Modeling and control of an under-actuated miniature crawler robot

Abstract

This paper presents the modeling and control of our second generation prototype miniature crawler robot which was targeted to applications in constrained environments. The mechanical design and the drive mechanism of the robot are first discussed A kinematic model is then derived and the motion planning is analyzed. A description of the Texas Instrument DSP-based embedded controller is presented. Finally, experimental results are presented for evaluation of the robot performance.