Stair climbing

About: Stair climbing is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1610 publications have been published within this topic receiving 30504 citations.

Locomotion control of a biped robot for stair-climbing by fuzzy stabilization tuning approach

Abstract: Zero-Moment Point (ZMP) is the most popular concept that is applied to stabilize the gait motion of a biped robot. However, the computation of the ZMP position and the dynamic model is highly complex, and so requires a considerable time. Therefore, to eliminate complex computation, this work designs a new locomotion control system for humanoid robots, which yields walking gait characteristics that are similar to those of a human. Accordingly, the first goal of this study is to elucidate walking characteristics by measuring human motion during locomotion. It analyzes biped locomotion from the perspective of torque control at each joint. Because of the complexity of biped locomotion systems, a dynamic biped law cannot be realized by the direct application of modern control theory. Hence, fuzzy logic concept will be adopted in dynamic stabilization analysis and locomotion control. The fuzzy control is based on coordination control rules for dynamic stabilization that govern the actions of the biped robot link. The performance of the system is evaluated by making the biped walk on a horizontal plane surface and climbing up a flight of stairs. Experimental results are presented to confirm the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed fuzzy stabilization tuning approach.

Object-loading robot which can move as well as climb stairs

Abstract: The invention relates to the technical field of robots, in particular to an object-loading robot which can move as well as climb stairs. The problems in the prior art that a stair-climbing and object-loading robot is complicated in structure and low in cost performance and it is hard to popularize the robot are solved. The object-loading robot comprises a supporting frame, caterpillar band drive mechanisms, a wheel caterpillar mode switch mechanism, an object-loading platform posture adjusting mechanism, driving hub motors, universal wheels and a control unit, the caterpillar band drive mechanisms, the wheel caterpillar mode switch mechanism, the object-loading platform posture adjusting mechanism, the driving hub motors, the universal wheels and the control unit are arranged on the supporting frame, through the wheel caterpillar mode switch mechanism, wheel caterpillar switching can be conducted aiming at the flat movement state or the stair climbing state, and thus the multiple movement modes of the robot are achieved. The object-loading robot is low in cost, small in size, and light in weight; the robot is flexibly switched between the flat movement mode and the stair climbing mode, and is more suitable for serving as a portable auxiliary object-loading robot, the control method is simple, and thus the object-loading robot is convenient to popularize.

Lower Extremity Exoskeleton for Stair Climbing Augmentation

Abstract: This paper presents a light-weight lower extremity exoskeleton and its associated control method to augment the locomotion for climbing stairs. A compact slider crank mechanism is designed for the knee joint to offer the required torque. A spring based quasi-passive hip joint is adopted to compensate gravity force of lifting leg. A hybrid assistive control strategy is proposed to ensure the requirement and coordination of different gait phases for the exoskeleton. In standing phase, a direct gravity balancing method is used to support the body and payload. In swing phase, a force tracking control method is utilized to enhance leg mobility. Stair climbing tests show that the gravity compensation method and force-tracking controller enhance the stair climbing mobility, and demonstrate the feasibility of the designed exoskeleton and the proposed hybrid control strategy.

A stair climbing vehicle for a wheelchair and method of operating a stair climbing vehicle

Abstract: of EP0839705There is provided a stair climbing vehicle (1) for transporting a wheelchair with a person sitting on. The vehicle comprise a crawler device (3) including a pair of endless belt crawlers disposed on opposite sides of the vehicle; a vehicle body (2) including a driving motor for driving the crawler device (3) to enabling the stair climbing vehicle (1) to climb up or down a stairway; a load carrying platform (4) for mounting a wheelchair, said load carrying platform (4) being provided above the vehicle body (2) capable of pivoting in vertical direction about one end thereof. The load carrying platform (4) is provided with a inclination sensor (6). The inclination sensor (6) includes a first inclination sensing element (61) and a second inclination sensing element (62), each inclination sensing element is a tubular member containing a fluid electrically conductive material and a pair of electrically conductive terminals (61a,61b,62a,62b).