Legged locomotion over irregular terrains: State of the art of human and robot performance

Legged robotic technologies have moved out of the lab to operate in real environments, characterized by a wide variety of unpredictable irregularities and disturbances, all this in close proximity with humans. Demonstrating the ability of current robots to move robustly and reliably in these conditions is becoming essential to prove their safe operation. Here, we report an in-depth literature review aimed at verifying the existence of common or agreed protocols and metrics to test the performance of legged system in realistic environments. We primarily focused on three types of robotic technologies, i.e., hexapods, quadrupeds and bipeds. We also included a comprehensive overview on human locomotion studies, being it often considered the gold standard for performance, and one of the most important sources of bioinspiration for legged machines. We discovered that very few papers have rigorously studied robotic locomotion under irregular terrain conditions. On the contrary, numerous studies have addressed this problem on human gait, being nonetheless of highly heterogeneous nature in terms of experimental design. This lack of agreed methodology makes it challenging for the community to properly assess, compare and predict the performance of existing legged systems in real environments. On the one hand, this work provides a library of methods, metrics and experimental protocols, with a critical analysis on the limitations of the current approaches and future promising directions. On the other hand, it demonstrates the existence of an important lack of benchmarks in the literature, and the possibility of bridging different disciplines, e.g., the human and robotic, towards the definition of standardized procedure that will boost not only the scientific development of better bioinspired solutions, but also their market uptake

Locomotion system for ground mobile robots in uneven and unstructured environments

One of the technology domains with the greatest growth rates nowadays is service robots. The extensive use of ground mobile robots in environments that are unstructured or structured for humans is a promising challenge for the coming years, even though Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) moving on flat and compact grounds are already commercially available and widely utilized to move components and products inside indoor industrial buildings. Agriculture, planetary exploration, military operations, demining, intervention in case of terrorist attacks, surveillance, and reconnaissance in hazardous conditions are important application domains. Due to the fact that it integrates the disciplines of locomotion, vision, cognition, and navigation, the design of a ground mobile robot is extremely interdisciplinary. In terms of mechanics, ground mobile robots, with the exception of those designed for particular surroundings and surfaces (such as slithering or sticky robots), can move on wheels (W), legs (L), tracks (T), or hybrids of these concepts (LW, LT, WT, LWT). In terms of maximum speed, obstacle crossing ability, step/stair climbing ability, slope climbing ability, walking capability on soft terrain, walking capability on uneven terrain, energy efficiency, mechanical complexity, control complexity, and technology readiness, a systematic comparison of these locomotion systems is provided in [1]. Based on the above-mentioned classification, in this thesis, we first introduce a small-scale hybrid locomotion robot for surveillance and inspection, WheTLHLoc, with two tracks, two revolving legs, two active wheels, and two passive omni wheels. The robot can move in several different ways, including using wheels on the flat, compact ground,[1] tracks on soft, yielding terrain, and a combination of tracks, legs, and wheels to navigate obstacles. In particular, static stability and non-slipping characteristics are considered while analyzing the process of climbing steps and stairs. The experimental test on the first prototype has proven the planned climbing maneuver’s efficacy and the WheTLHLoc robot's operational flexibility. Later we present another development of WheTLHLoc and introduce WheTLHLoc 2.0 with newly designed legs, enabling the robot to deal with bigger obstacles. Subsequently, a single-track bio-inspired ground mobile robot's conceptual and embodiment designs are presented. This robot is called SnakeTrack. It is designed for surveillance and inspection activities in unstructured environments with constrained areas. The vertebral column has two end modules and a variable number of vertebrae linked by compliant joints, and the surrounding track is its essential component. Four motors drive the robot: two control the track motion and two regulate the lateral flexion of the vertebral column for steering. The compliant joints enable limited passive torsion and retroflection of the vertebral column, which the robot can use to adapt to uneven terrain and increase traction. Eventually, the new version of SnakeTrack, called 'Porcospino', is introduced with the aim of allowing the robot to move in a wider variety of terrains. The novelty of this thesis lies in the development and presentation of three novel designs of small-scale mobile robots for surveillance and inspection in unstructured environments, and they employ hybrid locomotion systems that allow them to traverse a variety of terrains, including soft, yielding terrain and high obstacles. This thesis contributes to the field of mobile robotics by introducing new design concepts for hybrid locomotion systems that enable robots to navigate challenging environments. The robots presented in this thesis employ modular designs that allow their lengths to be adapted to suit specific tasks, and they are capable of restoring their correct position after falling over, making them highly adaptable and versatile. Furthermore, this thesis presents a detailed analysis of the robots' capabilities, including their step-climbing and motion planning abilities. In this thesis we also discuss possible refinements for the robots' designs to improve their performance and reliability. Overall, this thesis's contributions lie in the design and development of innovative mobile robots that address the challenges of surveillance and inspection in unstructured environments, and the analysis and evaluation of these robots' capabilities. The research presented in this thesis provides a foundation for further work in this field, and it may be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the areas of robotics, automation, and inspection. As a general note, the first robot, WheTLHLoc, is a hybrid locomotion robot capable of combining tracked locomotion on soft terrains, wheeled locomotion on flat and compact grounds, and high obstacle crossing capability. The second robot, SnakeTrack, is a small-size mono-track robot with a modular structure composed of a vertebral column and a single peripherical track revolving around it. The third robot, Porcospino, is an evolution of SnakeTrack and includes flexible spines on the track modules for improved traction on uneven but firm terrains, and refinements of the shape of the track guidance system. This thesis provides detailed descriptions of the design and prototyping of these robots and presents analytical and experimental results to verify their capabilities

Climbing and Walking Robots

Nowadays robotics is one of the most dynamic fields of scientific researches. The shift of robotics researches from manufacturing to services applications is clear. During the last decades interest in studying climbing and walking robots has been increased. This increasing interest has been in many areas that most important ones of them are: mechanics, electronics, medical engineering, cybernetics, controls, and computers. Today’s climbing and walking robots are a combination of manipulative, perceptive, communicative, and cognitive abilities and they are capable of performing many tasks in industrial and non- industrial environments. Surveillance, planetary exploration, emergence rescue operations, reconnaissance, petrochemical applications, construction, entertainment, personal services, intervention in severe environments, transportation, medical and etc are some applications from a very diverse application fields of climbing and walking robots. By great progress in this area of robotics it is anticipated that next generation climbing and walking robots will enhance lives and will change the way the human works, thinks and makes decisions. This book presents the state of the art achievments, recent developments, applications and future challenges of climbing and walking robots. These are presented in 24 chapters by authors throughtot the world The book serves as a reference especially for the researchers who are interested in mobile robots. It also is useful for industrial engineers and graduate students in advanced study

Development and Field Testing of the FootFall Planning System for the ATHLETE Robots

The FootFall Planning System is a ground-based planning and decision support system designed to facilitate the control of walking activities for the ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer) family of robots. ATHLETE was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and is a large six-legged robot designed to serve multiple roles during manned and unmanned missions to the Moon; its roles include transportation, construction and exploration. Over the four years from 2006 through 2010 the FootFall Planning System was developed and adapted to two generations of the ATHLETE robots and tested at two analog field sites (the Human Robotic Systems Project's Integrated Field Test at Moses Lake, Washington, June 2008, and the Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS), held at Black Point Lava Flow in Arizona, September 2010). Having 42 degrees of kinematic freedom, standing to a maximum height of just over 4 meters, and having a payload capacity of 450 kg in Earth gravity, the current version of the ATHLETE robot is a uniquely complex system. A central challenge to this work was the compliance of the high-DOF (Degree Of Freedom) robot, especially the compliance of the wheels, which affected many aspects of statically-stable walking. This paper will review the history of the development of the FootFall system, sharing design decisions, field test experiences, and the lessons learned concerning compliance and self-awareness

The development of fire detection robot

Bu tez çalışmasının amacı; özellikle endüstriyel alanlarda, erken yangın algılamada kullanılacak bir yangın algılama robotu tasarlamak ve imal etmektir. Bu robot; önceden belirlenen sanal güzergâh üzerinde engel algılama fonksiyonuyla ve yeniden programlanabilir hareket ünitesiyle devriye gezebilecek ve yangın kaynağını tespit edebilmek için ortam taraması yapabilecek şekilde tasarlanmış ve imal edilmiştir. Sistem; hareket planlama ünitesine tanımlanan programlar ile değişken devriye güzergâhlarını takip edebilme yeteneğine sahiptir. Robotun tasarım ve uygulama süreçleri şu şekildedir; mekanik sistemin tasarımı ve geliştirilmesi, elektronik sistemin tasarımı ve geliştirilmesi ve gerekli yazılımların hazırlanmasıdır. Mekanik sistemin tasarım ve geliştirilme sürecinde; taslak çizimleri, ölçülendirmeler ve üç boyutlu modelleme için bilgisayar destekli tasarım ve katı modelleme programları kullanılmıştır. Robotun taşıyıcı gövdesi; ucuz, sağlam ve kolay işlenebilir malzemeler olan ahşap ve sert plastik köpük kullanılarak imal edilmiştir. Robot sürüş sisteminde diferansiyel metot kullanılmıştır. Yarı otomatik robot dört adet fırçalı doğru akım motoru ile çalışmaktadır. Elektronik sistemin tasarımı ve geliştirilmesi sürecinde; hazır kart almak yerine ihtiyaca uygun elektronik veri kazanım ve kontrol devreleri tasarlanıp üretilmiştir. Bu devrelerin şematik diyagramı ve baskı devresi Proteus elektronik tasarım programı kullanılarak hazırlanmıştır. Bu devreler; motor hareketlerini kontrol etmekte ve dizüstü bilgisayar ile algılama üniteleri arasında bir köprü kurmakta kullanılmıştır. Yazılımların hazırlanma sürecinde; engel algılamada ve güzergâh takibinde kullanılacak akıllı yazılımlar geliştirilmiştir. Ayrıca daha güvenilir yangın algılama sağlamak için; çoklu sensör algılama ve değerlendirme algoritması geliştirilmiştir. Bu tezin sonucunda; özellikle endüstriyel alanlarda kullanılabilecek, çeşitli fonksiyonlara sahip bir yangın algılama robotu tasarlanıp imal edilmiştir. Yapılan testlerle; sistemin en fazla 100 cm mesafedeki yangını, robot 0,5 m/s hızla ilerlerken tespit edebildiği sonucuna varılmıştır.The aim of this thesis is to design and manufacture a fire detection robot that especially operates in industrial areas for fire inspection and early detection. Robot is designed and implemented to track prescribed paths with obstacle avoidance function through obstacle avoidance and motion planning units and to scan the environment in order to detect fire source using fire detection unit. Robot is able to track patrolling routes using virtual lines that defined to the motion planning unit. The design and implementation processes of the robot are as follow; the design and the development of mechanical, electronic systems and software. The design and the development of mechanical system; for the sketch drawings, dimensioning and solid state modeling of the robot, computer aided design and solid modelling computer programs were used. The carrier board of the robot is produced using wooden material and rigid plastic foam which are cheap, strong enough and easy to manufacture. Differential steering method is selected for semi-autonomous robot driving system and it is powered by four brushed DC (direct current) motors. The design and the development of electronic system; electronic circuits were designed and produced, instead of buying a commercial card. Both schematic diagrams and circuits of the data acquisition and control circuits are designed using Proteus electronic design program. These circuits are used to control the motion of the motors and establish a data flow between the laptop and the other peripheral sensing components. Software development; intelligent algorithms for obstacle avoidance and path tracking have been developed. A sensor data fusion algorithm for the sensors was also developed to get more reliable fire detection information. In conclusion; a fire inspection and detection robot with various functions to especially can be used in industrial areas was designed and manufactured. The functions of the robot were tested. It can be concluded that system is able to detect the fire source maximum 100 cm distance away while robot is moving with 0.5 m/s forward speed

Bio-Inspired Robotics

Modern robotic technologies have enabled robots to operate in a variety of unstructured and dynamically-changing environments, in addition to traditional structured environments. Robots have, thus, become an important element in our everyday lives. One key approach to develop such intelligent and autonomous robots is to draw inspiration from biological systems. Biological structure, mechanisms, and underlying principles have the potential to provide new ideas to support the improvement of conventional robotic designs and control. Such biological principles usually originate from animal or even plant models, for robots, which can sense, think, walk, swim, crawl, jump or even fly. Thus, it is believed that these bio-inspired methods are becoming increasingly important in the face of complex applications. Bio-inspired robotics is leading to the study of innovative structures and computing with sensory–motor coordination and learning to achieve intelligence, flexibility, stability, and adaptation for emergent robotic applications, such as manipulation, learning, and control. This Special Issue invites original papers of innovative ideas and concepts, new discoveries and improvements, and novel applications and business models relevant to the selected topics of ``Bio-Inspired Robotics''. Bio-Inspired Robotics is a broad topic and an ongoing expanding field. This Special Issue collates 30 papers that address some of the important challenges and opportunities in this broad and expanding field

Overcoming barriers and increasing independence: service robots for elderly and disabled people

This paper discusses the potential for service robots to overcome barriers and increase independence of elderly and disabled people. It includes a brief overview of the existing uses of service robots by disabled and elderly people and advances in technology which will make new uses possible and provides suggestions for some of these new applications. The paper also considers the design and other conditions to be met for user acceptance. It also discusses the complementarity of assistive service robots and personal assistance and considers the types of applications and users for which service robots are and are not suitable