CN-121973917-A - Reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupling underwater snake-shaped robot

CN121973917ACN 121973917 ACN121973917 ACN 121973917ACN-121973917-A

Abstract

The invention provides a reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupling underwater snake-shaped robot, which relates to the field of underwater snake-shaped robots and comprises a head module, a propulsion module, a load module, a flexible joint module and a tail module which are sequentially connected, wherein the head module comprises a head module shell, a binocular camera, a Doppler velocimeter, a water depth sensor, a mechanical scanning sonar, an underwater obstacle avoidance sensor and a two-function manipulator are integrated in the head module shell, an independent head module control cabin is further arranged in the head module shell and used for environment sensing and local operation, the propulsion module comprises a propulsion module shell, lateral thrusters, vertical thrusters, vector thrusters and steering engines are arranged in the propulsion module shell, each thruster is controlled by the propulsion module control cabin, the flexible joint module is formed by connecting a driving module and an executing module in series, the executing module is provided with three flexible cavities capable of independently regulating pressure, and the tail module comprises a tail module shell, and a battery cabin, a communication interface and a charging port are arranged in the tail module shell and are used for power supply and communication.

Inventors

CHEN YINGLONG
GAO FEI
YAN BO
YANG XINYU
GONG YONGJUN

Assignees

大连海事大学

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20260129

Claims (6)

1. The reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupling underwater snake-shaped robot is characterized by comprising a head module, a propulsion module, a load module, a flexible joint module and a tail module which are connected with an electrical interface sequentially through a standardized mechanical interface; The head module comprises a head module shell, wherein a binocular camera, a Doppler velocimeter, a water depth sensor, a mechanical scanning sonar, an underwater obstacle avoidance sensor and a two-function manipulator are integrated in the head module shell, and an independent head module control cabin is further arranged in the head module and used for environmental perception and local operation; the propulsion module comprises a propulsion module shell, wherein a lateral propeller, a vertical propeller, a vector propeller and a steering engine are arranged in the propulsion module shell, and each propeller is controlled by a propulsion module control cabin; the flexible joint module is formed by connecting a driving module and an executing module in series, the executing module is provided with three flexible cavities capable of independently adjusting pressure, and multidirectional bending deformation is realized through pressure adjustment; The tail module comprises a tail module shell, and a battery compartment, a communication interface and a charging port are arranged in the tail module shell and used for power supply and communication of the whole machine.
2. The reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupled underwater serpentine robot of claim 1, wherein the load module is of cylindrical configuration and is interchangeably mountable with a side-scan sonar, sampling device, or battery compartment via a standardized interface.
3. The reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupled underwater serpentine robot of claim 1, wherein the standardized mechanical interface comprises a mechanical male interface and a mechanical female interface, and the mechanical male interface and the mechanical female interface are fixedly connected by threads; the electric interface is an underwater aviation plug and comprises an aviation plug male head and an aviation plug female head, and a power line and a control line are integrated through a multi-core cable.
4. The reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupling underwater snake-shaped robot according to claim 1, wherein in the execution module of the flexible joint module, three flexible cavities are uniformly distributed along the circumference, the cavities are made of deformable materials, and the pressure of each flexible cavity is independently regulated through a miniature water pump, a pressure sensor and a control valve group of the driving module, so that the bending and buffering functions of the joint are realized.
5. The reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupled underwater serpentine robot of claim 1, wherein the underwater obstacle avoidance sensors of the head module are respectively installed at the front side, the upper side and the left and right sides of the head module shell, and the environment sensing and obstacle avoidance in the five directions of front, upper, lower, left and right are realized by combining a doppler velocimeter.
6. The reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupled underwater serpentine robot of claim 1, wherein the vector thrusters of the propulsion module provide multiple degrees of freedom motion in conjunction with the lateral thrusters and the vertical thrusters by steering the direction of the jet.

Description

Reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupling underwater snake-shaped robot Technical Field The invention relates to the technical field of underwater snake-shaped robots, in particular to a reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupling underwater snake-shaped robot. Background In recent years, with the continuous increase of task demands such as ocean resource development, underwater rescue, complex environment detection and the like, new demands are put on the form of the underwater robot. The underwater snake-shaped robot is used as novel underwater moving equipment with a multi-section serial structure, the whole system of the underwater snake-shaped robot is outstanding in mobility, environmental adaptability and throughput, and the underwater snake-shaped robot becomes one of important development directions of the underwater robot research. In the prior art, although a modularized design concept is introduced into a part of underwater snake-shaped robots, the modularization degree is limited, a single-form special interface such as a snake-shaped underwater search and rescue robot with a patent number 202410422607.2, a using method and a modularized underwater snake-shaped robot with a 202110417425.2, an underwater bionic snake-shaped robot with a modularized underwater snake-shaped robot with a 202510735149.2 and a mixed self-adaptive control method are generally adopted among all modules, so that the overall configuration of the robot is difficult to flexibly adjust according to task requirements. When facing diversified underwater tasks such as mapping, sampling, operation, narrow space crossing or long-endurance inspection, the existing snake-shaped robot cannot achieve real reconfigurability, and is difficult to consider among key performances such as endurance, mobility, loading capacity and the like, so that the application range of the snake-shaped robot in complex water areas is obviously limited. In addition, the existing underwater snake-shaped robot generally adopts a hinged or universal joint type rigid joint structure, such as a propulsion driving multi-cabin hinged underwater snake-shaped robot with a patent number 202311717781.1 and an underwater gliding snake-shaped robot with a patent number 201410339405.8. The joints are convenient for realizing multistage series connection, but when the robot runs in a region with dense underwater structure and complex environment, the probability of contact or collision between the robot and surrounding structures is high. Because the rigid joint can not absorb or buffer external force at the moment of collision, larger transient impact force is easily generated, the joint mechanism, the sensor or the shell and other parts can be damaged, and even the robot can lose the returning capability when serious. Based on the structure, the problems that the structure of the existing underwater snake-shaped robot is fixed, the functional modules cannot be flexibly replaced, the multi-task environment is difficult to consider and the like are solved. Disclosure of Invention According to the technical problems that the structure of the existing underwater snake-shaped robot is fixed, the functional modules cannot be replaced flexibly and the multi-task environment is difficult to consider, the reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupling underwater snake-shaped robot is provided. The invention mainly introduces soft joints between modules, so that the robot forms a rigid-flexible coupled serial structure, thereby being capable of rapidly absorbing kinetic energy when collision occurs, reducing stress peak value and collision acceleration of contact parts, and remarkably improving the reliability and safety of the robot in complex water areas such as reefs, hull structures, pipeline clusters, narrow gaps and the like. The invention adopts the following technical means: a reconfigurable rigid-flexible coupled underwater snake-shaped robot comprises a head module, a propulsion module, a load module, a flexible joint module and a tail module which are sequentially connected with an electrical interface through a standardized mechanical interface; The head module comprises a head module shell, wherein a binocular camera, a Doppler velocimeter, a water depth sensor, a mechanical scanning sonar, an underwater obstacle avoidance sensor and a two-function manipulator are integrated in the head module shell, and an independent head module control cabin is further arranged in the head module and used for environmental perception and local operation; the propulsion module comprises a propulsion module shell, wherein a lateral propeller, a vertical propeller, a vector propeller and a steering engine are arranged in the propulsion module shell, and each propeller is controlled by a propulsion module control cabin; the flexible joint module is formed by connecting a driving module and an executing module in series, the executing module is provided with three flexible cavities capable of inde