Development and Control of Articulated Mobile Robot for Climbing Steep Stairs

In this paper, we develop an articulated mobile robot that can climb stairs, and also move in narrow spaces and on 3-D terrain. This paper presents two control methods for this robot. The first is a 3-D steering method that is used to adapt the robot to the surrounding terrain. In this method, the robot relaxes its joints, allowing it to adapt to the terrain using its own weight, and then, resumes its motion employing the follow-the-leader method. The second control method is the semi-autonomous stair climbing method. In this method, the robot connects with the treads of the stairs using a body called a connecting part, and then shifts the connecting part from its head to its tail. The robot then uses the sensor information to shift the connecting part with appropriate timing. The robot can climb stairs using this method even if the stairs are steep, and the sizes of the riser and the tread of the stairs are unknown. Experiments are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods and the developed robot

Development and field test of the articulated mobile robot T2 Snake-4 for plant disaster prevention

In this work, we develop an articulated mobile robot that can move in narrow spaces, climb stairs, gather information, and operate valves for plant disaster prevention. The robot can adopt a tall position using a folding arm and gather information using sensors mounted on the arm. In addition, this paper presents a stair climbing method using a single backward wave. This method enables the robot to climb stairs that have a short tread. The developed robot system is tested in a field test at the World Robot Summit 2018, and the lessons learned in the field test are discussed

拘束切り替えを利用したヘビ型ロボットの2平面移動と2点同時制御に関する研究

電気通信大学201

Task-Space Control of Articulated Mobile Robots With a Soft Gripper for Operations

A task-space method is presented for the control of a head-raising articulated mobile robot, allowing the trajectory tracking of a tip of a gripper located on the head of the robot in various operations, e.g., picking up an object and rotating a valve. If the robot cannot continue moving because it reaches a joint angle limit, the robot moves away from the joint limit and changes posture by switching the allocation of lifted/grounded wheels. An articulated mobile robot with a gripper that can grasp objects using jamming transition was developed, and experiments were conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller in operations

Snake and Snake Robot Locomotion in Complex, 3-D Terrain

Snakes are able to traverse almost all types of environments by bending their elongate bodies in three dimensions to interact with the terrain. Similarly, a snake robot is a promising platform to perform critical tasks in various environments. Understanding how 3-D body bending effectively interacts with the terrain for propulsion and stability can not only inform how snakes move through natural environments, but also inspire snake robots to achieve similar performance to facilitate humans. How snakes and snake robots move on flat surfaces has been understood relatively well in previous studies. However, such ideal terrain is rare in natural environments and little was understood about how to generate propulsion and maintain stability when large height variations occur, except for some qualitative descriptions of arboreal snake locomotion and a few robots using geometric planning. To bridge this knowledge gap, in this dissertation research we integrated animal experiments and robotic studies in three representative environments: a large smooth step, an uneven arena of blocks of large height variation, and large bumps. We discovered that vertical body bending induces stability challenges but can generate large propulsion. When traversing a large smooth step, a snake robot is challenged by roll instability that increases with larger vertical body bending because of a higher center of mass. The instability can be reduced by body compliance that statistically increases surface contact. Despite the stability challenge, vertical body bending can potentially allow snakes to push against terrain for propulsion similar to lateral body bending, as demonstrated by corn snakes traversing an uneven arena. This ability to generate large propulsion was confirmed on a robot if body-terrain contact is well maintained. Contact feedback control can help the strategy accommodate perturbations such as novel terrain geometry or excessive external forces by helping the body regain lost contact. Our findings provide insights into how snakes and snake robots can use vertical body bending for efficient and versatile traversal of the three-dimensional world while maintaining stability

Studies related to the process of program development

The submitted work consists of a collection of publications arising from research carried out at Rhodes University (1970-1980) and at Heriot-Watt University (1980-1992). The theme of this research is the process of program development, i.e. the process of creating a computer program to solve some particular problem. The papers presented cover a number of different topics which relate to this process, viz. (a) Programming methodology programming. (b) Properties of programming languages. aspects of structured. (c) Formal specification of programming languages. (d) Compiler techniques. (e) Declarative programming languages. (f) Program development aids. (g) Automatic program generation. (h) Databases. (i) Algorithms and applications

Chinese elements : a bridge of the integration between Chinese -English translation and linguaculture transnational mobility

[Abstract] As the popularity of Chinese elements in the innovation of the translation part in Chinese CET, we realized that Chinese elements have become a bridge between linguaculture transnational mobility and Chinese-English translation.So, Chinese students translation skills should be critically improved; for example, on their understanding about Chinese culture, especially the meaning of Chinese culture. Five important secrets of skillful translation are introduced to improve students’ translation skills