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A reconfigurable tri-prism mobile robot with eight modes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2018

Jieyu Wang ,
Yan'an Yao  and
Xianwen Kong
Jieyu Wang*
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK. E-mail: x.kong@hw.ac.uk
Yan'an Yao*
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, P.R. China
Xianwen Kong
Affiliation:
School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK. E-mail: x.kong@hw.ac.uk
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: jw26@hw.ac.uk
**Corresponding author. E-mail: yayao@bjtu.edu.cn
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Summary

A novel reconfigurable tri-prism mobile robot with eight modes is proposed. The robot is composed of two feet connected by three U-R-U (universal-revolute-universal) limbs. The robot incorporates the kinematic properties of sphere robots, squirming robots, tracked robots, wheeled robots and biped robots. In addition, the somersaulting and turning modes are also explored. After the description of the robot, the DOF (degree-of-freedom) is calculated based on screw theory. The 3D model and simulations indicate that the robot can cross several typical obstacles and can also be folded via two approaches. Finally, the prototype experiments are presented to verify the feasibility of the proposed mobile robot in different motion mode.

Keywords

Mobile robotReconfigurable robotObstacle crossingFoldable robotScrew theory
Type
Articles
Information
Robotica , Volume 36 , Issue 10 , October 2018 , pp. 1454 - 1476
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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