Concept of adaptive gait for leg-wheel robot, RT-Mover

We have been conducting research into developing sufficient mobilization through usage of the leg-wheel type robot known as “RT-Mover” in its intended environment. This robot uses 4 drive wheels and 5 driving axes to provide simple mechanics, while also delivering a wheel mode and a leg mode. Past research has confirmed the robot´s underlying mobilization capability on standard terrain, examined the wheel mode´s mobility, and tested the robot´s capability to move over rough terrain not suitable for wheel mode via the leg mode. This paper proposes concept of adaptive gait using leg functions. When the wheels come in contact with convex terrain, adaptive gait will allow movement to continue through the use of leg motions. This paper provides a proposal concerning the basic operation of adaptive gait and validates their efficacy using the results of simulations and experiments.