WO2014189302A1

WO2014189302A1 - Omnidirectional walking assistant robot

Info

Publication number: WO2014189302A1
Application number: PCT/KR2014/004569
Authority: WO
Inventors: 이학용; 윤종현; 박성민
Original assignee: (주)엠텍
Priority date: 2013-05-23
Filing date: 2014-05-22
Publication date: 2014-11-27
Also published as: KR20140137588A

Abstract

An omnidirectional walking assistant robot of the present invention comprises: a body part having three Y-shaped protruding portions arranged in a planar shape; a saddle formed on the upper surface of the body part for a user to ride thereon; three leg parts located on the bottoms of the three protruding portions of the body part; a wheel part, located at each edge of the three leg parts, having wheels for movement; and a direction input part for controlling the direction of the wheel part.

Description

Omnidirectional walking robot

The present invention relates to an omnidirectional walking assistance robot.

In general, walking aids are a means used to assist rehabilitation or assist behavior of a patient or elderly person who has difficulty walking.

In addition, the general public also increases the use of walking aid robot for the convenience of work.

As walker aids are increasingly concerned about the quality of life and welfare, and as the modern society enters an aging society, research and development on the elderly welfare industry called the silver industry is active worldwide. In particular, as the number of elderly people needing care is increased due to the increase in the elderly population over 85 years old, silver industries such as medical services and social services are in the spotlight.

In particular, home-based elderly people with reduced muscle strength and memory are urgently required to use a walking aid for home life support, and an auxiliary device capable of supporting not only walking assistance but also indoor living work is required.

In general, the elderly have helpers to help them freely to their desired place, but there is a limit to the help system for human beings to care for the increasing number of elderly people. There is a need for the development of a walking aid robot that can help the elderly walk indoors and outdoors and process various information that may occur while the elderly move.

The conventional walking aid robot occupies a lot of space and does not pass through a space such as furniture or a door, and has a problem that is not suitable for indoor use because of difficulty in detailed driving.

In addition, the conventional walking aids are weak in terms of structural stability because the user is likely to fall or overturn the equipment when the user loses the center or malfunction of the equipment.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a walking aid robot that can easily move to the direction and location that the user with weak muscle strength wants to assist the user walking after boarding.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an omnidirectional walking assistance robot includes a body part having three protruding parts arranged in a planar shape having a Y shape, formed on an upper surface of the body part, and a saddle on which the user boards, three of the body parts. And three leg portions positioned below the two protruding portions, a wheel portion positioned at the end of each of the three leg portions, and having a wheel for movement, and a direction input portion for controlling the direction of the wheel portion.

The wheel unit includes a motor for driving the wheel, an encoder for checking a moving speed and a driving state of the motor by checking the number of rotations of the motor, a brake for stopping the movement of the wheel, and for controlling the brake. It includes a clutch.

The wheel is configured to abut a pair of four omni wheels.

The body portion includes at least one lighting unit positioned on the side of the three protruding portions to output light to the outside.

The omnidirectional walking assistance robot further includes a sensor unit, wherein the sensor unit is located at a front portion of each of the three protruding portions, and an upper sensor for detecting an obstacle approaching in a moving direction, and the wheel is disposed on an outer surface of the wheel unit. Located facing the direction of movement and includes a lower sensor for detecting the oncoming obstacle when the wheel moves.

The direction input unit is installed in the lower part of the saddle, and forms a pressure-sensitive sensor that receives a direction in which the user tilts more when the user boards the driving direction.

The saddle includes a pair of handles formed at the rear left and right sides of the saddle and held by the hand to support the body when the user boards.

The direction input unit may be formed as a button for inputting a driving direction by a user's hand pressing the upper surface of at least one of the handles.

According to this feature, there is an effect of providing a walking aid robot that can easily move to the direction and location that the user with weak muscle strength wants to assist by walking the user after boarding.

1 is a perspective view of the omnidirectional walking assistance robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top view showing the omnidirectional walking assistance robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a view showing the input state of the direction input unit consisting of a pressure-sensitive direction key in the omnidirectional walking aid robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a diagram showing the decompression distribution when the standby state does not move, (b) is a figure which shows the pressure reduction distribution at the time of left rotation.

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of a system for controlling the omnidirectional walking assistance robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention.

Next, an omnidirectional walking assistance robot according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, an omnidirectional walking assistance robot according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

1 and 2, the structure of the omnidirectional walking assistance robot according to an embodiment of the present invention is a body portion 100 having three

protrusions

111 and 112 arranged in a Y-shaped plane shape. ), The saddle 200 positioned on the upper surface of the three protruding

portions

111 and 112 of the body portion 100, and the leg portion 300 positioned on the lower ends of the three protruding

portions

111 and 112 of the body portion 100. Located at the bottom of the leg portion 300, one wheel portion 400 for moving the omnidirectional walking aid robot, and is located on the rear side of the saddle 200, the handle that can be held by the user hand when boarding (500) ) Is included.

Body portion 100 of the omnidirectional walking aid robot as described above is formed with a leg portion 300 under each protruding portion (111, 112) arranged in a Y-shape, the wheel portion at the bottom of the leg portion 300 400 is formed to have a total of three leg portion 300 and three wheel portion 400.

Body portion 100 has a Y shape when viewed from the top, the front of the omnidirectional walking aid robot of the three protruding parts (111, 112) protruding outward in three different directions in the same plane. One protruding portion (hereinafter referred to as 'front protruding portion') 111 protruding toward) becomes the front portion of the body portion 100 and the other two protruding portions protruding toward the rear of the omnidirectional walking assistance robot. (Hereinafter, referred to as 'rear projecting portion') 112 becomes the rear portion.

At this time, each of the

protruding portions

111 and 112 of the body portion 100 includes two front sides and two side surfaces respectively positioned on both sides of the front portion and the front portion where the saddle 200 is not positioned.

In this example, the saddle 200 is located above one anterior protrusion 111 and two posterior protrusions 112, whereby a portion of the saddle 200 spans between the two posterior protrusions 112. have.

When the user rides on the saddle 200 located on the body part 100, the user places the lower part of the 'Y' character between the legs (that is, one front protruding portion 111) between the legs. You will board.

Since the body part 100 configured as described above is Y-shaped, it may pass while rotating a space narrower than the diameter of the actual robot in an obstacle such as a door.

In addition, in the Y-shape of the body portion 100, the front of the protruding portion 111 in front of the user will be boarding the occupant can work on the front.

And, both sides of each of the protruding portion (111, 112) of the body portion 100 is mounted with a lighting unit 110 for outputting light to the outside to help identify the front and rear.

The lighting unit 110 includes an illumination sensor (not shown) to sense the illumination to adjust the brightness of the daytime bright outside and the nighttime dark outside.

Here, a photoconductive device is used as an illumination sensor.

Saddle 200 is located on the upper surface of the body portion 100 when the user boarded, serves as a user's seat, and includes a cushion for the user's boarding, the user in the saddle 200 To help sit stably, the top surface of the saddle 200 has a shape that is lower in height toward the middle from the edge, that is, has a curved surface in the middle.

The leg part 300 is attached to one end of each protruding

portion

111 and 112 of the body part 100, so that a total of three leg parts 300 extend so as to descend toward the ground so that the body part 100 is provided. Support stably)

At this time, the other side located on one side of the leg portion 200 connected to the body portion 100 is connected to the wheel portion 400, each leg 300 is each wheel portion 400 and the body portion 100 ).

The leg 300 includes a shock absorber (not shown) when the user drives after boarding, in order to minimize the impact of the unevenness of the ground to the user.

The wheel unit 400 is formed at the end of each leg 300 and includes a wheel 410 for moving over the ground.

Here, the wheels 410 provided in each of the wheel parts 400 rotate in accordance with a direction in which four omni wheels are positioned in pairs.

In addition, the wheel unit 400 is a motor (not shown) for driving the wheel 410, the operation of the motor, such as whether the rotational speed of the motor, the degree of rotation and the driving state of the motor is normal by using the number of rotation of the motor, etc. An encoder (not shown) for checking a state, a brake (not shown) for stopping the movement of the wheel 410, and a clutch 420 for controlling the brake are included.

When the user rides in the omnidirectional walking assistance robot, the handle 500 is provided at the rear left and right sides of the saddle 200 to increase a sense of stability of the occupant.

The handle 500 is located on the waist side of the user when the user boards, and when the handle 500 is held, the handle 500 can obtain the same effect as leaning back, and the user's fatigue is felt by the user's back and shoulders. It has the effect of making you feel less.

In addition, the handle 500 includes a direction input unit 700 for manipulating the movement and stop of the omnidirectional walking assistance robot.

The direction input unit 700 is positioned on the upper surface of the left handle 500 or the right handle 500 for the convenience of the user. In the present embodiment, the direction input unit 700 is formed of a stick-shaped button, but a button form or a touch panel such as a direction key of the keyboard is used. It is possible to form in the form of an input button.

When the direction input unit 700 presses forward, forward presses backward, presses backward, presses leftwards, rotates leftwards, presses rightwards, turns right, and stops forwards when the driver reverses the direction backwards. It is to drive the omnidirectional walking assistance robot in the direction corresponding to each.

In addition, the stop button can be provided as a button separately from the stick-type button for inputting the direction, in this case, it is possible to stop the driving of the omnidirectional walking aid robot in the emergency situation without difficulty of operation.

In this way, the direction input unit 700 for manipulating the driving of the omnidirectional walking assistance robot may be input through the inclination of the occupant's body rather than the manual input method.

In addition, the omnidirectional walking aid robot is not only to automatically move and drive the user after boarding, but also the user can move the robot by rolling the foot directly, so that it can also be used as a strength exercise device.

And by installing a storage tool such as a basket at the rear end of the saddle 200, it is possible to load and transport things.

Referring to Figure 3 will be described a case in which the driving direction of the omnidirectional walking assistance robot using the inclination of the occupant's body.

To this end, a plurality of pressure-sensitive sensor (S11) is provided in a matrix form on the lower portion of the saddle 200 or inside the saddle 200.

Decompression sensor (S11) is a sensor for outputting a signal of the corresponding size according to the amount of pressure applied, the occupant of the body of the decompression sensor (S11) of the lower saddle 200 when the body tilts in the direction to move The pressure sensor S11 located in the tilting direction is pressed more than the pressure sensor S11 located in the other direction, and the magnitude of the signal output from each pressure sensor S11 varies according to the tilting direction of the occupant's body.

Therefore, the control unit (see FIG. 4) 101 determines the pressure distribution applied to the plurality of pressure reduction sensors S11 by determining the state of the signals output from the plurality of pressure reduction sensors S11, and thus the body of the occupant. The direction of inclination is determined, the direction in which the occupant's body is inclined is determined, the driving direction of the omnidirectional walking robot is controlled in the determined direction, and the omnidirectional walking robot is driven in that direction.

An example of driving by such a pressure sensor S11 can be confirmed in FIGS. 3A and 3B.

In FIG. 3, the circles indicate the pressure-sensitive sensor S11, respectively, and the darker the circle, the greater the pressure applied to the pressure-sensitive sensor S11. When the inside of the circle is white, the pressure-sensitive sensor S11 is not pressed. ), That is, the pressure sensor S11 to which no pressure is applied is displayed.

3A is an input distribution diagram of the decompression sensor S11 when the occupant is on the saddle 200 and is in a standby state without moving.

As can be seen in Figure 3 (a), when the occupant does not move and sits still in the center of the saddle 200, the pressure sensor S11 is also distributed evenly around the center by the weight of the occupant.

In this case, the control unit 101 determines not to move and waits to control the omnidirectional walking assistance robot to the standby state without moving.

3B is an input distribution diagram of the decompression sensor S11 when the occupant is inclined to the left by riding on the saddle 200.

As shown in (b) of FIG. 3, when the occupant leans to the left side, the pressure is applied mainly to the decompression sensor S11 located in the left part of the plurality of decompression sensors S11 by the weight of the occupant. Able to know.

In this case, the control unit 101 commands a left turn in the same way as the left button input of the direction input unit 700 formed of a stick-type button, so that the omnidirectional walking assistance robot drives the left turn.

The user can select the direction input unit 700 using the pressure-sensitive sensor S11 or the direction input unit 700 using the stick-type button according to the user's convenience to operate the omnidirectional walking assistance robot.

The omnidirectional walking assistance robot further includes an upper sensor 610 and a lower sensor 620 for detecting and avoiding an obstacle that the user did not find in the moving direction when driving.

The upper sensor 610 is positioned at the end of each protruding

portion

111 and 112 of the body 100 (that is, the end of the front portion which is the most protruding portion from the front portion).

The upper sensors 610 are positioned at the ends of each of the protruding

portions

111 and 112, and are provided in three spaced apart at regular intervals on the same horizontal line.

Therefore, a total of nine upper sensors 610 are present in the body part 100, and an upper sensor located at the center of the three upper sensors 610 located at one protruding

portion

111 and 112 faces the front surface. The upper sensors on both sides are positioned to face the front left side and front right side, respectively, to detect a situation in each corresponding direction.

Using the signal output from the upper sensor 610 configured as described above, the controller 101 detects an approaching object or obstacle from all directions of the omnidirectional walking assistance robot, and then uses a speaker (not shown) to alert the occupant. Inform the dangerous situation through, or driving the wheel 410 of the wheel unit 400 in the corresponding direction to automatically avoid the dangerous situation to drive.

The lower sensor 620 is located on the outer surface of the wheel part 400 and faces the outside of the wheel part 400, and each of the wheel parts 400 has three predetermined intervals on the same horizontal line. have.

Like the upper sensor 610, the lower sensor located at the center of the lower sensor 620 is positioned to face the front side and the lower sensor on both sides to face the front left side and front right side, respectively, so as to detect a situation in each corresponding direction. Is formed.

The signal output from the lower sensor 620 configured as described above is also input to the controller 101, and the controller 101 detects an obstacle located on the ground in advance when the omnidirectional walking assistance robot is driven, and alerts the occupant through a speaker. Notify, or drive the wheel 410 of the wheel unit 400 in the corresponding direction to automatically avoid driving.

Operation of the omnidirectional walking assistance robot having the structure as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is controlled by the control system shown in FIG. 4.

The control system of the omnidirectional walking aid robot shown in Figure 4 is located in the power switch (SW1), the body portion 100 for inputting power, the control unit 101, the control unit 101 for controlling other components by receiving power When the electrical signal is input through the control unit 101 is connected to the brake unit 403 to control the brake, the clutch 420 is connected to output a signal to release the stop state of the brake unit 403 clutch 420 Clutch unit 421 to control the direction, the user inputs the drive via the stick-type button or the pressure-sensitive sensor (S11) laid under the saddle 200, the direction input unit 700 for transmitting a driving command to the control unit 101, Encoder unit having a motor unit 401, an encoder inputted from the direction input unit 700 and driven by a drive command received through the control unit 101 and an encoder, and measuring the operating state of the motor and transmitting the encoder unit to the control unit 101 ( 402, upper sensor 610, and lower sensor And a sensor unit 601 for inputting external information sensed through the upper sensor 610 and the lower sensor 620 to the control unit 101, and an illumination switch SW2 for turning on and off the lights. Include.

When the user inputs power to the omnidirectional walking assistance robot through the power switch SW1, power is supplied to the controller 101 and an electric signal is transmitted to the clutch unit 421.

The clutch unit 421, which has received the electric signal, operates the clutch 420 to release the brake 403 that is locked by the clutch 420, thereby releasing the stop state.

Thereafter, the control unit 101 receives the driving command input from the direction input unit 700 and outputs a signal for driving the motor unit 401 to move in the direction input to the direction input unit 700.

The motor unit 401 receives a driving signal from the control unit 101, drives the motor included in the wheel unit 400 to rotate the wheel 410 to move the omnidirectional walking assistance robot in a desired direction.

When the omnidirectional walking assistance robot is driven, the encoder unit 402 mounted on the motor unit 401 detects an operation state such as an amount of rotation of the motor and transmits it to the control unit 101.

The controller 101 controls the driving state of the motor unit 401 by grasping the current moving speed or the moving amount of the omnidirectional walking robot through the operating state of the motor sensed by the encoder unit 402.

The light switch SW2 is a switch for sensing the illuminance to turn on and off the lighting unit 110 including an illumination sensor to adjust the brightness of the bright daytime and the dark nighttime.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present invention defined in the following claims are also provided. It belongs to the scope of rights.

Claims

A body part having three protrusions arranged in a Y-shaped plane shape,

Is formed on the upper surface of the body portion, the saddle that the user boards,

Three leg portions located below the three protruding portions of the body portion,

A wheel part positioned at an end of each of the three legs and having a wheel for movement; and

Direction input unit for controlling the direction of the wheel portion

Omnidirectional walking aids including a.
In claim 1,

The wheel part

A motor for driving the wheels,

An encoder for checking a moving speed and a driving state of the motor by checking the rotation speed of the motor,

A brake for stopping movement of the wheel, and

Clutch for controlling the brake

Omnidirectional walking aids including a.
In claim 1,

The wheel is an omnidirectional walking assistance robot is configured to abut a pair of four omni wheel (omni wheel).
In claim 1,

The body part omnidirectional walking robot including at least one lighting unit located on the side of the three protruding portion to output light to the outside.
In claim 1,

The omnidirectional walking assistance robot further includes a sensor unit,

The sensor unit

An upper sensor positioned at a front portion of each of the three protruding portions and detecting an obstacle approaching in a moving direction;

The lower sensor is located on the outer surface of the wheel part to face the direction in which the wheel moves and detects an obstacle coming when the wheel moves.

Omnidirectional walking aids including a.
In claim 1,

The direction input unit is installed in the lower portion of the saddle, when the user boards the omnidirectional walking aid robot to form a pressure-sensitive sensor that is input in the driving direction when the user tilts more.
In claim 1,

The saddle is formed on the left and right side rear of the saddle omnidirectional walking aid robot including a pair of handles to support the body by holding the hand when the user boarded.
In claim 7,

The direction input unit omnidirectional walking aid robot is formed by a button for inputting the driving direction by the user by pressing the hand on the upper surface of at least one of the handles.