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Articulated Body Mobile Robot "KORYU I" BACK TO SNAKE ROBOT

KORYU I (KR-1)

(1985-1992). As indicated in Fig. 1 , there are three basic shapes for realizing a mobile robot that will run irregular ground. There are: robots which are based on limitless rotations, such as wheels and crawlers; robots which are based on legs; and robots which utilize articulated body shapes such as that of a snake. These mobile robots can be realized by any one of these, or by a combination of them.

Among these, as was found in the observation of snakes, the articulated body shape:

1) Is capable of transport over rugged land with severe contours and through narrow spaces, such as cramped and winding paths, by distributing the load over the various segments;

2) Can realize various methods of locomotion based on adjusting the state by which each segment is supported. For example, valleys can be crossed by making the connections between sections rigid and forming a bridge with the body; swampy or sandy terrain can be traversed by distributing the body weight; and swimming through water is possible.

In addition, when considering the engineering of articulated body mobile robots, the following characteristics are also obtained from making a unitized mechanism.

3) Such devices have characteristics unique to group robots. An group appropriate for an operation can be split off, and a group body can be made to correspond to that need.

4) The robot has a high degree of reliability and is easily repaired because it forms a redundant system. If a given segment breaks down, that segment can be removed, and only that segment replaced.

5) The robot is highly transportable. Because there are independent unit mechanisms that can be added or dropped, the robot can be carried to location in a disconnected state, and then connected and operated on location.

The KR-I was the first generation model that was prototyped in order to verify the characteristics of this kind of robot. Photo. 1 shows a directional turn, and Photo. 2 indicates the operation of riding over an obstacle. Photo. 3 shows the stair climbing motion. The robot has a total length of 1.4 m, six segments, and a total weight of 28 kg.

Fig.1 The three fundamental forms of mobile robots

Photo.1 The KR-1 turning directions

Fig.2 Future view applied for nuclear reactor inspection robot

Photo.2 The KR-1 rinding over an obstacle

Photo.3 The KR-1 climbing stairs

References:
  1. Shigeo Hirose; Biologically Inspired Robots (Snake-like Locomotor and Manipulator), Oxford University Press ,, , pp. (1993)
  2. Shigeo Hirose, Akio Morishima; Articulated Body Mobile Robot, Proc. 7th RoManSy Symp., Hermes ,, , pp.1-8 (1988)
  3. Shigeo Hirose, Akio Morishima; Basic Motion Regulation of Articulated Body Mobile Robot, Proc. 5th Int. Symp. on Robotics Research, Tokyo ,, , pp.433-440 (1989)
  4. Shigeo Hirose, Akio Morishima; Design and Control of a Mobile Robot with an Articulated Body@, The Int. J. Robotics Research, The MIT Press ,9, 2, pp.99 (1990)
  5. Shigeo Hirose; Three Basic Types of Locomotion in Mobile Robots, Proc. 5th Int. Conf. Advanced Robots, Pisa, Italy ,, , pp.12-17 (1991)
  6. Shigeo Hirose, Akio Morishima; Impedance Control of Articulated Body Mobile Robot "Koryu", Proc. IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems ,, , pp.1786-1790 (1993)
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