Title: Semiautonomous centipede-like robot for rubble - development of an actual scale robot for rescue operation

Authors: Kazuyuki Ito; Yasunori Ishigaki

Addresses: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Hosei University, 3-7-2, Kajinocho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8584, Japan ' Graduate School of Engineering, Hosei University, 3-7-2, Kajinocho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8584, Japan

Abstract: In this study, we developed a multi-legged robot designed to operate on rubble for rescue operations. Generally, it is very difficult to operate multi-legged robots adaptively in a complex environment. To solve this problem, we focused on a centipede, and proposed a multi-legged robot that was built by sequentially connecting multiple links through rubber joints. In this mechanism, the legs move repetitively like those of a centipede, and the elasticity of the rubber joints compensates for the bumps on the ground. To control the movement direction, wires are installed through the links. By simply pulling these wires, we can control the movement direction of the robot. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism, we developed an actual-scale prototype robot and conducted experiments. The results showed that the robot could move over rubble to the desired position.

Keywords: multi-legged robots; centipede robots; legged locomotion; passive mechanism; rescue robots; semiautonomous robots; many degrees of freedom; passive joints; rubber joints; wire constraints; rubble; rescue operations; joint elasticity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAMECHS.2015.070709

International Journal of Advanced Mechatronic Systems, 2015 Vol.6 No.2/3, pp.75 - 83

Received: 27 Dec 2014
Accepted: 24 Feb 2015
Published online: 21 Jul 2015 *

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