Development of Hi-Grip Crawler using a Deformation of Powder.

摘要

It is desirable to have a mobile robot which can move and perform various tasks on irregular terrain, but current systems are not reliable or adaptable enough for practical use. A traditional method for climbing stairs is to use knobbed tires or tracks which can grip the edge of the stairs. But with this method usually only one knob on each side of the vehicle grips the stairs because the spacing between the knobs does not necessarily coincide with the distance between steps. In this thesis, a new idea crawler is developed for the stair-climbing. Blocks are attached to the face of the crawler-belt and can change shape to match the edge of the steps. Therefore, a large friction force is obtained by the soft deformation of the blocks at every point along the belt. After experimenting with various types of substances, blocks filled with powder were chosen for their desirable deformation characteristics. The results of this stair-climbing experiment prove that this crawler has better reliability than other crawlers when ascending and descending stairs. Also, this crawler can change its posture when climbing stairs or obstacles and this is also used to increase the turning efficiency of the crawler.