1. An electroactive polymer driver comprises a driver main body, a driver casing, a transmission piece and a pretensioning piece, wherein the driver main body and the transmission piece are telescopically arranged in a driver sleeve, the transmission piece is connected with the driver main body, the pretensioning piece is arranged on the driver casing, and the transmission piece penetrates through the pretensioning piece and extends out of the driver casing.

2. An electroactive polymer actuator as claimed in claim 1 wherein the preload member comprises a rod, a sleeve and a clamp plate, the rod and the clamp plate are fixedly attached to the ends of the sleeve, respectively, and a linear bearing is fixedly mounted within the sleeve.

3. An electroactive polymer actuator as claimed in claim 1 wherein the actuator housing has guide rods fixedly attached thereto and correspondingly, the actuator body has guide slots formed in the sides thereof, the guide slots being adapted to receive the guide rods.

4. An electroactive polymer actuator as claimed in claim 1 wherein the actuator casing comprises a housing and an end cap, the end cap being removably mounted to the housing, the end cap having a pre-load aperture formed therein, the pre-load member being removably mounted in the pre-load aperture by a screw thread, the housing having a wire connection attached to a side wall thereof.

5. An electroactive polymer actuator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the actuator comprises an end plate and a drive post, the end plate is attached to the actuator body, the drive post is fixedly connected to the end plate, and the drive post has a side hole and an axial hole formed therein.

6. An expression robot, which is characterized by comprising an eye mechanism, a mouth mechanism, a neck mechanism and a robot shell, wherein the robot shell is sleeved outside the eye mechanism, the mouth mechanism and the neck mechanism, the eye mechanism is installed on the mouth mechanism, the mouth mechanism is installed on the neck mechanism, and the electroactive polymer driver as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 is installed in the eye mechanism, the mouth mechanism and the neck mechanism.

7. The robot with the expression function of claim 6, wherein the mouth mechanism comprises a lip driving mounting plate, a lip connecting rod, an upper lip driving member, a lower lip driving member and a mouth angle driving member, the upper lip driving member and the lower lip driving member are respectively fixedly mounted on two side end surfaces of the lip driving mounting plate, the upper lip driving member and the lower lip driving member are connected with the lip connecting rod to drive the middle of the lip connecting rod to move, and the mouth angle driving member is connected with a mouth angle of the lip connecting rod to drive the mouth angle of the lip connecting rod to move.

8. The robot of claim 6, wherein the neck mechanism comprises a nodding driving member, a swivel driving member, and a head connecting member, the head connecting member is mounted on the nodding driving member, the nodding driving member is rotatably mounted on the swivel driving member, and the head driving member is provided with a swivel interference preventing device.

9. The expressive robot as claimed in claim 8, wherein the nodding driving member comprises a nodding plate rotatably mounted on the nodding plate via a hinge, a nodding base plate on which the supporting post is mounted, and a supporting post fixedly mounted on a lower end surface of the nodding plate, and the electroactive polymer driver is slidably connected to the rotating head interference preventing device.

10. The robot of claim 9, wherein the rotary driving member comprises a rotary bracket, a rotary driving member, a supporting frame and a rotary shaft, the rotary shaft is rotatably mounted on the rotary bracket, the rotary driving member is connected to the rotary shaft, the supporting frame is fixedly mounted on the rotary bracket, the nodding bottom plate is rotatably mounted on the rotary bracket through a bearing, and the rotary shaft is fixedly connected to the nodding bottom plate.

Background

With the social development, the intelligent robot is separated from the shape and limitation of the initial industrial manufacturing robot, develops into more anthropomorphic appearance, improves the functions and the intelligent degree increasingly, and can meet the requirements of various application environments, thereby opening up a wider development space for the research and development of the robot technology. The humanoid facial expression robot is one of the popular researches of the current intelligent robot. The intelligent robot is predicted to go into thousands of households in the future, so that the robot is endowed with emotion, and vivid emotion interaction with the robot becomes important. Therefore, the research on the humanoid-expression robot has very important significance for realizing harmonious human-computer interaction. However, most of the existing expression robots use motor drive (such as the published patent CN202010169291.2), so that the defects of motion fault, stiff expression and the like cannot be achieved to a realistic anthropomorphic degree, and the motor drive has the disadvantages of high energy consumption, high noise, heavy mass, space occupation, difficult control and maintenance and the like, and is not suitable for the light and flexible working environment of the expression robot. The expression robot (CN202010194085.7) based on the gel driver, which is proposed by the applicant, has the problems of low expression anthropomorphic degree, insufficient abundant expression, low robustness when the driving module unit structure works in the horizontal direction and the like.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above disadvantages, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an electroactive polymer driver and an expression robot thereof, which have the advantages of light and compact structure, no noise, low energy consumption, more abundant expression, and capability of performing work such as turning, nodding and the like according to requirements.

In order to solve the technical problems, the invention adopts the technical scheme that,

an electroactive polymer driver comprises a driver main body, a driver casing, a transmission piece and a pre-tightening piece, wherein the driver main body and the transmission piece are telescopically arranged in a driver sleeve, the transmission piece is connected with the driver main body, the pre-tightening piece is arranged on the driver casing, and the transmission piece penetrates through the pre-tightening piece and extends out of the driver casing.

Furthermore, the pretensioning piece comprises a rotating rod, a sleeve and a pressing plate, the rotating rod and the pressing plate are respectively and fixedly connected to two ends of the sleeve, and a linear bearing is fixedly mounted in the sleeve.

Furthermore, a guide rod is fixedly connected in the driver casing, a guide groove is formed in the side edge of the driver main body, and the guide groove is matched with the guide rod.

Furthermore, the driver casing includes casing and end cover, and the end cover is removable to be installed on the casing, takes shape on the end cover to have the pretension through-hole, and the pretension piece passes through the removable installation of screw thread in the pretension through-hole, is connected with wire connecting portion on the casing lateral wall.

Further, the driving medium includes end plate and transmission post, and the end plate is laminated with the driver main part, and transmission post and end plate fixed connection, the shaping has side opening and axial hole on the transmission post.

The utility model provides an expression robot, includes eye mechanism, mouth mechanism, neck mechanism and robot housing, and the robot housing cover is established in the outside of eye mechanism, mouth mechanism, neck mechanism, and eye mechanism installs on mouth mechanism, and mouth mechanism installs on neck mechanism, all installs above-mentioned electroactive polymer driver in eye mechanism, mouth mechanism, the neck mechanism.

Further, the mouth mechanism comprises a lip driving mounting plate, a lip connecting rod, an upper lip driving piece, a lower lip driving piece and a mouth angle driving piece, the upper lip driving piece and the lower lip driving piece are fixedly mounted on the end faces of the two sides of the lip driving mounting plate respectively, the upper lip driving piece and the lower lip driving piece are connected with the lip connecting rod, the middle of the lip connecting rod is driven to move, the mouth angle driving piece is connected with the mouth angle of the lip connecting rod, and the mouth angle of the lip connecting rod is driven to move.

Further, neck mechanism includes nodding driving piece, commentaries on classics driving piece and head connecting piece, and the head connecting piece is installed on the nodding driving piece, and the nodding driving piece rotates and installs on the commentaries on classics driving piece, installs the commentaries on classics anti-interference device in the nodding driving piece.

Furthermore, the nodding driving part comprises a nodding plate, a nodding bottom plate and a supporting column, the nodding plate is rotatably installed on the nodding bottom plate through a hinge, the supporting column is installed on the nodding bottom plate, the head rotating anti-interference device is fixedly installed on the lower end face of the nodding plate, and the electroactive polymer driver is in sliding connection with the head rotating anti-interference device.

Further, the rotating driving piece comprises a rotating support, a rotating transmission piece, a support frame and a rotating shaft, the rotating shaft is rotatably installed on the rotating support, the rotating transmission piece is connected with the rotating shaft, the support frame is fixedly installed on the rotating support, the nodding bottom plate is rotatably installed on the rotating support through a bearing, and the rotating shaft is fixedly connected with the nodding bottom plate.

The robot has the advantages that the robot can realize anthropomorphic actions of various parts of the head, including eyebrows, eyelids, eyeballs, mouth and the like, and can realize six basic expressions of human beings; meanwhile, the neck of the robot can realize the head nodding and head turning actions of the robot through the vertical and horizontal rotating motions, so that the emotional expression of the robot is enriched, and the anthropomorphic degree of the robot is enhanced. The invention has the advantages of light and compact structure, no noise, low energy consumption and the like, can be used for human-computer interaction of household and medical accompanying robots, commercial service robots, vehicle-mounted voice robots, education teaching robots and the like, effectively improves the affinity between the robots and the people, and has great significance for the social application of the service robots.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a robot.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of the robot with the housing hidden.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a half-section of an electroactive polymer actuator.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the connection of the drive body to the transmission member.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural view of the housing.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a double amplifier configuration.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a quadruple amplifier.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view of the structure of the head.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view of an eyeball installation structure.

Fig. 10 is a schematic view of the structure of fig. 8 after being rotated by a certain angle.

Fig. 11 is a schematic view of the structure of the lower lip driving member.

Fig. 12 is a schematic view of the lip structure.

Fig. 13 is a schematic view of the structure of the neck mechanism.

Fig. 14 is a schematic structural view of the head rotation preventing device.

Detailed Description

The invention is further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

An electroactive polymer driver comprises a driver main body 1-1, a driver sleeve 1-2, a transmission piece 1-3 and a preload piece 1-4, wherein the driver main body 1-1 and the transmission piece 1-3 are telescopically arranged in a driver sleeve 1-2, the transmission piece 1-3 is connected with the driver main body 1-1, by means of the movement of the telescopic drive transmission element 1-3 of the drive body 1-1, the pretensioning element 1-3 is mounted on the drive housing 1-2, the transmission element 1-3 extends through the pretensioning element 1-4 out of the drive housing 1-2, through the arrangement of the preload piece 1-4 and the drive shell 1-2, the movement of the drive main body 1-1 is more stable, therefore, the transmission stability of the driver is improved, and the running stability of the robot applying the driver is improved.

The pretensioning piece 1-4 comprises a rotating rod 1-5, a sleeve 1-6 and a pressing plate 1-7, the rotating rod 1-5 and the pressing plate 1-7 are respectively and fixedly connected to two ends of the sleeve 1-6, a linear bearing 1-8 is fixedly installed in the sleeve 1-6, external threads are arranged on the outer side of the sleeve 1-6, the pretensioning piece 1-4 can be conveniently installed on a driver casing through the arrangement of the rotating rod 1-5, and a transmission piece 1-3 is arranged in the linear bearing 1-8 in a penetrating mode, so that the moving stability of the transmission piece 1-3 can be improved.

The driver casing 1-2 is internally and fixedly connected with guide rods 1-9, correspondingly, guide grooves 1-10 are formed in two sides of the driver main body 1-1, the guide grooves 1-10 are matched with the guide rods 1-9, and the guide rods 1-9 and the guide grooves 1-10 are matched with each other, so that the movement stability of the driver main body 1-1 and the transmission piece 1-3 is improved, and the transmission precision is improved.

The driver casing 1-2 comprises a shell 1-11 and an end cover 1-12, wherein the end cover 1-12 is detachably arranged on the shell 1-11, a pre-tightening through hole 1-13 is formed on the end cover 1-12, a pre-tightening piece 1-4 is detachably arranged in the pre-tightening through hole 1-13 through threads, a wire connecting part 1-14 is connected to the side wall of the shell 1-11, and a wire for driving the driver main body 1-1 is conveniently connected through the arrangement of the wire connecting part 1-14.

The driving piece 1-3 comprises an end plate 1-15 and a driving column 1-16, the end plate 1-15 is fixedly attached to a driver main body 1-1, the other end face of the driver main body 1-1 is fixedly connected with the bottom face of a driver casing 1-2, voltage is applied to the driver main body 1-1, the driver main body 1-1 contracts, the voltage is removed, the driver recovers, the driving column 1-16 is fixedly connected with the end plate 1-15, a side hole 1-17 and an axial hole 1-18 are formed in the driving column 1-16, and the driver is convenient to connect with a traction rope for driving a robot component.

The utility model provides an expression robot, including eye mechanism 2, mouth mechanism 3, neck mechanism 4 and robot housing 5, robot housing 5 cover is established in eye mechanism 2, mouth mechanism 3, the outside of neck mechanism 4, eye mechanism 2 installs on mouth mechanism 3, mouth mechanism 3 installs on neck mechanism 4, eye mechanism 2, mouth mechanism 3, all install above-mentioned electroactive polymer driver 1 in the neck mechanism 4, be convenient for improve the drive stroke of electroactive polymer driver, it has transmission amplifier still to adapt to in this embodiment, transmission amplifier includes double amplifier 6 and quadruple amplifier 7.

The double-amplifier 6 comprises a first traction rope 6-1, a second traction rope 6-2, a first amplifier wheel 6-3 and a second amplifier wheel 6-4, the first amplifier wheel 6-3 is fixedly connected with the second amplifier wheel 6-4, one end of the first traction rope 6-1 is fixedly connected to the first amplifier wheel 6-3, one end of the second traction rope 6-2 is fixedly connected to the second amplifier wheel 6-4, the diameter of the first amplifier wheel 6-3 is smaller than that of the second amplifier wheel 6-4, and the second traction rope 5-2 is connected with a transmission piece 1-3 of the electroactive polymer driver 1 and is used for amplifying the stroke of the electroactive polymer driver 1.

The quadruple amplifier 7 comprises a third traction rope 7-1, a fourth traction rope 7-2, a connecting rope 7-3, a first big wheel 7-4, a second big wheel 7-5, a first small wheel 7-6 and a second small wheel 7-7, wherein the first small wheel 7-6 is fixedly connected with the first big wheel 7-4, similarly, the second small wheel 7-7 is fixedly connected with the second big wheel 7-4, two ends of the connecting rope 7-3 are respectively fixedly connected with the first big wheel 7-4 and the second small wheel 7-7, one end of the third traction rope 7-1 is fixedly connected with the first small wheel 7-6, the other end of the third traction rope 7-1 is connected with a transmission piece 1-3 of the electroactive polymer driver 1, one end of the fourth traction rope 7-2 is fixedly connected with the second big wheel 7-5, for the purpose of amplifying the stroke of the electroactive polymer actuator 1.

The eye mechanism 2 comprises an eyeball assembly 2-1, an eyebrow assembly 2-2 and an eye support 2-3, wherein the eyeball assembly 2-1 and the eyebrow assembly 2-2 are respectively arranged on the eye support 2-3.

The eyeball component 2-1 comprises an eyeball 2-1-1, an eyeball support 2-1-2, an eyeball transmission member 2-1-3 and four electroactive polymer drivers 1, wherein the eyeball 2-1-1 is rotatably arranged on the eyeball support 2-1-2, the eyeball support 2-1-2 is fixedly arranged in the eyeball support 2-3, the four electroactive polymer drivers 1 are respectively and fixedly connected with the eyeball 2-1-1 through a quadruple amplifier 7 to drive the eyeball to swing within a certain range, and four guide wheels 2-1-4 are arranged in the eyeball transmission member 2-1-3, so that the fourth traction rope 7-2 of the quadruple amplifier 7 can be conveniently guided, and the swing precision of the eyeball 2-1-1 is improved.

The eyebrow component 2-2 comprises eyebrows 2-2-1, eyebrow supports 2-2-2, eyebrow sliders 2-2-3 and eyebrow connecting rods 2-2-4, the eyebrow supports 2-2-2 are fixedly arranged on the eye supports 2-3, the eyebrow sliders 2-2-3 are slidably arranged on the eyebrow supports 2-2-2, the eyebrow connecting rods 2-2-4 are fixedly connected with the eyebrow sliders 2-2-3, one end of the eyebrow connecting rod 2-2-4 is fixedly connected with the eyebrows 2-2-1, two eyebrow supports 2-2-2, eyebrow sliders 2-2-3 and eyebrow connecting rods 2-2-4 are connected in the same eyebrow 2-2-1, two electroactive polymer drivers 1 are arranged in the eyebrow component 2-2, the two electroactive polymer drivers 1 are connected with the eyebrow sliders 2-2-3 through fourth traction ropes 7-1 of the quadruple amplifier 7, and return springs 2-2-5 are connected between the eyebrow sliders 2-2-3 and the eyebrow support rods 2-2-2, so that the eyebrow sliders 2-2-3 can be conveniently reset.

The eye support 2-3 comprises a first eye plate 2-3-1, a second eye plate 2-3-2 and a lip driving mounting plate 3-1, the first eye plate 2-3-1, the second eye plate 2-3-2 and the lip driving mounting plate 3-1 are respectively arranged in parallel, an eyeball assembly 2-1 is mounted on the second eye plate 2-3-2, an eyebrow assembly 2-2 is mounted on the first eye plate 2-3-1, and a mouth mechanism 3 is fixedly mounted on the lip driving mounting plate 3-1.

The mouth mechanism 3 comprises a lip driving mounting plate 3-1, a lip connecting rod 3-2, an upper lip driving piece 3-3, a lower lip driving piece 3-4 and a mouth angle driving piece 3-5, wherein the upper lip driving piece 3-3 and the lower lip driving piece 3-4 are fixedly mounted on the end surfaces of two sides of the lip driving mounting plate 3-1 respectively, the upper lip driving piece 3-3 and the lower lip driving piece 3-4 are connected with the lip connecting rod 3-2 to drive the middle part of the lip connecting rod 3-2 to move, and the mouth angle driving piece 3-5 is connected with a mouth angle of the lip connecting rod 3-2 to drive the mouth angle of the lip connecting rod 3-2 to move.

The lip connecting rod 3-2 comprises a first lip rod 3-2-1, a second lip rod 3-2-2, a third lip rod 3-2-3, a fourth lip rod 3-2-4, a fifth lip rod 3-2-5 and a sixth lip rod 3-2-6, the first lip rod 3-2-1 and the fourth lip rod 3-2-4 are arranged in parallel, an upper lip driving piece 3-3 is connected with the first lip rod 3-2-1, a lower lip driving piece 3-4 is connected with the fourth lip rod 3-2-4, the second lip rod 3-2-2 and the third lip rod 3-2-3 form a lip angle, and the joint of the second lip rod 3-2-2 and the third lip rod 3-2-3 is connected with the lip angle driving piece 3-5, likewise, the fifth lip bar 3-2-5 and the sixth lip bar 3-2-6 form a corner, and the fifth lip bar 3-2-5 and the sixth lip bar 3-2-6 are connected to the corner driving member 3-5.

The upper lip driving part 3-3 comprises a guide bracket 3-3-1, a guide wheel 3-3-2 and an upper lip connecting rod 3-3-3, the guide wheel 3-3-2 is fixedly arranged on the lip driving mounting plate 3-1 through a support, the guide bracket 3-3-1 is fixedly arranged on the lip driving mounting plate 3-1, a connecting rod chute 3-3-4 is formed in the guide bracket 3-3-1, the upper lip connecting rod 3-3-3 is slidably arranged in the connecting rod chute 3-3-4, the guide bracket 3-3-1 is provided with a roller, the electroactive polymer driver 1 is fixed with the upper lip connecting rod 3-3-3 through a traction rope, and the traction rope is guided through the roller and the guide wheel 3-3-2.

The lower lip driving part 3-4 comprises a lower lip plate 3-4-1, a driving rod 3-4-2, a driving connecting seat 3-4-3 and a driving connecting rod 3-4-4, the lower lip plate 3-4-1 is rotatably installed on the lip driving installation plate 3-1, the electroactive polymer driver 1 is connected with the lower lip plate 3-4-1 through the driving rod 3-4-2, the driving connecting seat 3-4-3 is fixedly installed on the lower lip plate 3-4-1, and the driving connecting rod 3-4-4 is fixedly connected on the driving connecting seat 3-4-3 and is connected with the fourth lip plate 3-2-4.

The nozzle angle driving piece 3-5 comprises a nozzle angle base 3-5-1, a rotating roller 3-5-2, a swinging rod 3-5-3 and a nozzle angle driving rod 3-5-4, the rotating roller 3-5-2 is rotatably installed on the nozzle angle base 3-5-1, the swinging rod 3-5-3 is fixedly connected with the rotating roller 3-5-2, the nozzle angle driving rod 3-5-4 is eccentrically connected with the rotating roller 3-5-2, an electroactive polymer driver 1 is fixedly connected with the nozzle angle driving rod 3-5-4, and the swinging rod 3-5-3 is connected with a nozzle angle.

The neck mechanism 4 comprises a nodding driving piece 4-1, a turning driving piece 4-2 and a head connecting piece 4-3, the head connecting piece 4-3 is installed on the nodding driving piece 4-1, the nodding driving piece 4-1 is rotatably installed on the turning driving piece 4-3, a turning anti-interference device 4-4 is installed in the nodding driving piece 4-1, and the influence on the nodding driving piece 4-1 in the turning process is conveniently prevented through the arrangement of the turning anti-interference device 4-4, so that the working stability of the robot is ensured.

The nodding driving part 4-1 comprises a nodding plate 4-1-1, a nodding bottom plate 4-1-2 and a supporting column 4-1-3, the nodding plate 4-1-1 is rotatably installed on the nodding bottom plate 4-1-2 through a hinge, the supporting column 4-1-3 is installed on the nodding bottom plate 4-1-2 so as to support the nodding plate 4-1-1, two double amplifiers are installed on the nodding bottom plate 4-1-2, correspondingly, the two electroactive polymer drivers 1 are respectively connected with the two double amplifiers, first traction ropes of the two double amplifiers are fixedly connected with the nodding plate 4-1-1 at the same time, the electroactive polymer drivers 1 contract, the traction ropes are pulled through guide rollers so as to drive one end of the nodding plate 4-1-1 to displace, the spot plate 4-1-1 is rotated.

The head turning anti-interference device 4-4 is fixedly installed on the lower end face of the head plate 4-1-1, the electroactive polymer driver 1 is connected with the head turning anti-interference device 4-4 in a sliding mode through a double amplifier, the head turning anti-interference device 4-4 comprises a head turning guide block 4-4-1 and a head turning sliding block 4-4-2, a head turning guide groove 4-4-3 is formed in the head turning guide block 4-4-1 in an excavating mode, the head turning sliding block 4-4-2 is installed in the head turning guide groove 4-4-3 in a sliding mode, and the head turning sliding block 4-4-2 is fixedly connected with a first traction rope of the double amplifier.

The head turning driving piece 4-2 comprises a head turning support 4-2-1, a head turning driving piece 4-2-2, a support frame 4-2-3 and a rotating shaft 4-2-4, wherein the rotating shaft 4-2-4 is rotatably installed on the head turning support 4-2-1, the head turning driving piece 4-2-2 is connected with the rotating shaft 4-2-4, the support frame 4-2-3 is fixedly installed on the head turning support 4-2-1, the head pointing bottom plate 4-1-2 is rotatably installed on the head turning support 4-2-1 through a bearing 4-2-5, the rotating shaft 4-2-4 is fixedly connected with the head pointing bottom plate 4-1-2, and the neck rotates through the head turning driving piece 4-2-2.

The rotary head transmission part 4-2-2 comprises a rack and a gear, the gear is fixedly connected with the rotary shaft 4-2-4, the electroactive polymer driver 1 is connected with the rack, and the gear is driven to rotate by driving the rack, so that the rotary shaft 4-2-4 is driven to rotate.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention; thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Although the terms corresponding to the reference numerals in the figures are used more herein, the possibility of using other terms is not excluded; these terms are used merely to more conveniently describe and explain the nature of the present invention; they are to be construed as being without limitation to any additional limitations that may be imposed by the spirit of the present invention.