Wheeled and tracked vehicles are mainly suitable for relatively flat terrain. Legged vehicles, on the other hand, have the potential to handle a wide variety of terrain. This article presents a new locomotion concept, adapted to both flat and complex rough terrain by combining the advantages of wheeled and legged vehicels. MATE-1 is a bipedal robot equipped with two special grippers which provide the capability of walking and climbing in rough terrain and rolling on smooth surfaces. A subtle design of the robot’s mechanical structure allows combining different locomotion concepts, thus increasing its mobility and its capacity to adapt to the terrain without exceed in weight or size.
Pictures and videos
MIR
Technical specifications
Class
Climbing robots on magnetic surfaces
Size and Weight
tbd
Degrees of Freedom
1
Sensors
motor position and torque
Energy and Autonomy
Onboard LiIon pack, 2 hours autonomy
Special Abilities
Passing between surfaces (from horizontal to vertical for instance)
Software
motor controller on a PIC and control protocol over bluetooth on a dsPIC
Projects
Master projects of C. Groux and V. Chenal
Presentation
This robot has been designed to allow mobility on vertical ferromagnetic surfaces,
including the transition between the surfaces.
