DEVELOPMENT OF QUADRUPED ROBOT CAPABLE OF TRANSITIONING BETWEEN BOTH SURFACES OF THIN PLATE

Yodai Matsumura,∗ Kanji Morii,∗ Tomoya Uenaka,∗ and Yogo Takada∗

Keywords

Quadruped robot, mobile robot, legged robot, magnetic adhesion, neodymium magnet, bridge inspection

Abstract

In this study, we propose the quadruped bridge inspection robot equipped with magnetic adhesion units and a 3-axis linkage mechanism to move between both sides of a thin plate. The proposal robot has two features. Firstly, the robot is equipped with adhesion units with permanent magnets, which allow the robot to move while adhering to a steel plate. Secondly, the robot can take various postures due to the 3-axis linkage mechanism because it is necessary to be able to control where its legs are placed and their orientations. We designed the robot which has proper length of leg link and output a torque greater than the load torque. We also designed the robot trajectory that moves between both surfaces of a thin plate. It was designed to move smoothly by using spline interpolation. Finally, we experimented to evaluate the performance of the robot while transitioning between the top and the bottom side of the thin steel plate. The experiments were conducted six times. The results demonstrated that the robot is capable of transitioning one side of a thin plate to the other, which is difficult for conventional wheeled robots to do.

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