Mobile Robot Trailing Arm for Obstacle Climbing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current robotic mobile platforms face challenges in miniaturization and navigating obstacles, particularly in hazardous or hostile environments, where they struggle to efficiently surmount stairs and maintain stability while carrying out reconnaissance and surveillance tasks.
Innovation Solution
A compact robotic vehicle with a driven support surface and a pivoting trailing arm that allows it to propel itself forward and pivot to raise its rear end, enabling it to climb obstacles like stairs, and features a flipper arm system for self-righting and obstacle climbing, along with sensors for navigation and communication capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the robot is miniaturized to improve portability and ease of deployment, then the robot size is reduced, but the robot's ability to surmount obstacles is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The robot employs dynamic flipper arms that can rotate through 360 degrees to assist in surmounting obstacles. The flippers are actively controlled to extend forward during obstacle climbing, providing additional leverage and traction, and can be retracted when not needed. This dynamic adaptation allows the miniaturized robot to overcome obstacles larger than its body size would normally permit.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot uses flipper arms that extend in the forward direction (adding a longitudinal dimension) to overcome obstacles. By projecting elements forward from the compact chassis, the robot gains additional mechanical leverage without increasing its overall footprint, enabling it to climb stairs and obstacles up to twice its body size.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the robot carries additional components for communication and navigation, then the communication and navigation capabilities are improved, but the robot weight is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The robot integrates multiple functions into compact components. The翻板 arms serve dual purposes: they assist in obstacle surmounting by providing mechanical leverage, and they can be equipped with sensors and communication antennas, making them multi-functional elements that reduce overall system weight compared to having separate dedicated components for each function.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the robot uses a trailing arm mechanism to climb obstacles, then the obstacle climbing capability is improved, but the device complexity is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The robot combines the flipper arm mechanism with the drive train by mounting the flippers on the same axle as the drive wheels. This merging of functions allows the flippers to be driven by the same motor that powers the wheels, reducing the number of separate actuators and simplifying the control system while maintaining effective obstacle climbing capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile robot includes a robot chassis having a forward end, a rearward end and a center of gravity. The robot includes a driven support surface to propel the robot and first articulated arm rotatable about an axis located rearward of the center of gravity of the robot chassis. The arm is pivotable to trail the robot, rotate in a first direction to raise the rearward end of the robot chassis while the driven support surface propels the chassis forward in surmounting an obstacle, and to rotate in a second opposite direction to extend forward beyond the center of gravity of the robot chassis to raise the forward end of the robot chassis and invert the robot endwise.