Mechanism Design and Analysis of a New Overhead Transmission Line Inspection Robot

一种新型架空输电线路巡检机器人的机构设计

North China Electric Power University, Baoding 071003, China

Received: 15 October 2019

Abstract

The requirements of power system for the safety of overhead transmission lines are increasing. With the rapid development of mobile robot technology, the inspection of overhead transmission lines by inspection robots has become a research hotspot in recent years. Aiming at the task requirements of transmission line inspection robots and the environmental characteristics of transmission lines, researchers at home and abroad have developed a variety of inspection robots. However, most of these robots have problems such as inability to cross the strain tower, low obstacle crossing efficiency and poor safety. In order to solve the above problems, this paper proposes a new four-arm inspection robot mechanism. The robot can cross the strain tower with two different sets of arms working together. The rectangular frame structure on the walking arm improves the obstacle crossing efficiency of the robot, and the closed hanging mechanism ensures that the robot does not fall from the line. In this paper, the three-dimensional model of the robot is established, and the specific structure and motion parameters are given. Three typical obstacle-crossing modes are planned, and the motion analysis and force simulation analysis of the robot's obstacle-crossing process are carried out. The simulation result shows that the mechanism can efficiently cross the strain towers and common obstacles on the transmission line.

摘要

电力系统对架空输电线路安全性的要求日益提高，随着移动机器人技术的快速发展，利用巡线机器人对架空输电线路进行检查已成为近年来的研究热点。针对架空输电线路巡检机器人的作业任务需求和输电线路的环境特点，国内外研究人员已研发出多款巡线机器人，然而这些机器人大都存在无法跨越耐张杆塔、越障效率低和安全性差等问题。为解决上述问题，提出了一种新型四臂式巡线机器人机构，该机器人通过2组不同的手臂互相配合可以跨越耐张型杆塔。其中，行走臂上的矩形框架式结构提高了机器人的越障效率，封闭的挂线机构保证机器人不会从线上坠落。建立了该机器人的三维模型，给出了具体的结构及运动参数，规划出了3种典型越障模式，对机器人的越障效率和过程进行了仿真分析。分析结果表明，该机构可以高效率跨越耐张型杆塔以及输电线路上的常见障碍物。