Locomotion strategies for an omni-directional mobile robot using traveling waves propagation

Abstract

In this study, we present an omni-directional mobile robot based on the locomotion of a snail. The snail moves by propagating traveling waves from its tail to its head. If it were possible to propagate a traveling wave in several directions, an omni-directional mobile robot could be realized. Since the locomotion mechanism of the snail involves moving a larger area than in the case with other creatures, it is able to move not only on irregular ground such as swamps, but also on walls and ceilings. We have developed an omni-directional mobile robot that makes use of a traveling wave and have derived a kinematical model for locomotion strategy. In experiments, the robot showed good performance, as described in this paper.