Energy Efficiency of a Wheeled Bio-Inspired Hexapod Walking Robot in Sloping Terrain

Multi-legged robots, such as hexapods, have great potential to navigate challenging terrain. However, their design and control are usually much more complex and energy-demanding compared to wheeled robots. This paper presents a wheeled six-legged robot with five degrees of freedom, that is able to m...

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Main Authors: Marek Žák, Jaroslav Rozman, František V. Zbořil
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-03-01
Series:Robotics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/12/2/42
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author Marek Žák
Jaroslav Rozman
František V. Zbořil
author_facet Marek Žák
Jaroslav Rozman
František V. Zbořil
author_sort Marek Žák
collection DOAJ
description Multi-legged robots, such as hexapods, have great potential to navigate challenging terrain. However, their design and control are usually much more complex and energy-demanding compared to wheeled robots. This paper presents a wheeled six-legged robot with five degrees of freedom, that is able to move on a flat surface using wheels and switch to gait in rugged terrain, which reduces energy consumption. The novel joint configuration mimics the structure of insect limbs and allows our robot to overcome difficult terrain. The wheels reduce energy consumption when moving on flat terrain and the trochanter joint reduces energy consumption when moving on slopes, extending the operating time and range of the robot. The results of experiments on sloping terrain are presented. It was confirmed that the use of the trochanter joint can lead to a reduction in energy consumption when moving in sloping terrain.
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spelling doaj.art-3cf4156fdfa04a79b059d9359bbbff512023-11-17T21:14:13ZengMDPI AGRobotics2218-65812023-03-011224210.3390/robotics12020042Energy Efficiency of a Wheeled Bio-Inspired Hexapod Walking Robot in Sloping TerrainMarek Žák0Jaroslav Rozman1František V. Zbořil2Department of Intelligent Systems, Faculty of Information Technology, Brno University of Technology, Božetěchova 2, 612 66 Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Intelligent Systems, Faculty of Information Technology, Brno University of Technology, Božetěchova 2, 612 66 Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Intelligent Systems, Faculty of Information Technology, Brno University of Technology, Božetěchova 2, 612 66 Brno, Czech RepublicMulti-legged robots, such as hexapods, have great potential to navigate challenging terrain. However, their design and control are usually much more complex and energy-demanding compared to wheeled robots. This paper presents a wheeled six-legged robot with five degrees of freedom, that is able to move on a flat surface using wheels and switch to gait in rugged terrain, which reduces energy consumption. The novel joint configuration mimics the structure of insect limbs and allows our robot to overcome difficult terrain. The wheels reduce energy consumption when moving on flat terrain and the trochanter joint reduces energy consumption when moving on slopes, extending the operating time and range of the robot. The results of experiments on sloping terrain are presented. It was confirmed that the use of the trochanter joint can lead to a reduction in energy consumption when moving in sloping terrain.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/12/2/42bio-inspired hexapodsix-legged robotrobot energy efficiency
spellingShingle Marek Žák
Jaroslav Rozman
František V. Zbořil
Energy Efficiency of a Wheeled Bio-Inspired Hexapod Walking Robot in Sloping Terrain
Robotics
bio-inspired hexapod
six-legged robot
robot energy efficiency
title Energy Efficiency of a Wheeled Bio-Inspired Hexapod Walking Robot in Sloping Terrain
title_full Energy Efficiency of a Wheeled Bio-Inspired Hexapod Walking Robot in Sloping Terrain
title_fullStr Energy Efficiency of a Wheeled Bio-Inspired Hexapod Walking Robot in Sloping Terrain
title_full_unstemmed Energy Efficiency of a Wheeled Bio-Inspired Hexapod Walking Robot in Sloping Terrain
title_short Energy Efficiency of a Wheeled Bio-Inspired Hexapod Walking Robot in Sloping Terrain
title_sort energy efficiency of a wheeled bio inspired hexapod walking robot in sloping terrain
topic bio-inspired hexapod
six-legged robot
robot energy efficiency
url https://www.mdpi.com/2218-6581/12/2/42
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AT jaroslavrozman energyefficiencyofawheeledbioinspiredhexapodwalkingrobotinslopingterrain
AT frantisekvzboril energyefficiencyofawheeledbioinspiredhexapodwalkingrobotinslopingterrain