Towards maneuverability in plane with a dynamic climbing platform

Abstract

Dynamic climbing robots have shown vertical speeds that approach those of the fastest climbing animals, but to date, no work has been conducted on directional control or maneuverability while climbing for these platforms. Directional control in animals during high-speed terrestrial running utilizes altered leg kinematics and leg specialization, however, little work has been done to classify biological strategies for maneuverability in the scansorial regime. To gain insight on how alterations of leg kinematics effect maneuverability during high-speed climbing, we propose three methods for directional control and implement them on a high-speed, dynamic climbing robotic platform. These methods alter the leg kinematics of the platform through asymmetrically changing the foot placement, center of mass, and leg length. We show that heading angles of up to 37° off of vertical are possible while only decreasing the vertical ascension rate by 20%.