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Design and locomotion analysis of a novel deformable mobile robot with worm-like, self-crossing and rolling motion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2014

Yaobin Tian ,
Yan-An Yao ,
Wan Ding  and
Zhiyuan Xun
Yaobin Tian
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, P. R. China
Yan-An Yao*
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, P. R. China
Wan Ding
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, P. R. China
Zhiyuan Xun
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, P. R. China
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: yayao@center.njtu.edu.cn
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Summary

This paper presents a novel deformable mobile robot with five degrees of freedom (DOFs). The robot contains two equivalent expandable triangular platforms connected by three equivalent chains. Each platform is a regular triangle with a single DOF. Each chain consists of two links and three joints (one spherical joint at the middle of a chain, and one revolute joint at each end of the chain). Through kinematic and locomotion mode analysis, the robot exhibits three motion modes: worm-like, self-crossing, and rolling modes. The worm-like and self-crossing modes can be used for narrow passages (e.g., pipelines, holes, and caves). The rolling mode has three different directions at the initial state. By switching between these, the robot can operate on rough ground. To verify the locomotion modes and functionality of the robot, the results of a series of experiments performed on a manufactured prototype are reported.

Keywords

Mobile robotMotion planningLocomotion modeExpandable mechanismParallel robot
Type
Articles
Information
Robotica , Volume 34 , Issue 9 , September 2016 , pp. 1961 - 1978
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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