The latest generation Whegs™ robot features a passive-compliant body joint

Abstract

Current autonomous and semi-autonomous robotic platforms are limited to functioning in highly structured environments such as buildings and roads. Autonomous robots that could explore and navigate rugged terrain and highly unstructured environments such as collapsed buildings would have large dividends in civilian and military applications. In this work, we present the next generation of Whegstrade robots, DAGSI Whegstrade, which has been completed and extensively field tested. Several innovations have made the robot more rugged and well suited to autonomous operation. Specifically, an actively controlled, passively compliant body joint has been tested in three different modes of operation to judge the usefulness of the mechanism. A two-dimensional dynamic simulation of the robot has also been constructed, and has been used to study the effects of weight distribution on obstacle climbing and to investigate future autonomous climbing strategies. Moving the center of mass forward allowed the robot to climb taller obstacles. DAGSI Whegstrade can climb rectangular obstacles as tall as 2.19 times the length of a leg.