Rolling Locomotion of Hexagonal Kinematic Chain Robot

Abstract Chain robots are composed of a series of discrete links connected by actuated revolute joints in a kinematic chain or loop. They possess the ability to roll by constraining and changing their shape, causing the robot to advance to adjacent panels. They also have the advantage of being able to change their driving geometry to improve their speed, efficiency, ride quality, or ability to handle rough terrain. This is especially useful for extra-planetary exploration applications, for which the robot can fold down to a small packing size for transport. In this work, a hexagonal chain robot was designed and constructed. A variety of locomotion types were created, classified as either a ‘static’ or ‘dynamic’ gait, and experimentally tested. In addition to the distinct gaits, two different tread geometries were used to determine their effect on the performance parameters of the different gaits. Through experimentation, we found that the dynamic gaits selected performed better in terms of speed and efficiency, particularly when using the round treads. Conversely, the static gaits performed better when it came to incline and terrain navigation and ride quality, especially with the flat treads. The true advantage of this platform is its ability to adapt it locomotion depending on the terrain and its priorities.