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Design of a mobile robot with 2-DOF compliant wheel-legs by using a linear spring

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Abstract

In this research, we propose a new mobile robot with 2-degree of freedom (DOF) compliant wheel-legs which can provide terrain adaptation and bio-inspired compliant locomotion similar to human or animal legs. Design parameters for a wheel-leg are first investigated. Wheel-leg locomotion and characteristics are then investigated to verify our wheel-leg design in simulation. In our proposed wheel-leg, three compliant legs are mounted on a hub. Each leg consists of an upper leg and a foot coupled by a linear spring. Compliant motion of a leg during locomotion is realized by using the linear spring. A rotational motion of the ankle between the leg and the foot is also designed to increase terrain adaptability and obstacle overcoming capability. Experiments are finally conducted to validate our robot design. Experimental results confirm bio-inspired compliant locomotion of the robot is successfully achieved and our wheel-leg robot has improved obstacle overcoming abilities and terrain adaptability as designed.

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Data availability

The authors declare that experimental and simulation data are available within the paper. Raw data will be available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea

    Hyuntae Kim, Sangmin Jeon, Buhyun Shin, Bongjo Ryu & Youngshik Kim

  2. R&D Center Q Engineering Team, HRS KOREA, Cheonan, Republic of Korea

    Sewoong Oh

  3. SOMAC company, Yongin, Republic of Korea

    Hyuntae Kim

Authors
  1. Sewoong Oh
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  2. Hyuntae Kim
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  3. Sangmin Jeon
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  4. Buhyun Shin
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  5. Bongjo Ryu
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  6. Youngshik Kim
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Correspondence to Youngshik Kim.

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Oh, S., Kim, H., Jeon, S. et al. Design of a mobile robot with 2-DOF compliant wheel-legs by using a linear spring. Microsyst Technol 29, 1189–1196 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-023-05498-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-023-05498-7

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