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

Most traditional home robots have always had problems with stairs, doorsills and other obstacles that humans cross with ease in cluttered indoor environments. This paper presents the development and characterization of a surveillance robot with hopping capabilities for home security. The proposed robot, which is 9 cm in height and 250 g in weight, can leap over obstacles more than 4 times its own size. It depends on the elastic elements in a six-bar linkage leg system to enable hopping locomotion. It can also roll freely on flat floors and change its directions by the two-wheeled differential drive system. It adopts the ZigBee protocol for wireless communication and therefore can be added to a ZigBee-based home control network as a mobile video sensor node. Experimental results verify that the prototype robot is a powerful home security device that can patrol in cluttered home environments with ease.

A surveillance robot with hopping capabilities for home security

Inspired by the aerial maneuvering ability of lizards, we present the design and control of MSU (Michigan State University) tailbot—a miniature-tailed jumping robot. The robot can not only wheel on the ground, but also jump up to overcome obstacles. Moreover, once leaping into the air, it can control its body angle using an active tail to dynamically maneuver in midair for safe landings. We derive the midair dynamics equation and design controllers, such as a sliding mode controller, to stabilize the body at desired angles. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first miniature (maximum size $7.5$ cm) and lightweight ( $26.5$ g) robot that can wheel on the ground, jump to overcome obstacles, and maneuver in midair. Furthermore, tailbot is equipped with on-board energy, sensing, control, and wireless communication capabilities, enabling tetherless or autonomous operations. The robot in this paper exemplifies the integration of mechanical design, embedded system, and advanced control methods that will inspire the next-generation agile robots mimicking their biological counterparts. Moreover, it can serve as mobile sensor platforms for wireless sensor networks with many field applications.

MSU Tailbot: Controlling Aerial Maneuver of a Miniature-Tailed Jumping Robot

In this paper, we present the design and development of a miniature robot that is able to run and jump. This robot can use wheeled locomotion to travel on the flat ground. When it encounters a large obstacle compared to its size, it can stand up and leap over the obstacle. The robot has a mass of 25 grams and a maximum size of 9 centimeters. Experimental results show that with a take-off angle 80°, the robot can jump up to 1.44 meter in height and 0.59 meter in distance. Moreover, it has on-board energy, control, and communication abilities, which enables tetherless or autonomous operation. With the multi-modal locomotion abilities, the robot is expected to have many applications ranging from environmental monitoring, search and rescue, to military surveillance.

A miniature 25 grams running and jumping robot

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

Wheel-Based Stair Climbing Robot with Hopping Mechanism – Fast Stair Climbing and Soft Landing Using Vibration of 2-DOF System –

Wheel-Based Stair Climbing Robot with Hopping Mechanism – Demonstration of Continuous Stair Climbing Using Vibration –

In this chapter, we introduce a stair-climbing robot developed in our laboratory This robot consists basically of two body parts connected by springs, and hops as a result of the vibration of a two-degrees-of-freedom (2-DOF) system The excellent combination between the frequencies of the robotic body vibration and the tread-riser interval of stairs enables a small and simple robot fast stair climbing, soft landing, and energy saving In an attempt to give the robot mobility in an environment such as an office building having steps and stairs, various mechanisms have been proposed and developed Each one of which has different characteristics For example, wheel-based robots are very simple in terms of both mechanical design and control, and they can travel quickly and stably But their size tends to be big for climbing stairs, as they cannot surmount a riser higher than their wheel radius On the other hand, although crawler-type robots can climb over a riser higher than a wheel-based robot, they are slow and noisy Typical examples of crawler-type robots are TAQT (Hirose et al, 1992) that can carry a human and Kenaf (Yoshida et al, 2007) for rescue operations Legged robots, especially humanoid ones, are well suited for climbing stairs, but require many DOFs and complex control Honda’s ASIMO (ASIMO OFFICIAL SITE), AIST’s HRP (Harada et al, 2006) and Waseda University’s legged robot (Sugahara et al, 2007) are good examples In addition, the hybrids of these types have been proposed and have improved upon mutual demerits Chari-be (Nakajima et al, 2004), with two wheels and four legs, travels quickly on its wheels over flat terrain, and climbs using its legs in rough terrain such as a step and stairs A biped-type robot with a wheel at the tip of its legs (Matsumoto et al, 1999) climbs stairs smoothly RHex (Altendorfer et al, 2001) has six compliant rotary legs and travels speedily not only up and down stairs, but also even uncertain terrain such as a swamp Moreover, modular robots such as an articulated snakelike robot and special mechanisms for stairs have also been proposed Yim’s snake-like robot (Yim et al, 2001) climbs stairs, transforming its own loop form into a stair shape These excellent mechanisms have improved the manoeuvrability of the robot for rough terrain, but as most are general-purpose robots for rough terrain, a more specialized mechanism must be developed if we focus solely on stair-climbing ability in an office building 3

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Naoki Bushida

Papers

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

Wheel-Based Stair Climbing Robot with Hopping Mechanism – Fast Stair Climbing and Soft Landing Using Vibration of 2-DOF System –

Wheel-Based Stair Climbing Robot with Hopping Mechanism – Demonstration of Continuous Stair Climbing Using Vibration –

A Wheel-based Stair-climbing Robot with a Hopping Mechanism