Agile Wheeled Mobile Robots for Service in Natural Environment

Although the wheeled locomotion proved to be very efficient on smooth grounds, it still encounters great difficulties in natural environments, where the ground is subject to wide variations in term of geometry (irregular surface, presence of obstacles...) and material properties (cohesion, grip condition...). This chapter presents recent developments and original systems that allow to model and improve the capacities of wheeled mobile service robots on natural ground. First is considered the case of low speed motion. Section 2 presents recent results on reconfigurable suspensions that have two states and can decrease lateral friction and energy consumption during turns for skid-steering vehicles. Section 3 presents an original hybrid kinematics that combines wheels with an articulated frame for creating a mobile wheeled robot with high obstacle-climbing capacities, using only one supplemental actuator. Other advances deals with high speed motion. Section 4 describes a new device dedicated to vehicle dynamic stability, which improves lateral stability on fast mobile robots during turns and contributes to rollover prevention. Finally, Section 5 introduces innovative suspensions with two DOF for fast obstacle crossing. They damp vertical shocks, such as ordinary suspensions, but also horizontal ones, contributing to tip-over prevention on irregular grounds that feature many steep obstacles.

[1]  Benoit Thuilot,et al.  Dynamics modeling of all-terrain vehicles designed for dynamic stability analysis , 2007 .

[2]  Keiji Watanabe,et al.  Handling and stability performance of four-track steering vehicles , 1995 .

[3]  B. C. Besselink.  Computer controlled steering system for vehicles having two independently driven wheels , 2003 .

[4]  William Whittaker,et al.  Nomad: a demonstration of the transforming chassis , 1998, Proceedings. 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.98CH36146).

[5]  A. Vivas,et al.  Predictive functional control of a PUMA robot , 2005 .

[6]  J. Estremera,et al.  Quadrupedal Locomotion: An Introduction to the Control of Four-legged Robots , 2006 .

[7]  Nicolas Bouton,et al.  A rollover indicator based on the prediction of the load transfer in presence of sliding: application to an All Terrain Vehicle , 2007, Proceedings 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[8]  J. C. Fauroux,et al.  A NEW CONCEPT OF FAST MOBILE ROVER WITH IMPROVED STABILITY ON ROUGH TERRAIN , 2010 .

[9]  Jean-Christophe Fauroux,et al.  A New Principle for Climbing Wheeled Robots: Serpentine Climbing with the Open WHEEL Platform , 2006, 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[10]  John C Dixon,et al.  Tyres, suspension, and handling , 1991 .

[11]  Guy Bessonnet,et al.  Forces acting on a biped robot. Center of pressure-zero moment point , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part A: Systems and Humans.

[12]  Y. Couétard,et al.  CARACTERISATION ET ETALONNAGE DES DYNAMOMETRES A SIX COMPOSANTES POUR TORSEUR ASSOCIE A UN SYSTEME DE FORCES , 2000 .

[13]  Péter Gáspár,et al.  Reconfigurable control structure to prevent the rollover of heavy vehicles , 2005 .

[14]  Eiji Nakano,et al.  Motion control technique for practical use of a leg-wheel robot on unknown outdoor rough terrains , 2004, 2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37566).

[15]  Gang Tao,et al.  Adaptive vehicle skid control , 2006 .

[16]  Alonzo Kelly,et al.  Development of a Terrain Adaptive Stability Prediction System for Mass Articulating Mobile Robots , 2003, FSR.

[17]  Joanny Stephant.  Contribution à l'étude et à la validation expérimentale d'observateurs appliqués à la dynamique du véhicule , 2004 .

[18]  Jussi Suomela,et al.  WorkPartner: Interactive Human-Like Service Robot for Outdoor Applications , 2003 .

[19]  Philippe Martinet,et al.  An active anti-rollover device based on Predictive Functional Control: application to an All-Terrain Vehicle , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[20]  S. Hirose,et al.  Study on Roller-Walk (basic characteristics and its control) , 1996, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[21]  R. McNeill Alexander,et al.  Principles of Animal Locomotion , 2002 .

[22]  Philippe Martinet,et al.  A rollover indicator based on a tire stiffness backstepping observer: Application to an All-Terrain Vehicle , 2008, 2008 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[23]  C. Webster.  Animals in Motion , 2012 .

[24]  Philippe,et al.  Improving skid-steering on a 6x6 all-terrain vehicle: A preliminary experimental study , 2007 .

[25]  F. Chapelle,et al.  OpenWHEEL i3R-A new architecture for clearance performance , 2010 .

[26]  François Michaud,et al.  AZIMUT, a leg-track-wheel robot , 2003, Proceedings 2003 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2003) (Cat. No.03CH37453).

[27]  Jean-Christophe Fauroux,et al.  Modeling, experimenting, and improving skid steering on a 6 × 6 all‐terrain mobile platform , 2010, J. Field Robotics.

[28]  Jürgen Ackermann,et al.  Advantages Of Active Steering For Vehicle Dynamics Control , 1999 .

[29]  Fawzi Nashashibi,et al.  On autonomous navigation in a natural environment , 1995, Robotics Auton. Syst..

[30]  Philippe Martinet,et al.  Adaptive and Predictive Path Tracking Control for Off-road Mobile Robots , 2007, Eur. J. Control.

[31]  Igor Zeidis,et al.  Mechanics of Terrestrial Locomotion: With a Focus on Non-pedal Motion Systems , 2009 .

[32]  David Cebon,et al.  Design and implementation of an active roll control system for heavy vehicles , 2002 .

[33]  S. V. Sreenivasan,et al.  Stability and traction control of an actively actuated micro-rover , 1994, J. Field Robotics.

[34]  A. R. Jumikis.  Introduction to Terrain-Vehicle Systems , 1970 .

[35]  J-C. Fauroux,et al.  TEAM DESIGN PROCESS FOR A 6X6 ALL-ROAD WHEELCHAIR , 2004 .

[36]  Jo Yung Wong,et al.  Theory of ground vehicles , 1978 .

[37]  Andreas Jacubasch,et al.  Predictive Functional Control - Application to Fast and Accurate Robots , 1987 .

[38]  Marco Ceccarelli,et al.  On the kinematic functionality of a four-bar based mechanism for guiding wheels in climbing steps and obstacles , 2009 .

[39]  Christian Ridderström,et al.  Legged locomotion: Balance, control and tools — from equation to action , 2003 .

[40]  Evangelos Papadopoulos,et al.  A new measure of tipover stability margin for mobile manipulators , 1996, Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[41]  A. Rantzer,et al.  Vehicle dynamics control and controller allocation for rollover prevention , 2006, 2006 IEEE Conference on Computer Aided Control System Design, 2006 IEEE International Conference on Control Applications, 2006 IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Control.

[42]  Belhassen-Chedli Bouzgarrou,et al.  IMPROVING OBSTACLE CLIMBING WITH THE HYBRID MOBILE ROBOT OPENWHEEL i3R , 2009 .

[43]  J. Fauroux,et al.  EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF STABLE OBSTACLE CLIMBING WITH A FOUR-WHEEL MOBILE ROBOT OpenWHEEL i 3 R , 2008 .

[44]  Simon Lacroix,et al.  Autonomous Rover Navigation on Unknown Terrains: Functions and Integration , 2000, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[45]  Paul D Ayers,et al.  Initial effects of light armored vehicle use on grassland vegetation at Fort Lewis, Washington. , 2006, Journal of environmental management.

[46]  Koki Kikuchi,et al.  A study on a wheel-based stair-climbing robot with a hopping mechanism , 2008 .

[47]  Simon Lacroix,et al.  Autonomous Rover Navigation on Unknown Terrains Functions and Integration , 2000, ISER.

[48]  Roland Siegwart,et al.  Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots , 2004 .

[49]  B. C. Besselink.  Development of a vehicle to study the tractive performance of integrated steering-drive systems , 2004 .

[50]  Jörnsen Reimpell,et al.  The Automotive Chassis: Engineering Principles , 1995 .

[51]  William Whittaker,et al.  Analytical configuration of wheeled robotic locomotion , 2001 .

[52]  J. Fauroux,et al.  pen WHEEL Design and Modeling of a Mobile Robot with an Optimal Obstacle-Climbing Mode , 2007 .

[53]  Bruce Maclaurin.  A skid steering model with track pad flexibility , 2007 .