A chaotic path planning generator for autonomous mobile robots

Experimental investigation on coverage performance of a chaotic autonomous mobile robot

This paper addresses the system design and locomotion control for a versatile amphibious robot, AmphiRobot-II, inspired by various amphibian principles in the animal kingdom. In terms of the propulsion features of existing amphibians, a novel hybrid propulsive mechanism coupled with wheel-propeller-fin movements is proposed that integrates fish- or dolphin-like swimming and wheel-based crawling. The robot is able not only to implement flexible wheel-based movements on land, but also to perform steady and efficient fish- or dolphin-like swimming under water and can further switch between these two patterns via a specialized swivel device. To achieve multimodal motions, a body deformation steering approach is proposed for the turning locomotion on land with minimum turning radius obtained accordingly. A central pattern generator inspired underwater locomotion control is also implemented and tested on the physical robot. Based on the aforementioned design, the AmphiRobot-II prototype has been built and has successfully demonstrated to confirm the effectiveness of the hybrid propulsive scheme and the amphibious control approaches.

On a Bio-inspired Amphibious Robot Capable of Multimodal Motion

The ability to jump is found widely among small animals such as frogs, grasshoppers, and fleas. They jump to overcome large obstacles relative to their small sizes. Inspired by the animals' jumping capability, a miniature jumping robot-Michigan State University (MSU) Jumper-has been developed. In this paper, the mechanical design, fabrication, and experimentation of the MSU jumper are presented. The robot can achieve the following three performances simultaneously, which distinguish it from the other existing jumping robots. First, it can perform continuous steerable jumping that is based on the self-righting and the steering capabilities. Second, the robot only requires a single actuator to perform all the functions. Third, the robot has a light weight (23.5 g) to reduce the damage that results from the impact of landing. Experimental results show that, with a 75° take-off angle, the robot can jump up to 87 cm in vertical height and 90 cm in horizontal distance. The robot has a wide range of applications such as sensor/communication networks, search and rescue, surveillance, and environmental monitoring.

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MSU Jumper: A Single-Motor-Actuated Miniature Steerable Jumping Robot

A PSO-based multi-robot cooperation method for target searching in unknown environments

This paper presents a floor cleaning robot equipped with Swedish wheels. It can be used in crowded places such as houses, train station, airport etc. the robot can perform its work in autonomous and teleoperated mode. Moreover the robot can pivot around without turning, can avoid obstacles and is provided with automatic power management ability. And meanwhile, the kinematics for its control and controlling methods are studied and demonstrated. This new structure, smooth locomotion capability and high working efficiency are verified by experimentation.

A floor cleaning robot using Swedish wheels

A study on a wheel-based stair-climbing robot with a hopping mechanism

Development of a small flapping robot: Motion analysis during takeoff by numerical simulation and experiment

In this paper, we develop a small hexapod robot with passive suction cups and realize vertical wall climbing. The passive adhesion mechanisms make the robotic system small and simple, since it requires neither energy nor an additional actuator to stay on the vertical wall. Above all, the passive suction cup is suited to vertical wall climbing because it is strongly attached to a wall with a smooth surface and is simply detached from it by pulling the edge of the cup. These characteristics are intensified according to the decreasing robotic scale. In this study, we developed a small wall climbing robot 12 cm long and 34 g in weight and driven by single degree-of-freedom linkage legs based on the scale effect. Here, the linkage mechanism optimized by a genetic algorithm provided the effective trajectory of the legs and the attachment-detachment cycle. As a result, the robot traveled on the ground at a velocity of 2.7 cm/s and climbed on the vertical wall at a velocity of 2.2 cm/s.

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Development of a Small Legged Wall Climbing Robot with Passive Suction Cups

The wall climbing robot has characteristics of moving smartly and suction reliably on the wall, therefore, this paper proposes a method called critical suction, based on the negative suction and thrust force. Then mechanics, the robot's suction mechanism and the performance of air-sealed are analyzed, and the critical suction mechanism is discussed in theory. Furthermore, the fluid model and the fluid network dynamic model of the robot's suction system are set up. According to the dynamic response equation of the negative pressure in the suction cup, the suction process of the robot on the wall is simulated. Finally, the effect that the key parameters of the suction cup system have on the suction characteristic is analyzed and the conclusions are presented.

Koki Kikuchi

Papers

A floor cleaning robot using Swedish wheels

A study on a wheel-based stair-climbing robot with a hopping mechanism

Development of a small flapping robot: Motion analysis during takeoff by numerical simulation and experiment

Development of a Small Legged Wall Climbing Robot with Passive Suction Cups

Suction Ability Analyses of a Novel Wall Climbing Robot