Wheeled jumping robot

Abstract

A wheeled jumping robot includes a body with two wheels, and a board is connected between the two wheels. A driving unit and a jumping unit are respectively connected on two sides of the board. The jumping unit has two rails, and a tubular member is located between the two rails and connected to a threaded rod. A bridge is connected between two rails. Rollers are located between a threaded portion of the threaded rod and a tapered contact face of the bridge. When the threaded rod is rotated, the rollers move toward a pre-set position, the bridge compresses resilient members on the two rails. When the tubular member moves toward the pre-set position, the rollers are separated from the threaded rod due to the tapered contact face, the resilient members bounce back. The wheeled jumping robot includes a processing unit for being communicated with a remote control unit.

Claims

1. A wheeled jumping robot comprising: a body having a board, a movable unit connected to the body and having driving units and two wheels, the board located between the two wheels, the driving units located on a first side of the board and respectively located at an inside of each of the two wheels; a jumping unit having two resilient members and a transmission unit, the transmission unit connected with a driving member which drives the transmission unit to compress the resilient members, the transmission unit having two rails, a tubular member located between the two rails and connected to a threaded rod, at least one bridge connected between the tubular member and the two rails, multiple rollers being located between a threaded portion of the threaded rod and a tapered contact face, when the threaded rod is driven by the driving member, the rollers move toward a pre-set position, the at least one bridge compresses the resilient members, when the tubular member moves toward the pre-set position by the driving member, the rollers are separated from the threaded rod due to the tapered contact face, the resilient members bounce back, the resilient members, the transmission unit and the driving member located on a second side of the board, and a processing unit connected to the movable unit, the driving units, the transmission unit, the driving member and a receiving unit.

2. The wheeled jumping robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movable unit has a speed reduction unit which is connected to the processing unit.

3. The wheeled jumping robot as claimed in claim 2, wherein the jumping unit has a speed reduction member which is connected to the processing unit.

4. The wheeled jumping robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing unit is connected to a sensing unit which is adapted to detect a distance between the body and an obstacle, and a height of the obstacle, the sensing unit is an infrared sensing unit.

5. The wheeled jumping robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the jumping unit has a block which is connected to one end of the driving member and adapted to contact ground.

6. The wheeled jumping robot as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a remote control unit which has a signal transmission device, the signal transmission device transmitting a signal which is received by the receiving unit, the processing unit operates by the signal.

7. The wheeled jumping robot as claimed in claim 6, wherein the processing unit is connected to an image receiving unit which is adapted to transfer captured images to the signal transmission device by the receiving unit, the remote control unit is adapted to display the captured images.

8. The wheeled jumping robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body has a cover which is connected to the second side of the board.

9. The wheeled jumping robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two wheels are made by plastic and coated with cushion members.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows the block diagram of the present invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is a perspective view to show the wheeled jumping robot of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the wheeled jumping robot of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view to show that the rollers contact the threaded portion and the tapered face;

(5) FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view to show that the bridge is in operation and the rollers are separated from the threaded portion; and

(6) FIG. 6 shows the operation of the wheeled jumping robot of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(7) Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the wheeled jumping robot of the present invention comprises a body 1 having a board 11 which is an aluminum board in this embodiment. A movable unit 12 is connected to the body 11 and has a driving unit 121 and two wheels 122, wherein the two wheels 122 are made by plastic and coated with cushion members. The board 11 is located between the two wheels 122. The driving unit 121 is located on a first side of the board 11 and located at inside of each of the two wheels 122. The movable unit 12 has a speed reduction unit 13.

(8) A jumping unit 2 has two resilient members 21 and a transmission unit 22. The resilient members 21 are compression springs. The transmission unit 22 and the resilient members 21 are respectively connected with a driving member 23 which drives the transmission unit 22 to compress the resilient members 21. The resilient members 21, the transmission unit 22 and the driving member 23 are located on located on the second side of the board 11. The jumping unit 2 has a speed reduction member 24. The transmission unit 22 has two rails 221, and a tubular member 25 is located between the two rails 221 and connected to a threaded rod 251. The two resilient members 21 are mounted to the two rails 221. At least one bridge 26 is connected between the tubular member 25 and the two rails 221. Multiple rollers 252 are located between the threaded portion 2511 of the threaded rod 251 and a tapered contact face 261. The bridge 26 contacts the resilient members 21 and located across the two rails 221. When the threaded rod 251 is driven by the driving member 23, the rollers 252 move toward a pre-set position, the bridge 26 compress the resilient members 21. The jumping unit 2 has a block 27 which is connected to one end of the driving member 23 and contacts the ground. When the tubular member 25 moves toward the pre-set position by the driving member 23, the rollers 252 are separated from the threaded rod 251 due to the tapered contact face 261, the resilient members 21 bounce back so that block 27 kicks the ground and the robot jumps. The body 1 further has a cover 14 which is connected to the second side of the board 11.

(9) A processing unit 3 is connected to the movable unit 12, the driving unit 121, the speed reduction unit 13, the transmission unit 22, the speed reduction member 24, the driving member 23, a receiving unit 31 and a sensing unit 4. The sensing unit 4 detects a distance between the body 1 and an obstacle (not shown), and a height of the obstacle. The sensing unit 4 is an infrared sensing unit.

(10) A remote control unit 5 has a signal transmission device 51 which is located corresponding to the receiving unit 31. The signal transmission device 51 transmits a signal which is received by the receiving unit 31, and the processing unit 3 operates by the signal.

(11) An image receiving unit 6 is connected with the processing unit 3. The image receiving unit 6 captures the image of the obstacle and transfers the captured images to the signal transmission device 51 by the receiving unit 31. The captured images are displayed on the remote control unit 5.

(12) The users use the remote control unit 5 such as a smart phone or a tablet computer to control the robot to move by the movable unit 12 or to jump by using the jumping unit 2. When using the movable unit 12 to move the robot horizontally, the remote control unit 5 sends a signal from the signal transmission device 51 to the receiving unit 31, and the processing unit 3 sends a command to the driving unit 121 (a DC motor for example) to drive the wheels 122 so that the robot moves along the horizontal surface. Because the movable unit 12 has the speed reduction unit 13, so that when the body 1 moves by the wheels 122, the speed reduction unit 13 reduces the speed of the wheels 122 when necessary. Furthermore, by using the processing unit 3 to control the input voltage to the driving unit 121, the output speed of the wheels 122 can be controlled to manage the specific speed of each of the single wheel 122 to change the speed and the direction that the body 1 moves. The two wheels 122 are made by plastic and coated with cushion members such as sponge so as to absorb vibration when moving. When moving in horizontal direction, the block 27 of the jumping unit 2 slightly contacts the ground to prevent the robot from pivoting due to gravity. The cover 14 is mounted to the second side of the board 11 to prevent dust and rain from accessing the parts covered by the cover 14.

(13) As shown in FIG. 4, when the robot needs to jump over an obstacle, the image receiving unit 6 captures the image of the obstacle and transfers the captured images to the signal transmission device 51 by the receiving unit 31, therefore, the users are able to monitor the image on the remote control unit 5. The users operates the remote control unit 5 to transfer signals about the direction and the angle of the wheels 122 to the processing unit 3 which then activates the driving unit 121 to adjust the direction and the angle of the wheels 122. The sensing unit 4 detects the distance between the body 1 and an obstacle (not shown), and the height of the obstacle. The detected information is sent to the processing unit 3 to be processed. The rollers 252 are engaged between the threaded portion 2511 and the tapered contact face 261, so that the processing unit 3 activates the driving member 23 of the jumping unit 2 such as a DC motor, to rotate the threaded rod 251 and rollers 252 roll to change electric energy into mechanical energy. In one embodiment, the threaded rod 251 is a ball screw 251 which has high efficiency of transmission and positioning feature, so as to reduce about 30% driving torque of conventional threaded rod 251 to reduce consumption of energy. The bridge 26 moves toward the resilient members 21 along the rails 221 to compress the resilient members 21. In one embodiment, the rails 221 are linear rails which provide smaller friction so that the driving member 23 moves the tubular member 25 with limited driving force. This feature is suitable for being operated at high speed. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the block 27 contacts the ground, when the tubular member 25 moves to the pre-set position, the rollers 252 are separated from the threaded rod 251 because of the tapered contact face 261, so that the bridge 26 moves away from the resilient members 21 because the resilient members 21 bounce back. In other words, the block 27 receives a reaction force from the ground and makes the robot to jump over the obstacle. Because the sensing unit 4 detects the distance between the body 1 and the obstacle (not shown), and the height of the obstacle, so that the robot jumps over the obstacle within the minimum height which saves energy for the robot and allows the robot not to hit the obstacle. Besides, because when the robot lands again, the wheels 122 and the board 11 receive a significant force, so that the thickness of the board 11 is increased to bear the force, and the two wheels 122 are made by plastic and coated with cushion members such as sponge to have proper cushion feature.

(14) Furthermore, the robot is able to jump intermittently when moving along a flat surface, the image receiving unit 6 captures the image abound the robot and transfers the captured images to the signal transmission device 51 by the receiving unit 31, therefore, the users are able to monitor the image on the remote control unit 5 and send commands to the robot.

(15) While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.