ES2332488B1 - ROBOTIC SYSTEM WITH ALL-GROUND CAPACITY AND GYRO-STABILIZED PLATFORM FOR COLLABORATION WITH UNTRIPULATED AIR VEHICLES. - Google Patents

Abstract

Robotic system with off-road capability and gyro-stabilized platform for collaboration with aerial vehicles Unmanned The system consists of a mobile platform with traction by tracks, an on-board control system, a set of sensors that obtain information from both the environment as of the attitude of the robotic system as a whole and a horizontal platform with two degrees of freedom. This platform allows collaboration with non-air vehicles manned in the form of facilitating its takeoff and landing on the mobile robotic system, thanks to automatic stabilization of the platform that will remain horizontal.

Description

Robotic system with off-road capability and gyro-stabilized platform for collaboration with aerial vehicles Unmanned

Technical sector

The present invention belongs to the sectors of control and transport vehicles, specifically those of systems for controlling the position, heading or altitude of vehicles and of motor vehicles with special loads.

State of the art

Search and rescue operations in disaster scenarios pose major problems to intervention teams: unknown and unstructured environments, mobility on difficult terrain, duration of operations, detection and manipulation of victims and hazardous material, or debris removal, to name just a few. Also must add difficulty in the detection of victims or material dangerous.

To solve or mitigate at least in part these problems, different robotic systems have been developed. By For example, in ES 2 156 767 a robotic system is proposed with off-road capabilities able to recognize an affected area to Identify victims or objects of interest. However, the limited travel speed imposed by the means of locomotion with such off-road capabilities slow down and make it difficult to cover a large area such as the one that can be affected in case of catastrophes natural In addition, when there is a possibility that there is human victims increase the time it takes to rescue the victim greatly decreases the chances of Survival of it.

To solve this problem have been proposed systems composed of several robots. US 6 687 571 describes a robotic system formed by several robots that form a single equipment, each equipped with sensor, system Communications and processor. The idea of such systems is multiply the speed at which an area of interest.

However, when the area of interest is extensive, obtain reasonable speed in exploration can require an impracticable number of robots. As a solution to such problem, in US 6 588 791 a robot capable of moving is proposed by air. Such a robot, which is usually called an aerial vehicle unmanned, is used to track an area faster of interest.

To improve the results of the exploration, equipment of several aerial robots is also used. Such vehicles usually suffer from a very limited range, since they are light vehicles that incorporate sensory and communications equipment that overload their limited payload capacity. Thus, their effective participation in exploration tasks is very limited due to their limited autonomy, which in turn limits the applications
real.

In short, the state of the art presents several features:

one)

The exploration of areas of interest in the event of disasters must be done quickly, which can help incorporate equipment formed by several robots.

2)

For increase the scope and speed of identification of areas or objects of interest can join the robot team Unmanned aerial vehicles that incorporate sensors appropriate.

3)

Such aerial robots are light vehicles to be able to dispose of them in A sufficient number. Therefore, they have a limited payload and a short range.

4)

The Payload and scope of unmanned aerial vehicles are It is also diminished by carrying the necessary sensors for your mission

Consequently, the state of the art It has limitations on the scope of air vehicles not manned to collaborate in teams of several robots.

Detailed description of the invention

This document describes a system off-road robot capable of collaborating with non-aerial vehicles manned, including facilitating the takeoff and landing of themselves from a gyro-stabilized platform attached to their own robotic system

The system consists of a mobile platform with chain traction, an on-board control system, a wireless communications system, a sensor system external, an internal sensor system and a platform gyro stabilized by means of two degrees of freedom.

The robotic system receives information from the environment through the external sensor system. Such sensors collect information about obstacles, surrounding terrain, etc., and send it to the control system. Said control system, in based on the information received and a previous plan or orders received remotely, generates orders for the locomotion system of the robotic system, always in accordance with the determined policy for the robot team in which it is integrated. At the same time, the internal sensors provide information about the status of the robotic system, in the form of speed data, tilt or state of the platform. Based on that information, two systems of action linked to the two degrees of freedom of the platform keeps it horizontal, so that can be used as a takeoff and landing track by a robot aerial. This allows such an aerial robot to travel to near the area of interest before making your flight, Increasing its autonomy. Likewise, the means for automatically refuel the aerial robot, multiplying its autonomy.

The whole set is fed by an electric generator installed on board.

Description of the drawings

Figure 1. General scheme of the invention in profile and plan view, where you can see the chains of traction (a) composed of a chain (b) on which the robot and that allows its movement when driven, a wheel tractor unit (c), support rollers (d) and tension wheel (e); he generator set (f) mounted in the center of the mobile platform; he communications system (g); the high control subsystem level (h), mounted forward of the platform; the subsystem of low level control (i), mounted aft of the mobile platform; the  gyro-stabilized platform (j); the two linear actuators (k) of the same; and the support with actuator (1) for an element of intervention in the environment.

Figure 2. General scheme of the invention in plan view, where the control subsystem can be seen high level (h), mounted forward of the platform; the subsystem of low level control (i), mounted aft of the mobile platform; the gyro-stabilized platform (j); and the support with actuator (1) for an element of intervention in the environment.

Embodiments of the invention

An example of embodiment of the invention of a non-limiting nature.

The system consists of a mobile platform, a sensory system, a communications system, a system of control (h, i), and a gyro-stabilized platform (j).

The mobile platform has traction through chains with sliding addressing (a). (this composed of two chain trains (b) arranged on both sides of the  vehicle. Drive chains (b) at the same speed causes the linear displacement of the vehicle, while a speed difference produces a turn of it. Every train of string (a) is composed of the following elements:

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A chain (b) on which the robot rests and which allows its displacement when driven.

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A driving wheel (c) that meshes in the chain and allows transmission the movement.

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A series of support rollers (d) that hold the chain and support the vehicle weight

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A guide wheel (e) that keeps the chain (b) taut.

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A electric motor that drives the chain through the wheel motor

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A power stage that feeds the engine.

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The autonomous feeding system (f) consists in an autogenous group of electric power generation from An internal combustion engine.

The robot's sensory system can be subdivide into a subsystem of internal sensors and a subsystem of external sensors The internal sensor subsystem provides information on position, angular velocity and inclination, and is composed of two angular meters arranged in the motors that allow to know and control the speed of these and provide information for calculating the actual position of the robot; and one inertial unit of measure that allows for guidance, angular velocity and linear acceleration of the robot in all three dimensions of space. The external sensor subsystem provides information about the environment in which the robot its mission, and includes a camera that allows the vision of the environment, a laser scanner for detection of objects in the environment, a GPS with differential corrections to know the position global robot with high precision, a ring of sonars for the simultaneous detection of obstacles around the robot, and sensors for the detection of some characteristic of interest of the environment, Such as Geiger counter, smoke detector, sensor temperature, infrared sensor, hazardous substances sensor, etc.

The robot's communications system (g) is formed by a radio transmitter system that allows transmission of camera images, and communication between the network of robot computers and an external network to which the teleoperation station

The robot control system comprises a sub high level control system (h) and a control subsystem of low level (i), and is made up of a computer network digital, so that the high-level control subsystem (h) resides in at least one conventional computer responsible for the acquisition and integration of the information obtained through external sensors; while the bass control subsystem level (i) resides in at least a second computer, which in a Preferred embodiment of the invention is a computer-automaton, responsible for the tasks of high real-time requirement and acquisition of the information obtained through the sensors internal

The gyro-stabilized platform (j) is located mounted on the mobile robot assembly by means of an anchor with two degrees of freedom whose axes are parallel to the longitudinal axis and to the transverse axis of the mobile platform, respectively. TO both sides of the cut-off point of the two axes of the degrees of freedom are placed two linear actuators (k), which in the preferred embodiment of the invention are electric, but that They can be hydraulic, pneumatic or other. Through the internal sensors of the robotic system the inclination of the same, which is sent to the computer in charge of bass control level. Said computer calculates the necessary references for actuators mentioned above, so that the platform is maintained always horizontal This way it can always be used as aerial vehicle takeoff and landing platform no manned vertical takeoff. In addition, the platform incorporates means for anchoring and refueling the aerial vehicle, as well as marks or beacons that facilitate takeoff and landing maneuvers. Also, the platform can be partially folded to facilitate the transit of the robotic system through narrow environments when it is not necessary to use the platform.

On the nose or bow of the mobile platform a support equipped with a controlled actuator (1) is located by the control system, to which simple equipment can be attached that allows intervention on the environment. In the realization preferred of the invention this element is a fire extinguisher fires, but it can be, for example, a flare thrower, a fumigation system, a hook, or others.

Industrial application

In the tasks of exploration, surveillance and rescue scan speed is usually critical, for what the participation of an air segment charges enormous importance. However, it is limited by the limited autonomy of unmanned aerial vehicles. The present invention allows to incorporate aerial vehicles to the equipment of multiple robots used in such tasks, so that make the most of its autonomy and load capacity, or expand the latter transporting the air vehicle less fuel.

Claims (2)

1. Robotic system with off-road capability and gyro-stabilized platform for collaboration with unmanned aerial vehicles, characterized in that it comprises:

to.

A mobile platform,

b.

A sensory system, which in turn comprises a sensor subsystem internal and a subsystem of external sensors;

C.

A communications system,

d.

A control system, which in turn comprises a computer network digital;

and.

A gyro-stabilized platform with two degrees of freedom and that can be partially folded to facilitate system transit robotic in narrow environments when use is not necessary of the platform, and that in turn includes actuators that the permanently maintained in a horizontal position depending on the orders received from the control system, and that are calculated from the information about the inclination that you get from sensory system

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2. Robotic system with off-road capability and gyro-stabilized platform for collaboration with unmanned aerial vehicles according to the preceding claim characterized in that:

to.

The gyro-stabilized platform has beacons or marks for facilitate the take-off or landing operations of vehicles unmanned aerial, and in turn includes means for anchoring and / or refueling of unmanned aerial vehicles;

b.

The mobile platform comprises a chain drive system (caterpillars), and on its nose or bow is a support equipped with a actuator controlled by the control system to which you can to attach a simple device that allows to intervene on the environment, such as a fire extinguisher;

C.

He Internal sensor subsystem comprises two angular meters arranged in the engines and that allow to know and control the speed of these and provide information for the calculation of the real position of the robot; and an inertial unit of measures that allows to obtain orientation, angular velocity and acceleration linear robot in the three dimensions of space;

d.

He external sensor subsystem comprises a camera that allows the environmental vision, a laser scanner for object detection in the environment, a GPS with differential corrections to know the global position of the robot with high precision, a sonar ring for the simultaneous detection of obstacles around the robot, and sensors for the detection of other characteristics of the environment, Such as Geiger counter, smoke detector, temperature sensor, infrared sensor, hazardous substances sensor, etc; Y

and.

To the minus one of the computers that make up the computer network digital included in the control system is a computer-automaton that performs bass control level, carrying out the tasks of high time requirement real and acquisition of information sent by the sensors internal