The design of telescopic universal joint for earthquake rescue robot

Abstract

This paper presents a transmission system including the telescopic universal joint used for the snake like search and rescue robot to observe the earthquake ruins' surroundings and find survivors. The telescopic universal joint is mainly composed with a spline pair, cross universal joints, ring flanges, cover plate and some accessorial utilities. Location bond, Lubricating oil, rubber packing rings are applied to enhance the service life of the transmission system. The location bond is used to affirm the beginning and terminal position of the spline pair. Lubricating oil is filled between the splines axis and the metal sleeve in order to reduce friction. A cover plate and rubber packing ring is used to prevent outside dust occupy and pollute the lubricating oil since there is abundant garbage in the collapsed building ruins. Besides, a viewing window is reserved to observe the lubricating oil status to make necessary changes of oil. With the transmission system, the snake like robot can work in the worse earthquake ruins' environments with a relatively high speed.