Crank-wheel: A brand new mobile base for field robots

Abstract

In the accident of nuclear disasters or biochemical terrors, there is the strong need for robots which can move around and collect information at the disaster site. The robot should have toughness and high mobility in a location of stairs and obstacles. In this study, we propose a brand new type of mobile base named “crank-wheel” suitable for such use. Crank-wheel consists of wheels and connecting coupler link named crank-leg. Crank-wheel makes simple and smooth wheeled motion on flat ground and automatically transforms to the walking motion on rugged terrain as the crank-legs starts to contact the surface of the rugged terrain and acts as legs. This mechanism features its simple, easiness to maintain water and dust proof structure, and limited danger of biting rubbles in the driving mechanism just as the case of tracked vehicles. Effectiveness of the Crank-wheel is confirmed by several driving experiments on debris, sand and bog.