Research on the function and the orientation system of the stirring robot working in slurry

The stirring robots which work in large pots containing black slurry mixed of water-fine particles medium are researched in this paper. The robots walk and stir the slurry, also possess of the function of the navigation and orientation. It can be instead of traditional large installation with a central rotating arm, because of its advantages of smaller volume and lower energy consumption. Ultrasonic is selected to be used in the stirring robots. The ultrasonic orientation system sending and receiving signal is designed. The mathematic model for orientation is given and the ultrasonic sensors are experiment in special medium in laboratory. The ultrasonic is proved to be able to transmit in the black water-coal slurry. It is demonstrated that the ultrasonic sending angle range covers 360°, and there is a function relation between the sending pose of the sensor and the measured distance errors. The conclusion is valuable reference for the underwater robot technology.