Design and Analysis of an Adaptive Obstacle-Overcoming Tracked Robot with Passive Swing Arms

Abstract

This paper presents a novel adaptive tracked robot equipped with passive swing arms for overcoming obstacles. First, the paper introduces the overall composition of the robot and focuses on the adaptive mechanism of the passive swing arms. Second, analyzing the single-step obstacle-overcoming process of the robot reveals the relationship between the obstacle height and the geometric parameters of the passive swing arms, establishing a kinematic model. Then, a dynamic model of the robot’s obstacle-overcoming process is established by simplifying the robot into a crank–slider linkage, and the time range for the robot to overcome obstacles is analyzed. Finally, through virtual simulation and a physical prototype, the feasibility and maneuverability of the robot’s design are verified. These findings demonstrate the potential of the robot in various applications, such as search and rescue missions and homeland security.