A novel design of a robot that can jump and roll with a single actuator

Abstract

Hybrid locomotion is advantageous over a single type of locomotion in terms of maneuverability. However robots with the ability of hybrid locomotion using either wheels or legs are usually complicated and heavy. This paper introduces a cylinder-shaped robot that is capable of two types of locomotion, jumping and rolling, on the ground. This paper reports design and experimental results of the robot that can execute the two kinds of locomotion using only one actuator. Experimental results show that the robot with the diameter of 180 mm can obtain the rolling speed of 600 mm/sec and the jumping height of 160 mm.