• DocumentCode
    3469341
  • Title

    Design, construction, and testing of a new class of mobile robots for cave exploration

  • Author

    Siles, Ivan ; Walker, Ian D.

  • Author_Institution
    Dept. of Mech. Eng., Clemson Univ., Clemson, SC
  • fYear
    2009
  • fDate
    14-17 April 2009
  • Firstpage
    1
  • Lastpage
    6
  • Abstract
    This paper introduces a novel mobile robot design concept aimed at exploration of subterranean spaces. The key innovation is the combination of highly maneuverable-body elements with wheel/leg elements (ldquowhegsrdquo). This combination offers performance not possible with conventional ldquomonolithicrdquo wheeled or tracked mobile robots, or with current robot snakes. The paper covers two design iterations of the concept, concentrating on describing the overall design process and results from initial tests.
  • Keywords
    control system synthesis; mobile robots; cave exploration; design iterations; mobile robot design; monolithic wheeled robots; robot snakes; subterranean spaces; wheel-leg elements; Humans; Leg; Mobile robots; Navigation; Remotely operated vehicles; Rough surfaces; Surface roughness; Testing; USA Councils; Wheels; Cave robot; biologically inspired robots; exploration; subterranean; whegs;
  • fLanguage
    English
  • Publisher
    ieee
  • Conference_Titel
    Mechatronics, 2009. ICM 2009. IEEE International Conference on
  • Conference_Location
    Malaga
  • Print_ISBN
    978-1-4244-4194-5
  • Electronic_ISBN
    978-1-4244-4195-2
  • Type

    conf

  • DOI
    10.1109/ICMECH.2009.4957126
  • Filename
    4957126