阅读说明：本技术 一种具有主动变刚度功能的软体机械手 (Soft mechanical arm with active rigidity changing function ) 是由 张新彬 闫继宏 赵杰 于 2020-06-11 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种具有主动变刚度功能的软体机械手,涉及软体机器人技术领域。为解决现有的具有变刚度功能的软体机械手,柔顺性、结构紧凑性较差,制备工艺复杂,变刚度与变形存在耦合的问题。支架的下表面沿圆周方向均匀的设有三个软体指,支架的上表面沿圆周方向均匀的设有三个柔性带驱动机构,且每个软体指对应一个柔性带驱动机构,支架的上表面中心处设有一个镂空框架,框架内部设有一个四通,四通的竖直端口与主气管的一端固定连接,主气管的另一端与外界的气源输出端连接,四通的三个水平端口分别与一根软管的一端固定连接,软管的另一端插入到软体指的内部。本发明适用于对工业分拣、农业采摘、家庭服务、康复助力等领域。(A soft mechanical arm with an active rigidity changing function relates to the technical field of soft robots. The flexible manipulator aims to solve the problems that an existing flexible manipulator with a variable stiffness function is poor in flexibility and structural compactness, complex in preparation process and coupled with variable stiffness and deformation. The lower surface of support indicates along the even three software that is equipped with of circumferencial direction, the upper surface of support is equipped with three flexible band actuating mechanism along the circumferencial direction is even, and every software indicates a corresponding flexible band actuating mechanism, the upper surface center department of support is equipped with a fretwork frame, the inside cross that is equipped with of frame, the vertical port of cross and main tracheal one end fixed connection, main tracheal other end is connected with external air supply output, the three horizontal port of cross respectively with the one end fixed connection of a hose, the other end of hose inserts the inside that the software indicates. The invention is suitable for the fields of industrial sorting, agricultural picking, family service, rehabilitation assistance and the like.)

1. The utility model provides a software manipulator with initiative variable stiffness function which characterized in that: the device comprises a soft finger (1), a bracket (2), a flexible belt driving mechanism (3), a main air pipe (4), a four-way joint (5) and a hose (7);

the lower surface of support (2) indicates (1) along the even three software that is equipped with of circumferencial direction, the upper surface of support (2) is equipped with three flexible belt actuating mechanism (3) along the even three flexible belt actuating mechanism (3) that is equipped with of circumferencial direction, and every software indicates (1) a corresponding flexible belt actuating mechanism (3), the upper surface center department of support (2) is equipped with a hollow out frame, the frame is inside to be equipped with a cross (5), the vertical port of cross (5) and the one end fixed connection of main trachea (4), the other end and the external air supply output of main trachea (4) are connected, the three horizontal port of cross (5) respectively with the one end fixed connection of a hose (7), the other end of hose (7) inserts the inside that the software indicates (1).

2. The soft manipulator with the active rigidity-changing function according to claim 1, wherein: the soft finger (1) comprises a body (6), a flexible belt guide groove (8), an air cavity (10) and a limiting layer (12); the upper surface of the body (6) is provided with a flexible belt guide groove (8), n air cavities (10) are arranged in the body (6) along the axial direction, n is a positive integer, and the side surface of the body (6) is provided with a limiting layer (12).

3. The soft manipulator with the active rigidity-changing function according to claim 2, wherein: the body (6) is made of super-elastic material silica gel, and the elastic modulus is 0.1 MPa.

4. The soft manipulator with the active rigidity-changing function according to claim 2, wherein: the outer surface of the hose (7) is uniformly provided with m air holes (11), m is a positive integer, the circle centers of all the air holes (11) are arranged in a collinear manner, and each air hole (11) corresponds to an air cavity (10) in the body (6).

5. The soft manipulator with the active rigidity-changing function as claimed in claim 4, wherein: the number m of the air holes (11) is equal to the number n of the air cavities (10), and m is equal to n.

6. The soft manipulator with the active rigidity-changing function as claimed in claim 5, wherein: the number n of the air cavities (10) is more than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 30.

7. The soft manipulator with the active rigidity-changing function according to claim 1, wherein: the flexible belt driving mechanism (3) comprises a flexible belt (9), a motor bracket (13), a servo motor (14) and a belt wheel (15); the bottom surface of the motor support (13) is fixedly connected with the upper surface of the support (2), the upper surface of the motor support (13) is provided with a servo motor (14), an output shaft of the servo motor (14) is provided with a belt wheel (15), a flexible belt (9) is wound on the belt wheel (15), and the tail end of the flexible belt (9) sequentially penetrates through the support (2) and the flexible belt guide groove (8) and is fixedly connected with the bottom end of the soft finger (1).

8. The soft manipulator with the active rigidity-changing function as claimed in claim 7, wherein: the motor support (13) and the belt wheel (15) are made of ABS plastic.

9. The soft manipulator with the active rigidity-varying function according to claim 2 or 7, wherein: the limiting layer (12) and the flexible belt (9) are both made of flexible materials.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of soft robots, in particular to a soft manipulator with an active rigidity changing function.

Background

At present, the robot technology plays an important role in human production and life, and the development of related researches has important significance for promoting the intelligent manufacturing business of China. The manipulator is used as an end effector and is one of the core components of the robot system. Compared with the traditional rigid manipulator, the soft manipulator has unique advantages in the aspects of flexibility, impact resistance, interaction friendliness and the like due to the characteristic of softness and easy deformation of the soft manipulator, and has wide application prospects in the aspects of industrial sorting, agricultural picking, family service, rehabilitation assistance and the like. However, the soft and easily deformable characteristics mean low rigidity, and the soft manipulator has defects in the aspects of load capacity, control precision, stability and the like. Therefore, the soft mechanical arm with the active rigidity changing function is developed, high flexibility and high rigidity are considered, and the overall performance and the practical application value of the soft mechanical arm can be greatly improved. The realization of the variable stiffness function of the existing soft mechanical hand is realized based on an additional variable stiffness mechanism, for example, the stiffness is increased by vacuumizing by utilizing the particle blocking principle; the low-melting point alloy is utilized, and the high/low rigidity switching is realized through heating; imitating the biological scale structure, the rigidity is improved by extrusion. According to the variable stiffness methods, the variable stiffness mechanism is large in size, the compact structure of the soft manipulator is reduced, and the preparation complexity is improved; the flexible manipulator comprises a rigid part, so that the flexibility of the flexible manipulator is reduced; the response is slow by using an electric heating mode; the variable stiffness process is coupled with the deformation of the soft mechanical arm. These disadvantages limit their practical application to soft body robot technology.

In conclusion, the existing soft manipulator with the variable stiffness function has poor flexibility and structure compactness, a complex preparation process and the problem of coupling between variable stiffness and deformation.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a soft manipulator with an active variable stiffness function, which aims to solve the problems that the existing soft manipulator with the variable stiffness function is poor in flexibility and structure compactness, complex in preparation process and coupled with variable stiffness and deformation.

The invention relates to a soft manipulator with an active rigidity changing function, which comprises a soft finger, a bracket, a flexible belt driving mechanism, a main air pipe, a four-way joint and a hose;

the lower surface of the bracket is uniformly provided with three soft fingers along the circumferential direction, the upper surface of the bracket is uniformly provided with three flexible belt driving mechanisms along the circumferential direction, each soft finger corresponds to one flexible belt driving mechanism, the center of the upper surface of the bracket is provided with a hollow frame, a cross joint is arranged inside the frame, a vertical port of the cross joint is fixedly connected with one end of a main air pipe, the other end of the main air pipe is connected with an external air source output end, three horizontal ports of the cross joint are respectively fixedly connected with one end of a hose, and the other end of the hose is inserted into the soft fingers;

furthermore, the soft finger comprises a body, a flexible belt guide groove, an air cavity and a limiting layer; the upper surface of the body is provided with a flexible belt guide groove, n air cavities are arranged in the body along the axial direction, n is a positive integer, and the side surface of the body is provided with a limiting layer;

furthermore, the body is made of super-elastic material silica gel, and the elastic modulus is 0.1 MPa;

furthermore, m air holes are uniformly formed in the outer surface of the hose, m is a positive integer, the centers of circles of all the air holes are arranged in a collinear manner, and each air hole corresponds to an air cavity 10 in the body;

furthermore, the flexible driving mechanism comprises a flexible belt, a motor bracket, a servo motor and a belt wheel; the bottom surface of the motor support is fixedly connected with the upper surface of the support, the upper surface of the motor support is provided with a servo motor, an output shaft of the servo motor is provided with a belt wheel, a flexible belt is wound on the belt wheel, and the tail end of the flexible belt sequentially penetrates through the support and a flexible belt guide groove and is fixedly connected with the bottom end of the soft finger;

furthermore, the motor bracket and the belt wheel are both made of ABS plastic;

furthermore, the limiting layer and the flexible belt are both made of flexible materials;

furthermore, the number m of the air holes is equal to the number n of the air cavities, and m is equal to n;

furthermore, the number n of the air cavities is more than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 30;

furthermore, when the flexible manipulator is used, the other end of the main air pipe is connected with an external air source output end, an external air pump is opened, inflation air pressure is adjusted through an external air source, the tail end of a flexible belt in the flexible belt driving mechanism sequentially penetrates through the support and the flexible belt guide groove and is fixedly connected with the bottom end of the flexible finger, the length of the flexible belt is adjusted by controlling the rotation of the servo motor, the flexible finger is bent and deformed by inflating the air cavity to achieve the grabbing action of the flexible manipulator, when the bending angle is close to a target angle along with the increase of the inflation air pressure, the flexible belt is tensioned to restrict the further bending of the flexible finger, and then the flexible finger achieves the set bending angle and rigidity by adjusting the inflation air pressure and the length of the flexible belt, so that the active rigidity changing function of the flexible manipulator is achieved.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects:

firstly, the invention overcomes the defects of the prior art, when the bending angle approaches to the target angle along with the increase of the inflation air pressure, the flexible belt is tensioned to form restriction to limit the further bending of the soft finger, and then the soft finger obtains different rigidity at any bending angle by adjusting the inflation air pressure and the length of the flexible belt, thereby realizing the active rigidity changing function of the soft manipulator, improving the flexibility of the soft finger in work and avoiding the coupling problem of the rigidity changing and the deformation (namely the bending angle of the soft finger).

Secondly, the invention overcomes the defects of the prior art, the hollow frame is arranged at the center of the upper surface of the bracket, the four-way joint is arranged in the frame, the vertical port of the four-way joint is fixedly connected with one end of the main air pipe, the other end of the main air pipe is connected with the external air source output end, the three horizontal ports of the four-way joint are respectively fixedly connected with one end of a hose, and the other end of the hose is inserted into the soft finger, so that the structure is compact, and the preparation process is simpler.

Thirdly, the invention has simple operation and convenient use.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic three-dimensional structure diagram of a soft manipulator with an active stiffness changing function according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic three-dimensional structure diagram of a soft finger in a soft manipulator with an active stiffness changing function according to the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the connection between the soft fingers and the flexible belt driving mechanism in the soft manipulator with the active stiffness changing function according to the present invention.

Detailed Description