WO2023033248A1

WO2023033248A1 - Unmanned charging system for charging unmanned robot

Info

Publication number: WO2023033248A1
Application number: PCT/KR2021/017059
Authority: WO
Inventors: 강동우; 송익재; 심원규; 김정연; 신희준; 이현무; 황동현
Original assignee: 강동우
Priority date: 2021-09-03
Filing date: 2021-11-19
Publication date: 2023-03-09
Also published as: KR20230034544A; KR102612397B1

Abstract

The present invention provides an unmanned charging system for charging an unmanned robot. An unmanned charging system of the present invention comprises: an unmanned robot which is amphibiously operated and collects water quality data of a preset area; and a charging station for, when the unmanned robot enters the charging station to be charged, opening a cover covering a frame of the unmanned robot, inducing the unmanned robot to be docked with a charging terminal provided in the frame, and then charging the unmanned robot.

Description

Unmanned charging system for unmanned robots

The present invention relates to an unmanned charging system, and relates to an unmanned charging system for charging an unmanned robot that is operated for amphibious use and automatically recharges an unmanned robot that collects water quality data.

Conventionally, in order to analyze the water quality of reservoirs, lakes, ponds, etc., a small amount of water is collected and the water quality is analyzed, or a sensor is fixed and installed at a specific location to measure the water quality, and a manager checks it to determine the water quality. used However, this method has a problem in that it is difficult to measure the water quality or pollution change in the entire area because only a specific point can be investigated.

Accordingly, recently, a method of measuring water quality in real time by driving an unmanned robot for measuring water quality on the surface of the water has been introduced. At this time, the unmanned robot can be automatically charged through a separate charging station, but it can be charged in a state in which water is stained during the automatic charging process, so the manager manually wipes the water before charging.

An object of the present invention is to provide an unmanned charging system for charging an unmanned robot that supports stable and automatic charging of an unmanned robot that is operated for amphibious use and collects water quality data.

In order to achieve the above object, an unmanned charging system for charging an unmanned robot according to the present invention is operated for amphibious use, and when the unmanned robot collects water quality data in a predetermined area and the unmanned robot enters the interior for charging, and a charging station for opening a cover covering a frame of the unmanned robot, inducing docking with a charging terminal provided inside the frame, and then charging the unmanned robot.

In addition, the unmanned robot is characterized in that it is provided with a floating body at both ends, and the transfer means made of a caterpillar rotates while moving on the ground and on the water.

In addition, the unmanned robot is characterized in that the cover is closed along the frame when charging with the charging station is completed and the docking is terminated.

In addition, the charging station forms a rail protruding from the bottom surface, guides the unmanned robot to enter the inside along the rail, and enters while the rail and the cover are engaged as the unmanned robot enters the inside It is characterized in that the cover covering the charging terminal is opened by pushing the cover in the opposite direction.

In addition, the charging station is characterized in that an elastic member is provided at a portion in contact with the charging terminal to mitigate shock generated during docking.

In addition, the charging station is characterized in that the floating body is attached to the lower portion can be installed on the water surface.

The unmanned charging system for charging the unmanned robot of the present invention can be stably charged even in a state in which water is stained on the outer surface of the unmanned robot operated for amphibious use.

In particular, the present invention automatically charges after opening the cover covering the charging terminal in the process of docking with the unmanned robot and the charging station, thereby preventing electric shorts caused by water in advance and requiring no additional manpower, thereby reducing maintenance costs. can save

1 is a configuration diagram for explaining an unattended charging system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram for explaining an unmanned robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a perspective view for explaining an unmanned robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a block diagram for explaining a charging station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a perspective view for explaining a charging station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 to 9 are diagrams for explaining a process of charging an unmanned robot at a charging station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, in adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same components have the same numerals as much as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings. In addition, in describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known configuration or function is obvious to those skilled in the art or may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the unmanned charging system 400 supports the unmanned robot 100 to be reliably and automatically charged. The unmanned charging system 400 includes the unmanned robot 100 and the charging station 200, and may further include a user terminal 300.

The unmanned robot 100 is operated for amphibious use and collects water quality data. At this time, the unmanned robot 100 may collect water quality data for a preset area, and preferably collect water quality data for areas where water flow does not change rapidly, such as reservoirs, lakes, and ponds. Meanwhile, the unmanned robot 100 automatically estimates the current location when the electrical energy charged in the battery is lower than a preset standard, moves to the charging station 200 based on the estimated current location, and then the charging station. Electrical energy can be charged from (200).

The charging station 200 provides electrical energy to the unmanned robot 100 through docking with the unmanned robot 100 . To this end, the charging station 200 has an accommodation space for accommodating the unmanned robot 100 therein, and may include a rail guiding entry into the accommodation space. In particular, the charging station 200 uses rails to support stable charging even when the outer surface of the unmanned robot 100 is stained with water. The charging station 200 can be installed on the ground or on water, and when installed on the ground, it can be installed in a fixed state, and when installed on the water, it can be installed in a floating state within a certain range without being affected by the water level. .

The user terminal 300 communicates with at least one of the unmanned robot 100 and the charging station 200 . The user terminal 300 may receive a user input from a user and transmit the input user input to at least one of the unmanned robot 100 and the charging station 200 to perform control according to the user input. In addition, the user terminal 300 may receive monitoring information from the unmanned robot 100 and the charging station 200 in real time and output the received monitoring information. The user terminal 300 may be a computing system such as a smart phone, a laptop, a desktop, a server computer, or a cluster computer.

Here, the unmanned charging system 400 builds a communication network 450 between the unmanned robot 100, the charging station 200, and the user terminal 300 to facilitate communication between them. The communication network 450 may be composed of a backbone network and a subscriber network. The backbone network may be composed of one or a plurality of integrated networks among an X.25 network, a Frame Relay network, an ATM network, a Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network, and a Generalized Multi Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) network. Subscriber networks include FTTH (Fiber To The Home), ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), cable network, zigbee, Bluetooth, and wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n ), Wireless Hart (ISO/IEC62591-1), ISA100.11a (ISO/IEC 62734), COAP (Constrained Application Protocol), MQTT (Multi-Client Publish/Subscribe Messaging), WIBro (Wireless Broadband), Wimax, 3G, It may be High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), 4G and 5G. In some embodiments, the communication network 450 may be an internet network or a mobile communication network. In addition, the communication network 150 may include all other widely known wireless communication or wired communication methods to be developed in the future.

2 is a block diagram for explaining an unmanned robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining an unmanned robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 to 3, the unmanned robot 100 includes a robot body 110, a robot communication unit 120, a robot sensor unit 130, a robot Global Positioning System (GPS) unit 140, and a robot control unit 150. ), a robot drive unit 160, a robot power supply unit 170, and a robot storage unit 180.

The robot body 110 is hardware corresponding to the frame of the unmanned robot 100. The robot body 110 includes a torso 111 and a transfer unit 112 . The body part 111 is located in the center of the frame, and at least one of a robot communication unit 120, a robot GPS unit 130, a robot control unit 150, a robot power supply unit 170, and a robot storage unit 180 is installed therein. Include a space that can be accommodated. At this time, since the body portion 111 is covered with a cover made of a waterproof material and subjected to waterproof treatment, even when the unmanned robot 100 operates underwater, water may not permeate into the accommodation space. Here, the cover normally covers the accommodation space and can be opened when docked with the charging station 200 . That is, the cover is closed along the frame when charging with the charging station 200 is completed and docking is terminated. To this end, the cover may be formed of an elastic material, or an elastic member may be connected to an end connected to the cover. The transportation means 112 drives the unmanned robot 100 in an amphibious manner on land and water. To this end, the transfer means 112 is composed of caterpillars at both ends of the left and right sides of the unmanned robot 100. The caterpillar may be wound on a plurality of idlers to perform forward, backward and direction conversion in an endless track manner. In detail, the caterpillar connects a plurality of plates made of steel in a chain shape, is hung on the front and rear idlers like a belt, and rotates with power to drive. In general, a caterpillar has a larger contact area and greater friction with the ground than a wheel, so it can run freely on uneven roads or mud, and it is free to change direction by changing the left and right rotation speed, so the turning radius is minimized. can do. Here, the cater filter of the present invention further includes a floating body having buoyancy between a plurality of idlers to support the transport means 112 itself to act as a floating body.

The robot communication unit 120 communicates with the charging station 200 and the user terminal 300 . The robot communication unit 120 may perform wireless communication.

The robot sensor unit 130 collects water quality data. The robot sensor unit 130 detects the state of water quality of the water surface during driving, that is, TDS, PH, DO, ORP, HDO, conductivity, temperature, salinity, turbidity, water depth, chlorophyll a, blue-green algae, rhodamine, PAR, ion, CDOM, Collect water quality parameters such as CrudeOil. The robot sensor unit 130 may be installed in a part submerged below the surface of the water.

The robot GPS unit 140 measures GPS information about the current location of the unmanned robot 100. The robot GPS unit 140 may measure GPS information in real time, but is not limited thereto, and may measure GPS information at predetermined intervals.

The robot controller 150 performs overall control of the unmanned robot 100. When a user input requesting collection of water quality data is received from the user terminal 100, the robot control unit 150 moves to a preset area according to the user input and then controls to collect the water quality data. The robot control unit 150 may transmit the collected water quality data to the user terminal 100 and support confirmation in the user terminal 100 . In addition, the robot control unit 150 detects the amount of charge of the battery in real time or at predetermined intervals, and automatically moves to the charging station 200 when the amount of charge of the battery falls short of a predetermined reference level and controls to be automatically charged. At this time, the robot control unit 150 may move to the charging station 200 using GPS information measured by the robot GPS unit 140 and location information based on the learned map. In particular, before moving to the charging station 200, the robot controller 150 may check whether the charging station 200 is currently charging another unmanned robot, and move to the corresponding charging station if the other unmanned robot is not charging.

The robot driving unit 160 is connected to the moving means 112 and transmits power for driving the moving means 112 . The robot driving unit 160 may include a plurality of driving motors and is controlled by the robot controller 150 .

The robot power supply unit 170 includes a charging terminal for docking with the charging station 200 and a battery for storing electrical energy. The charging terminal is formed in a structure that engages with the charging station 200 and is connected to a separate motor (not shown) for docking and can be moved to face the charging station 200 . The battery may be a secondary battery capable of charging and discharging, and the amount of charge may be detected in real time or at predetermined intervals by the robot control unit 150 . At this time, the robot power supply unit 170 is provided inside the body unit 111 to prevent contact with water in advance.

The robot storage unit 180 stores a program or algorithm for driving the unmanned robot 100. The robot storage unit 180 stores water quality data collected from the robot sensor unit 130 . The robot storage unit 180 may be a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, or a card type memory (for example, SD or XD memory). , RAM (Random Access Memory, RAM), SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), ROM (Read-Only Memory, ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), magnetic memory , it may include at least one storage medium of a magnetic disk and an optical disk.

4 is a block diagram for explaining a charging station according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining a charging station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, 4 and 5, the charging station 200 includes a station body 210, a station communication unit 220, a station sensor unit 230, a station control unit 240, a station charging unit 250, and a station A storage unit 260 is included.

The station body 210 is hardware corresponding to the frame of the charging station 200 . The station body 210 includes an accommodation space capable of accommodating the unmanned robot 100. The station body 210 forms a rail 211 protruding from the bottom surface. When the unmanned robot 100 enters the inside of the station body 210, the rail 211 serves as a guide and at the same time serves to open the cover by engaging with the cover of the unmanned robot 100. For example, the rail 211 is formed in the form of two protrusions, and the width between the protrusions is set to be narrower than the width of the transportation means of the unmanned robot 100. Through this, the unmanned robot 100 may enter the interior while aligning along the rail 211 . Meanwhile, the station main body 210 may be fixedly installed on the ground or installed on the water. In particular, when the station body 210 is installed on the water surface, a floating body 213 may be further attached to the lower portion of the station body 210 so that the station body 210 floats on the water surface within a certain range.

The station communication unit 220 communicates with the unmanned robot 100 and the user terminal 300 . The station communication unit 220 can perform wired/wireless communication when the station body 210 is installed on the ground, and can perform wireless communication when the station body 210 is installed on the water.

The station sensor unit 230 detects the position of the unmanned robot 100. The station sensor unit 230 detects the moving direction, attitude, distance, etc. of the unmanned robot 100 entering the accommodating space. To this end, the station sensor unit 230 may include a camera, an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and a distance sensor.

The station controller 240 performs overall control of the charging station 200 . The station controller 240 checks the location of the unmanned robot 100 by driving the station sensor unit 230 when the unmanned robot 100 enters the accommodating space. The station control unit 240 controls the position of the station charging unit 250 based on the checked position of the unmanned robot 100 to dock it, and then controls charging of electric energy. The station controller 240 cancels docking when charging of electric energy is completed.

The station charger 250 provides electrical energy to the unmanned robot 100 through docking with the unmanned robot 100 . The station charging unit 250 includes a charging adapter having a shape that engages with the charging terminal of the unmanned robot 100 and a large-capacity battery. The charging adapter can move up and down to match the location of the charging terminal. In addition, the large-capacity battery stores electric energy in a large capacity and supplies the stored electric energy to a charging terminal through a charging adapter.

The station storage unit 260 stores programs or algorithms for driving the charging station 200 . The station storage unit 260 is a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a media card micro type, a card type memory (eg SD or XD memory, etc.), RAM, SRAM, ROM, EEPROM, PROM, magnetic memory, or magnetic disk. and an optical disk.

Meanwhile, although not shown in the drawing, when the station body 210 is installed on the water, the charging station 200 may further include a station GPS unit (not shown) capable of measuring GPS information. In addition, the charging station 200 may further include a station energy generator (not shown) that generates electrical energy using renewable energy such as solar energy and wind energy.

6 to 9 are diagrams for explaining a process of charging an unmanned robot at a charging station according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a diagram for explaining the process of the unmanned robot entering the charging station, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the process of opening the cover of the unmanned robot, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are for explaining the process of charging the unmanned robot. It is a drawing for

1, 6 to 9, the unmanned charging system 400 can reliably charge the unmanned robot 100 operated for amphibious use even in a state in which water is stained on the outer surface. At this time, the unmanned charging system 400 automatically charges after opening the cover covering the charging terminal in the process of docking with the unmanned robot 100 and the charging station 200, thereby preventing an electric short caused by water in advance, Maintenance costs can be reduced as no additional manpower is required.

The unmanned robot 100 moves to the corresponding charging station 200 after identifying its current location and the location of the charging station 200 when the amount of charge in the battery is less than a preset standard. When the unmanned robot 100 arrives near the charging station 200, it transmits a request signal requesting charging to the corresponding charging station 200, and upon receiving a response signal allowing charging from the charging station 200, the charging station ( 200) enter the interior.

The moving means 112 of the unmanned robot 100 may enter the inside along the rail 211 of the charging station 200 . At this time, the rail 211 engages with and pushes the cover covering the body 111 as the unmanned robot 100 enters the inside, thereby gradually opening a part of the cover.

When the unmanned robot 100 enters the distance where docking with the charging station 200 occurs, the unmanned robot 100 and the charging station 200 charge the charging terminal provided in the open part of the cover and the station charging unit 250. Dock the adapter. When the docking of the unmanned robot 100 and the charging station 200 is completed, the charging station 200 provides the stored electric energy to the unmanned robot 100, and when charging is completed, the unmanned robot 100 charges the charging station 200. After canceling the docking with the device, it comes out of the charging station 200 and collects collected data again or moves to a preset location.

The method according to an embodiment of the present invention may be provided in the form of a computer readable medium suitable for storing computer program instructions and data. Such a computer-readable recording medium may include program commands, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination, and includes all types of recording devices storing data that can be read by a computer system. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) and DVDs (Digital Video Disks). Optical media), magneto-optical media such as floptical disks, and program instructions such as ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (RAM, Random Access Memory), flash memory, etc. and a hardware device specially configured to do so. In addition, the computer-readable recording medium is distributed in computer systems connected through a network, so that computer-readable codes can be stored and executed in a distributed manner. In addition, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers in the technical field to which the present invention belongs.

Although the above has been described and illustrated in relation to preferred embodiments for illustrating the technical idea of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the configuration and operation as shown and described in this way, without departing from the scope of the technical idea. It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications can be made to the present invention. Accordingly, all such appropriate changes and modifications and equivalents should be regarded as falling within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

An unmanned robot that operates for amphibious use and collects water quality data in a preset area; and

When the unmanned robot enters the inside for charging, the cover covering the frame of the unmanned robot is opened, docking with the charging terminal provided inside the frame is induced, and then the charging station charges the unmanned robot. ;

An unmanned charging system for charging an unmanned robot comprising a.
According to claim 1,

The unmanned robot,

An unmanned charging system for charging an unmanned robot, characterized in that a floating body is provided at both ends and a transport means made of a caterpillar rotates to move on the ground and on the water.
According to claim 1,

The unmanned robot,

The unmanned charging system for charging the unmanned robot, characterized in that the cover is closed along the frame when the charging with the charging station is completed and the docking is cancelled.
According to claim 1,

The charging station,

A protruding rail is formed on the bottom surface, the guide guides the unmanned robot to enter the inside along the rail, and as the unmanned robot enters the inside, the rail and the cover engage and move the cover in the opposite direction to the entry. An unmanned charging system for charging an unmanned robot, characterized in that by pushing to open the cover covering the charging terminal.
According to claim 1,

The charging station,

An unmanned charging system for charging an unmanned robot, characterized in that by providing an elastic member at a portion in contact with the charging terminal to mitigate an impact generated during docking.
According to claim 1,

The charging station,

An unmanned charging system for charging an unmanned robot, characterized in that the floating body is attached to the lower part and can be installed on the water.