JPH08150997A - Oscillating hydrofoil type propulsion device for underwater robot - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a propulsion device for underwater robot which is free from a failure due to entangling of a suspended matter, trash and the like, free from marine environmental pollution, excellent in functions of rapid rectilinearly going ahead/astern and rapid stopping, and capable of navigating a flat robot machine body in a horizontal posture being affected only little by a tidal current. CONSTITUTION: Rear ends of same length driving shafts 5a, 5b, which are symmetrically arranged at an appropriate interval on both right and left sides of a longitudinal center line in a machine body of an underwater robot, are protruded to the exterior underwater watertightly through rubber sheets respectively, and a pair of right and left oscillating hydrofoil propulsion shafts formed by fixing forward ends of vertical hydrofoils 4a, 4b each having a wing type cross section respectively to rear ends thereof. Forward parts and rearward parts of both the propulsion shafts 5a, 5b inside the machine body are provided with sway quantity imparting means 7a, 7b and yaw angle imparting means 18a, 18b for respectively and individually imparting required sway quantities and yaw angles in a right and left symmetric manner, and a phase difference variable means for driving both the means synchronously or with a required phase difference.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vibrating wing type propulsion device for an underwater robot.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional underwater robot propulsion device,
The one shown in the side view of FIG. 10 is known. Here, 1 is an underwater robot body, and a pair of vertical stabilizers 2 is vertically provided at a rear end of the main body, and a pair of horizontal stabilizers 3 is horizontally provided at a front end of the main body. At the end, a propeller 27 is provided so as to project on the center line of the underwater robot body 1, and at the rear end thereof, a propeller guard is provided so as to concentrically surround the propeller 27. Most of this type of underwater robot conventionally obtains propulsion by rotating the propeller 27. By the way, various underwater robots are currently designed and manufactured based on various concepts. Especially, in the case of a seabed survey near the coast, a lake bottom survey, or a tank or pipe cleaning robot, it floats in water. Some work in a lot of garbage. However, when working in such an environment, the conventional propeller-type propulsion device may involve nylon or vinyl, which are suspended matter in the water, or when working near the seabed, wind up sludge on the seabed to cause environmental pollution. And again
The rolled-up dust may be caught in the propeller. Another problem with the propeller system as a propulsion device is its poor performance such as rapid forward and backward movement and rapid stop. This is because the propeller needs to be arranged at the rear of the stern, so that the total length of the propeller shaft system becomes long and the moment of inertia of the rotating shaft becomes large.

[0003]

As described above, the underwater robot using the conventional propeller-type propulsion device has the following problems. (1) Trouble occurs due to the inclusion of suspended matter and dust. (2) The marine environment is polluted due to rolling up of seabed sludge. (3) There is a problem of ensuring safety to prevent accidents such as personal injury due to propellers. (4) It is difficult to rapidly move from forward to reverse, from reverse to forward, and to stop rapidly, and this point becomes a problem especially in an underwater robot.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above circumstances, has no troubles due to the inclusion of suspended matter and dust, does not cause pollution of the marine environment, and is excellent in rapid linear forward / backward movement and quick stop function. An object of the present invention is to provide a vibrating wing type propulsion device for a safe underwater robot capable of traveling with a flat robot body in a horizontal posture and causing less disturbance due to tidal current.

[0005]

To this end, the invention according to claim 1 provides a drive shaft of equal length symmetrically arranged at appropriate intervals on the left and right sides of the longitudinal centerline of the underwater robot. A pair of left and right vibrating blade-type propulsion shafts, each of which has a rear end penetrating a rubber sheet and projects in a liquid-tight manner into the external water, and a front end of a vertical fin blade having a blade-shaped cross section is fixed to each rear end. In an underwater robot in which the two propulsion shafts are arranged side by side, the required sway amount and yaw angle are individually and symmetrically provided to the rear part and the front part inside the same body of the propulsion shaft. Means and phase difference varying means for driving both means synchronously or with a desired phase difference.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, instead of disposing the sway amount imparting means and the yaw angle imparting means respectively on the front and rear portions of both propulsion shafts, the rear and front portions of both propulsion shafts are provided. The sway amount imparting means and the yaw angle imparting means are arranged in the above.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the robot body has a transverse cross-sectional shape of a vertically deformed oval shape, and a pair of left and right vibrating blade propulsion shafts are symmetrically arranged vertically. Horizontal blades that are provided in parallel with each other, and the heaving imparting means and the pitching imparting means that individually impart heaving and pitching angles to each other horizontally symmetrically instead of symmetrically, A vibrating wing type propulsion device for an underwater robot, comprising: a phase difference varying means for driving the means synchronously or with a desired phase difference.

[0008]

With this configuration, hydraulic power is generated by vibrating the blade in the left-right direction (sway direction) in water and causing blade angle vibration (yaw angle vibration) in synchronization with the left-right direction vibration. Then, the thrust is changed by changing the phase of the blade angular vibration with respect to the left and right vibrations, and the thrust generated by the blade at that time is proportional to the vibration frequency and amplitude. A linear motor is used for the prime mover that drives this vibrating blade. Also,
It is possible to obtain propulsive force with one vibrating blade, but with one, the underwater robot will sway (yaw) due to the reaction force of the fluid force acting on the vibrating blade. Two vibrating blades as symmetrical blades 18
By shifting the phase by 0 °, it is possible to improve the propulsive force and reduce the motion. The linear motor is driven and controlled by the drive power supply and the phase control oscillator,
Operate with amplitude and phase difference. Here, the phase-controlled oscillator controls the frequency, amplitude, and phase of the linear motor.

[0009]

1 is a side view, FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a portion III of FIGS. An overall plan view showing the mechanism of the wing-type propulsion device, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the main link mechanism of the vibrating wing mechanism of FIG. 3, and FIG. Fig. 7 is a plan view showing the case where the rear linear rod is immovable and only the front linear rod reciprocates in the left-right direction. Fig. 7 shows that the front linear rod is immobile in Fig. 5 and only the rear linear rod reciprocates in the left-right direction. FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a case where the sway amount is zero in FIG. 5 and only the yaw angle is vibrated in FIG. 5, and FIG. 9 is a diagram in which the sway amount and the yaw angle are out of phase in FIG. It is a top view showing the case where it is made to vibrate.

First, in the plan view of FIG. 1, the vibrating blades 4a and 4b are connected to the vibrating blade driving devices 5A and 5B at the rear of the stern of the underwater robot 1 through drive shafts 5a and 5b, respectively. 2a and 2b are a pair of upper and lower vertical stabilizers that are usually mounted on the upper and lower ends of the rear part of the robot.

In the plan view of FIG. 2, reference numerals 4a and 4b denote a pair of left and right vibrating blades projecting from the rear portion of the robot.
Reference numeral 3b denotes a pair of left and right horizontal stabilizers protruding from the front.

Next, referring to the horizontal sectional view of FIG. 3, the vibrating blades 4a and 4b are connected at their front ends to the rear ends of a pair of left and right driving shafts 5a and 5b, respectively.
The a and 5b penetrate the stern end skin of the underwater robot 1 and are movably and watertightly blocked by watertight rubbers 29a and 29b, respectively. The drive shafts 5a and 5b are the same drive shaft 5 respectively.
Vertical pins 9a, 9b penetrating through the movable shafts 7a, 7b of the pair of left and right sway linearways 6a, 6b for moving the a, 5b to the left and right, respectively, through the bearings and the drive shafts 5a, 5b which are free to rotate. Is pivoted by. 8
Reference numerals a and 8b are sway guideways for moving the linear way movable parts 7a and 7b. The sway linear way movable part 7a is connected to the left end of the linear rod 12 of the sway linear motor 14 by a connector (coupling) 11a.
Are connected by. On the other hand, a coupling 11b is attached to the right end of the linear rod 12,
Gear head 13g that reverses the moving direction over the entire length of
Is attached. Here, the right end of the gear head 13g is connected to the drive shaft 5b of the starboard vibrating blade 4b by a connecting rod 14c, and the movements of the port vibrating blade 4a and the starboard vibrating blade 4b are symmetrical with respect to the hull centerline C-C. It is considered to move to. The linear rod 12 is moved by a gear head 13g called a linear motor 14 and a linear motor 14.

Further, at the front ends of the drive shafts 5a and 5b of the vibrating blade, guide rollers 16a, which are respectively movable in the axial direction, are provided.
16b is attached, and is the receiving stand 15a, 1 for the guide roller.
5b are arranged on the movable parts of the yaw linear ways 18a and 18b, respectively, and can move along the guideways 17a and 17b, respectively. Guide roller cradle 15
a is connected by a lever link 21 and a yaw connecting rod 19a, and the front end of the lever link 21 has a linear rod 20.
Is pin-jointed to the left end of. On the other hand, the starboard guide roller cradle 15b is connected to the yaw connecting rod 19b and is connected to the linear rod 20. The linear rod 20 is driven by a yaw linear motor 23 via a gear head 22. The linear motors 14 and 23 are connected to the motor drive power source 2 via the motor wirings 24a and 24b.
5a, 25b connected to the motor drive power supply 25a, 2
5b is connected to the phase control oscillator 26. The sway linear motor 14 and the yaw linear motor 23 are driven by controlling the frequency, phase, and amplitude by the phase control oscillator 26.

In this embodiment, two vibrating blades are bilaterally driven by the drive motors of the two linear motors with the center line of the hull as the axis of symmetry, so that the yawing motion of the hull occurring when driven by one vibrating blade. To improve propulsion efficiency. Further, the motion of the vibrating wing is given a yawing motion with the movable point (vertical pins 9a, 9b) in the sway direction as a fulcrum, and the sway and yaw motions are mechanically synchronized.

In such a structure, the yaw linear motor 23 can freely move the yaw linear rod 20 to the left or right via the yaw gear head 22. For example, when the yaw linear rod 20 moves to the left, the guide roller 16b also moves to the left, and the yaw connecting rod 19a, that is, the guide roller 16a, moves to the right via the lever link 21. Move the distance symmetrically. Further, when the yaw linear rod 20 moves to the right, the guide roller 16b also moves to the right, and the guide roller 16a moves to the left symmetrically by the same distance.

When the sway linear motor 14 moves to the left, the sway vertical pin 9a also moves to the left, and the sway connecting rod 14c moves to the right via the lever link 13, that is, for the sway. The vertical pins 9b also move symmetrically to the right by the same distance. As a result, the port-side drive shaft 5a moves right around the vertical guide pin 16a near the rear end of the guide roller 16a at the front end thereof, and moves leftward around the vertical guide roller 16a near the rear end of the vertical guide pin 16a at the rear end thereof. Here, the movable portion 7b of the connecting rod 14c, the drive shaft 5b, and the sway guideway 8b.
The connection structure of the vertical pins 9b is as shown in FIG.

In such a structure, in order to facilitate understanding of the degree of freedom of the overall movement of the link mechanism, each linear way is omitted for convenience sake, and FIG. 3 is simplified as shown in FIG. To be done. Here, in the figure,
When the front linear rod 20 is moved slightly to the right while the rear linear rod 12 is immovable, the front lever link 21 slightly pivots clockwise from the broken line position to the solid line position as shown in FIG. The drive shaft 5a and the starboard drive shaft 5b respectively come to a position which is symmetrically inclined from the position of the broken line to the position of the inner solid line by (swivel amount x) + (yaw angle θ). When the front linear rod 20 is moved to the left, although not shown, both port drive shafts 5a and 5b come to the position symmetrically inclined outward by x + θ from the broken line position.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, when the front linear rod 20 is immovable and the rear linear rod 12 is moved slightly to the left, the rear lever link 13 is slightly rotated clockwise from the broken line position to the solid line position. The port-side drive shaft 5a and the starboard-side drive shaft 5b respectively come to the positions inclined by (the amount of sway x) + (the yaw angle θ) from the position of the broken line to the position of the solid line outside. When the rear linear rod 12 is moved to the right, although not shown, both port drive shafts 5a and 5b are symmetrically moved inward by x + θ inward.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, both drive shafts 5a, 5
It is also possible to set the sway amount x = 0 to b and give only the yaw angle. That is, in the figure, the front linear rod 2
When 0 is moved to the left and the rear linear rod 12 is moved to the right, the front lever link 21, the front connecting rod 19b, the rear lever link 13, and the rear connecting rod 14 are respectively moved from the broken line position to the solid line position, and port-side driven. Shaft 5a, Starboard drive shaft 5b
As shown by the solid line, with the sway amount x = 0, only the yaw angle θ moves laterally symmetrically to each other.

Further, FIG. 9 shows a case where the phase between the sway amount and the yaw angle is relatively changed. For example, the yaw linear motor 23 moves the yaw linear rod 20 and the yaw connecting rod 19b to the right. When the sway linear rod 12 is moved to the left by the sway linear motor 14, the drive shaft 5b,
5a moves from the broken line position to the solid line position. As a result, the port side blade 4a performs a motion that changes the yaw angle in the range of the minute sway amount x _L and the yaw angle θ _L , that is, substantially on the spot, while the starboard side blade 4b is more than the port side blade 4a. It moves from the broken line position to the solid line position within a range of a slightly larger sway amount x _r and yaw angle θ _r .

[0021]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The vibrating blade type propulsion device has the following effects. (1) It is possible to avoid troubles caused by the inclusion of dust and rope floating in the sea. (2) A propulsion device with high safety can be obtained without danger of personal injury due to a conventional propeller. (3) Just change the phase of the sway and yaw wing vibrations,
The speed can be freely changed from forward to reverse, and the forward / backward performance is significantly improved compared to conventional propellers. (4) The conventional propeller system requires a rudder for direction control, but the vibrating blade type propulsion system of the present invention can also perform rudder operation simply by changing the vibration center of the vibrating blade. (5) As a result, it is possible to provide a propulsion device which is safe, has few troubles, and has excellent linear forward / backward traveling performance. (6) In FIG. 3, the yaw angle varying means can be arranged at the rear part of both drive shafts, and the sway amount varying means can be arranged at the front part of both drive shafts. With such an arrangement, the yaw angle and sway amount substantially the same as those in the arrangement shown in FIG. 3 can be given to each vibrating blade. (7) Further, the cross-sectional shape of the robot body is shown in FIGS.
The vertical elliptical shape is replaced with the vertical elliptical shape shown in FIG. 1, and the pair of upper and lower horizontal blades that are parallel to each other are provided instead of the pair of left and right vibrating blade type propulsion shafts shown in FIGS. A structure with a vibrating wing type propulsion shaft can also be adopted.
According to such an underwater robot, the airframe shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is changed to a vertically deformed oval instead of the horizontally elongated oval cross section, so that a large movement can be performed in a narrow valley of steep undulating topography of the seabed. It is possible to move quickly and easily with freedom.

In short, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the rear ends of the drive shafts of equal length which are symmetrically arranged at appropriate intervals inside the body of the underwater robot on the left and right sides of the longitudinal center line thereof are made of rubber. It penetrates the sheet and projects liquid-tight into the external water,
In a submersible robot in which a pair of left and right vibrating wing type propulsion shafts, which are fixedly attached to the front ends of vertical fin blades each having a wing shape cross section at the rear ends thereof, are provided inside the same body of the propulsion shafts. The sway amount imparting means and the yaw angle imparting means for individually imparting the required sway amount and the yaw angle to the rear portion and the front portion, respectively, are driven synchronously or with a desired phase difference. By including the phase difference variable means, there is no failure due to entrainment of suspended matter and dust, it does not cause marine environmental pollution, it has excellent rapid linear forward and backward movement and quick stop function, and the flat robot body is in horizontal position INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is extremely useful industrially, because a vibrating wing propulsion device for a safe underwater robot that can travel with little influence of tidal current is obtained.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the sway amount imparting means is provided at the front and rear portions of both propulsion shafts.
Instead of arranging the yaw angle imparting means respectively, the sway amount imparting means and the yaw angle imparting means are disposed at the rear and front portions of both propulsion shafts, thereby substantially the same effect as that of the invention of claim 1. Therefore, the present invention is extremely useful in industry.

According to the invention of claim 3, claim 1 or 2
In addition, the robot body has a lateral cross-sectional shape of a vertically deformed oval shape, and a pair of left and right vibrating blade propulsion shafts are vertically symmetrically arranged to be horizontal blades parallel to each other. A heaving imparting means and a pitching imparting means for individually imparting a heaving and a pitching angle to each other horizontally symmetrically instead of symmetrically to a horizontal blade, and a phase difference for driving the both means synchronously or with a desired phase difference. Since the variable means is provided, the effects of the inventions of claims 1 and 2 can be obtained, and the flat robot body can be easily moved between narrow undulating terrain in a vertically erected form. The present invention is extremely useful industrially.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view showing an underwater robot equipped with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG.

3 is an overall plan view showing the mechanism of the vibrating wing type propulsion device which is the III part in FIG. 2. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

5 is a plan view showing a main link mechanism of the mechanism of the vibrating blade of FIG. 3. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the movement when only the front linear rod reciprocates in the left-right direction while the rear linear rod is immovable in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the movement when the front linear rod is immovable and only the rear linear rod reciprocates in the left-right direction in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing swaying as zero in FIG.
It is a top view showing the case where only yawing is performed.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the movement of each member when swaying and yawing are performed with their phases shifted from each other in FIG. 4;

FIG. 10 is an overall side view showing a conventional propeller-type underwater robot.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Underwater Robot 2a, 2b Vertical Stabilizer 3a, 3b Horizontal Stabilizer 4a Port Vibratory Wing 4b Starboard Vibratory Wing 5a, 5b Drive Shafts 5A, 5B Vibratory Wing Drive 6a, 6b Swer Linear Way 7a, 7b Swer Linear Way Moving Part 8a , 8b Sway guideways 9a, 9b Vertical pins 10 Connecting rods 11a, 11b Couplings 12 Linear rods 13 Lever links 13g Gearheads 14 Sway linear motors 14c Connecting rods 15a, 15b Guide roller pedestals 16a, 16b Guide rollers 17a, 17b Guides Ways 18a, 18b Linear way for yaw 19a, 19b Connecting rod for yaw 20 Linear rod 21 Lever link 22 Gear head for yaw 23 Linear motor for yaw 24a, 24b Motor wiring 25a, 5b driving power supply 26 a phase controlled oscillator 27 propeller 28 propeller guard 29a, rubber 29b watertight

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A liquid-tight seal is formed by penetrating a rubber sheet at the rear ends of equal-length drive shafts symmetrically arranged on the left and right sides of the longitudinal centerline of the underwater robot at appropriate intervals. In the underwater robot, in which a pair of left and right vibrating wing type propulsion shafts juxtaposed to the outer water and having front ends of vertical fin blades each having a wing type cross section fixed to the rear ends thereof are juxtaposed, The sway amount imparting means and the yaw angle imparting means for individually and symmetrically supplying the required sway amount and yaw angle to the rear portion and the front portion inside the same body of the shaft, respectively, are synchronized or desired. A vibrating wing type propulsion device for an underwater robot, comprising: a phase difference varying means for driving with a phase difference. 2. The sway amount imparting means according to claim 1, instead of disposing the sway amount imparting means and the yaw angle imparting means respectively on the front and rear portions of both propulsion shafts. Means and a yaw angle imparting means are provided, and a vibrating wing type propulsion device for an underwater robot. 3. The robot body according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the robot body has a cross-sectional shape of a vertically deformed oval, and a pair of left and right vibrating blade type propulsion shafts are vertically symmetrically arranged and parallel to each other. In addition to the horizontal blades, the heaving imparting means and the pitching imparting means for individually imparting the heaving and the pitching angles to each other horizontally and vertically symmetrically instead of symmetrically are provided. Alternatively, a vibrating wing type propulsion device for an underwater robot, comprising: a phase difference varying means for driving with a desired phase difference.