Locomotion configuration of a robust rappelling robot

Abstract

Robotic rappelling is an intriguing concept for exploration of planetary craters and their Earth analogs, volcanoes. Integrating a tensioned tether to a framewalking robot enables a new statically-stable locomotive capability appropriate for rappelling on steep and rugged terrains. Rappelling with a tether-assisted framewalker also allows efficient execution of multi-level control. These ideas are manifested in the locomotion configuration of Dante II. The appropriateness of the Dante II configuration for rappelling was evaluated during a variety of tests and its 1994 exploration of the active volcano of Mount Spurr in Alaska.