can be moved by a belt spanned between pulleys. A lot of equipment is used. However, when the length of the crawler is shorter than the distance between the edges of the stairs, the moving device may fall in an unstable posture while moving up and down the stairs. In view of this, there has been proposed a moving device in which an auxiliary crawler mechanism that is rotatable on the rear side of the main crawler mechanism is arranged around the rear pulley shaft of the main crawler mechanism. According to the moving device having such a configuration, when moving up and down the stairs, the auxiliary crawler mechanism is pivotally positioned so as to protrude straight from the rear part of the main crawler mechanism, so that the moving device becomes substantially longer. Can be moved up and down stably (see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-1445

Since the moving device described above includes an auxiliary crawler mechanism in addition to the main crawler mechanism, it tends to increase in size and cost.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a movement assist arm that can constitute a small and low-cost movement apparatus that can stably move on a moving surface having a step, and the movement assist arm. It is in providing the provided mobile device.

In order to achieve the above object, the movement assist arm of the present invention is a movement assist arm used for a movement apparatus that moves on a movement surface, and is at least 1 so as to protrude from at least one end in the movement direction of the movement apparatus. This is attached and is characterized in that the movement of the moving device is stabilized by contacting the moving surface. Thereby, since a moving apparatus becomes substantially long with a movement auxiliary arm, even if it is a moving surface with steps, such as a staircase, it can move stably. Further, the moving device itself excluding the movement assist arm is small in size, and the movement assist arm has a simple configuration, so that the movement device including the movement assist arm can be configured at low cost.

Further, the arm main body is formed of an elastic material. Thereby, even if the movement auxiliary arm is fixed, the movement auxiliary arm is bent when it comes into contact with the moving surface, so that the movement auxiliary arm can be prevented from being damaged.
Further, the moving device provided in the arm mounting portion is configured to be rotatable at a predetermined angle around an axis orthogonal to the moving direction and the vertical direction. Thereby, especially when going down a level | step difference, since a movement auxiliary | assistant arm can be lowered | hung and it can be made to contact a moving surface previously, a level | step difference can be lowered smoothly. In addition, since the movement assist arm can be raised when moving on a flat movement surface, inadvertent contact of the movement assist arm with the movement surface can be prevented and the movement can be performed smoothly.

In addition, a camera is provided at the distal end portion of the arm body, and the wiring of the camera is passed through the arm body. Thereby, since the surroundings can be monitored with the camera, it is possible to avoid collision with an obstacle during movement. Further, since the camera wiring does not rub against the moving surface or the like, disconnection can be prevented.
Further, a gripper is provided at the tip of the arm body, and the wiring of the gripper is passed through the arm body. As a result, the object can be gripped by the gripper, so that the obstacle can be removed during the movement. Since the gripper wiring does not rub against the moving surface or the like, disconnection can be prevented.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the moving device of the present invention is characterized in that it includes each of the movement assist arms. Thereby, the moving apparatus which has said each effect can be provided. Further, the moving form is a crawler type or a wheel type. Thereby, it can move easily even in a relatively rough place.

It is a perspective view which shows the moving apparatus provided with the movement assistance arm which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a model figure in the raising / lowering of the stairs of the moving apparatus of FIG. It is a 1st figure explaining raising / lowering of the stair of the moving apparatus without a tail. It is a 2nd figure explaining raising / lowering of the stair of the moving apparatus without a tail. It is a 1st figure explaining raising / lowering of the staircase of the moving apparatus with a tail. It is a 2nd figure explaining raising / lowering of the stairs of the moving apparatus with a tail. It is a comparison figure of the climbing operation of the stairs by the moving apparatus without a tail, and the climbing operation of the stairs by the moving apparatus with a tail. It is a comparison figure of the descent | fall operation | movement of the stairs by the moving apparatus without a tail, and the descent | fall operation of the stairs by the moving apparatus with a tail. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the crawler length which has a tail, gravity center height, and tail length. It is a perspective view which shows the moving apparatus provided with the movement auxiliary arm which concerns on another embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

, 1,21 moving device, 2,22 main body, 3,23 crawler, 10,30 movement auxiliary arm, 11,31 tail, 12 tail drive unit

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below do not limit the invention according to the claims, and all the combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the invention. Absent. In the following description, the front and rear are the moving direction, the left and right are the horizontal direction orthogonal to the moving direction, and the upper and lower are the vertical direction orthogonal to the moving direction.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a moving apparatus provided with a movement assist arm according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 has a pair of crawlers 3 arranged in parallel on both the left and right sides of a main body 2, and a movement assist arm 10 projects from one side end 2a of the main body 2 between the pair of crawlers 3. As shown in FIG. Are arranged. In the crawler 3, a belt 4 is stretched between a pair of pulleys (not shown) arranged at the front and rear, and a motor and a gear mechanism (not shown) are arranged between the pulleys. Then, the crawler 3 is driven to rotate forward and backward by the belt 4 being rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow a as a result of the driving force of the motor being transmitted to the pulley via a gear mechanism or the like.

The movement assist arm 10 includes a tail 11 and a tail drive unit 12 that turns the tail 11 around the pitch axis. The tail 11 is formed in a rod shape with an elastic body such as urethane rubber, for example, and one end thereof is rotatably attached to one side end 2 a of the main body 2. That is, two bearings 2b project from a side end 2a of the main body 2 at a predetermined interval in both sides of the main body 2, and a rotary shaft 2c is rotatably provided between the bearings 2b. It is supported. One end of the tail 11 is fixed to the rotating shaft 2c and swivels up and down according to the rotation of the rotating shaft 2c.

The tail drive unit 12 includes a motor 13, a worm 14 and a pinion 15. The motor 13 is built in the main body 2 such that the motor shaft 13 a protrudes from the one side end 2 a of the main body 2. The worm 14 is fitted into the motor shaft 13a, and the pinion 15 is fitted into the rotary shaft 2c so as to mesh with the worm 14. The tail drive unit 12 has an output capable of swinging the tail 11 up and down in the air, but does not have a strong output that lifts the moving device 1 itself.

According to the moving device 1 having such a configuration, the tail 11 can switch its angle according to the environment by driving the tail drive unit 12. Further, since the tail drive unit 12 uses the worm 14 and the pinion 15, the tail 11 cannot be back-driven, so that the tail 11 can be maintained on the stairs without consuming energy. Since the moving device 1 includes the crawler 3 and the movement assist arm 10, the moving device 1 can easily move on a staircase as well as a relatively rough place having an inclined surface, an uneven surface, a step, and the like. Next, the stable raising / lowering in the stairs of this moving apparatus 1 is demonstrated.

FIG. 2 is a model diagram when moving up and down the staircase S of the moving device 1. The inter-pulley length of the crawler 3 (hereinafter referred to as crawler 3 length) is B, the axial length of the tail 11 (hereinafter referred to as tail 11 length) is t, and the height of the center of gravity CG of the entire moving device 1 from the crawler 3 grounding surface ( Hereinafter, the center of gravity CG height is referred to as h.

Whether such a moving device 1 can move up and down the stairs S stably will be described with reference to a moving device 1 ′ having no tail 11 shown in FIG. 3. Of the portion where the crawler 3 is in contact with the staircase S, it is determined by whether or not the center of gravity CG ′ of the entire moving device 1 ′ is above the edge point P that contacts the lowermost side of the staircase S. When the moving device 1 ′ at the position of FIG. 3 slightly descends the stairs S from this position, the center of gravity CG ′ becomes lower than the edge point P, and the moving device 1 ′ rotates around the edge point P to move the stairs S. Start to fall down. Of course, there may be a case where the lower side of the moving device 1 ′ does not completely fall because the lower side of the moving device 1 ′ is in contact with the staircase S, but at least the above-mentioned condition is a switching point as to whether or not to start the overturning motion.

However, when the center of gravity CG ′ is above the edge point P as shown in FIG. 4, if the crawler 3 is long enough that the edge point of the lower staircase S contacts the lower side of the moving device 1 ′, the moving device 1 The moving device 1 ′ is stable whenever ′ moves up and down the stairs S. Therefore, in order to consider this posture as a limit posture for stable running and to improve stability more than this limit stable posture, the condition of the following equation (1) needs to be satisfied.

B · cos (α) / 2−h · sin (α) ≧ a (1)

However, a is the tread dimension of the staircase S, b is the kicking dimension of the staircase S, α is the inclination angle of the staircase S, and r is the pulley radius of the crawler 3. Then, the following equations (2) and (3) can be derived from this equation (1).

B> 2√ (a ² + b ² ) + 2bh / a (2)
h <a (B / 2−√ (a ² + b ² )) / b (3)

From these formulas (2) and (3), when a is 275 mm and b is 160 mm in a normal staircase S, for example, the relationship between the center of gravity CG ′ height h and the crawler 3 length B to achieve stability is It can be calculated as shown in Table 1. For example, when the center of gravity CG ′ height h is 350 mm, the crawler 3 length B must be 1.044 m.

On the other hand, in the moving apparatus 1 having the tail 11 shown in FIG. 5A, the tail 11 exerts an effect of extending the length of the crawler 3, and the mass of the tail 11 is small, so that the center of gravity CG is kept above the stairs S. If the equivalent crawler 3 length is extended below the stairs S, the same effect is exhibited. Such a relationship between the length of the tail 11 and the stability is obtained thereafter. As shown in FIG. 5B, at least the posture of FIG. 5B is stable if the tip of the tail 11 rides on the edge portion of the lower staircase S.

However, if the mobile device 1 rises even a little, it becomes unstable. Therefore, the length of the tail 11 needs to be longer. What is the length of the tail 11 that can maintain stability regardless of the position of the moving device 1 with respect to the staircase S, the vertical line from the center of gravity CG extends from the tip of the tail 11 to the staircase S in FIG. The length that satisfies the condition of being at the position of the distance c connecting the edge points (the edge point P in FIG. 5B) is the limit length. This limit condition is obtained as follows. First, the length d from the center position of the crawler 3 ground plane to the position where the perpendicular of the center of gravity CG intersects the crawler 3 ground plane is expressed by the following equations (4) and (5).

tan (α) = b / a = d / h (4)
d = bh / a (5)

When the center of gravity CG is directly above the edge point P of the staircase S, the following equation (6) is obtained.

c = t + (B / 2−d) (6)

And the tail 11 length t at this time is expressed by the following equation (7).

t = c + (d−B / 2) (7)

When the position of the center of gravity CG is higher and this condition is not satisfied, the condition that the length of the tail 11 is lengthened and the center of gravity is above the edge point P of the lower step S as shown in FIG. 6 is satisfied. You can do that.

7 (A) to (D), (E) to (H), and FIGS. 8 (A) to (C) and (D) to (F) are steps up the stairs by the moving device 1 ′ without the tail 11. FIG. 6 is a comparison diagram of a stair climbing operation and a descending operation by the moving device 1 having the tail 11 and the descending operation. In the moving device 1 ′ without the tail 11, the staircase S ascending preparation operation shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C is stable, but as shown in FIG. 7D, the staircase S ascending start operation is performed. Falls in

On the other hand, the moving device 1 having the tail 11 is stable from the ascending preparation operation to the ascending start operation of the stairs S shown in FIGS. 7 (E) to (H). Further, in the moving device 1 ′ having no tail, in the descending operation of the stairs S from the stair landing shown in FIGS. 8A to 8B, the abrupt rotation starts halfway, as shown in FIG. 7C. Falls. On the other hand, the mobile device 1 having the tail 11 is stable from the preparation operation for descending the stairs S shown in FIGS. 8D to 8F to the initiation operation for descending. Note that if the tail 11 is faced down in advance, a large overturning operation that occurs when entering the stairs S from the landing can be prevented.

The relationship between the crawler 3 length B having the tail 11, the center of gravity CG height h, and the tail 11 length t is shown in Table 2 and FIG. When the tail 11 was not present, the crawler 3 length B required 1.044 m when the center of gravity CG height h was 350 mm. However, it can be seen from Table 2 that if the tail 11 having the tail 11 length t of 324.3 mm is attached under the same conditions, the crawler 3 length B may be about 1/3 of 395 mm. In this way, it can be seen that even when the lightweight tail 11 is attached, even a short crawler 3 exhibits high stability. In addition, since the tail 11 is elastic, an impact absorbing effect is also produced. Moreover, even if such a tail 11 is equipped, its size is so small that it is difficult to get in the way of hitting an obstacle.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a moving device provided with a movement assist arm according to another embodiment of the present invention. The moving device 21 shown in FIG. 10 also has a pair of crawlers 23 arranged in parallel on the left and right sides of the main body 22 in the same manner as the moving device 1 shown in FIG. In the crawler 23, a belt 24 is stretched between a pair of pulleys (not shown) arranged at the front and rear, and a motor and a gear mechanism (not shown) are arranged between the pulleys. The crawler 23 is driven to rotate forward and backward by the belt 24 being rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow a in FIG. However, unlike the moving apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, two movement assisting arms 30 are disposed so as to protrude substantially parallel to one side end 22 a of the main body 22 between the pair of crawlers 23.

Each movement auxiliary arm 30 includes a tail 31 and a tail drive unit (not shown) having the same configuration as that of the moving device 1 shown in FIG. 1 for turning the tail 31 around the pitch axis. Each tail 31 is formed in a rod shape with an elastic body such as urethane rubber, for example, and one end is rotatably attached to one side end 22a of the main body 22, and the angle is switched according to the environment by driving the tail drive unit. be able to. Since each tail 31 uses a worm and a pinion for the tail drive unit and cannot be back driven, the tail 31 can exhibit characteristics such as being able to hold the posture of the tail 31 without consuming energy on stairs or the like. According to the moving device 21 having such a configuration, the main body 22 can be supported by the two movement assist arms 30 arranged in parallel, so of course a relatively uneven place having an inclined surface, an uneven surface, a step, and the like. Even on the staircase, the stability can be further improved as compared with the moving device 1 shown in FIG.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the

tails

11 and 31 are configured to be driven up and down by the tail drive unit 12. However, only the

tails

11 and 31 are moved from the one side ends 2a and 22a of the

main bodies

2 and 22 in the moving direction. It is good also as a structure fixed so that it might protrude. Further, the slide mechanism of the

tails

11 and 31 may be built in the

main bodies

2 and 22 a so that the

tails

11 and 31 can be stored in the

main bodies

2 and 22. Moreover, it is good also as a structure provided with the tail drive part which can be rotated 360 degree | times in addition to the up-down drive and the left-right drive. The

tails

11 and 31 may be rigid bodies instead of elastic bodies. Further, one

tail

11, 31 is attached to one

end

2 a, 22 a of the

main bodies

2, 22, but two or more may be attached, and may be similarly attached to the other end of the

main bodies

2, 22.

Further, a small omnidirectional camera may be provided at the tip of the

tails

11 and 31 so that monitoring work can be performed. Further, a gripper may be provided at the tips of the

tails

11 and 31 so that handling work can be performed. Then, the wiring for operating the camera and the gripper may be passed through the

tails

11 and 31. In this case, the

tails

11 and 31 play the role of wiring protection. A roller may be attached to the tip of the

tails

11 and 31. The moving

devices

1 and 21 are moved by the

crawlers

3 and 23, but may be moved by a tire row.

Claims

A movement assist arm used in a moving device that moves on a moving surface,
At least one of the movement devices is attached so as to protrude from at least one end in the movement direction of the movement device, and the movement auxiliary arm stabilizes movement of the movement device by contacting the movement surface.
The movement auxiliary arm according to claim 1, wherein the arm main body is made of an elastic material.
The movement auxiliary arm according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the movement auxiliary arm is configured to be rotatable at a predetermined angle about an axis orthogonal to a moving direction and an up-down direction of the moving device provided in the arm mounting portion.
The movement assist arm according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a camera is provided at a tip of the arm body, and wiring of the camera is passed through the arm body.
The movement auxiliary arm according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a gripper is provided at a tip of the arm body, and wiring of the gripper is passed through the arm body.
A moving device comprising the movement assist arm according to claim 1.
The moving apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the moving form is a crawler type or a wheel type.