Mantis: hybrid leg-wheel ground mobile robot
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the research is the development of a small-scale ground mobile robot for surveillance and inspection; the main design goals are mobility in indoor environments with step climbing ability, pivoting around a vertical axis and without oscillations for stable vision, mobility in unstructured environments, low mechanical and control complexity.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed hybrid leg-wheel robot is characterized by a main body equipped with two actuated wheels and two praying Mantis rotating legs; a rear frame with two idle wheels is connected to the main body by a vertical revolute joint for steering; a second revolute joint allows the rear axle to roll. The geometrical synthesis of the robot has been performed using a nondimensional approach for generality's sake.
Findings
The experimental campaign on the first prototype confirms the fulfilment of the design objectives; the robot can efficiently walk in unstructured environments realizing a mixed wheeled-legged locomotion.
Practical implications
Thanks to the operative flexibility of Mantis in indoor and outdoor environments, the range of potential applications is wide: surveillance, inspection, monitoring of dangerous locations, intervention in case of terroristic attacks, military tasks.
Originality/value
Different from other robots of similar size, Mantis combines high speed and energetic efficiency, stable vision, capability of climbing over high steps, obstacles and unevenness.
Keywords
Citation
Bruzzone, L. and Fanghella, P. (2014), "Mantis: hybrid leg-wheel ground mobile robot", Industrial Robot, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 26-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-02-2013-330
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited