Development of Wheel-less Snake Robot with Two Distinct Gaits and Gait Transition Capability

• Published in: International journal of automation and computing Vol. 10; no. 6; pp. 534 - 544
• Main Authors: Majid, M. H. A., Khan, M. R., Sidek, S. N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Springer-Verlag 01.12.2013; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aerospace environments; Algorithms; CAE) and Design; Computer Applications; Computer-Aided Engineering (CAD; Control; Dynamic structural analysis; Engineering; Gait; Kinematics; Locomotion; Mechatronics; Robot dynamics; Robotics; Robots; Snakes; Straight lines; Synchronism; Working conditions; 机器人; 步态; 直线运动; 空间环境; 能力发展; 蛇纹石; 车轮; 非结构化; robot dynamics; robotics; robot kinematics; robotic mechanical systems; Bio-inspired robots
• ISSN: 1476-8186; 2153-182X; 1751-8520; 2153-1838
• DOI: 10.1007/s11633-013-0751-8

Snake robots are mostly designed based on single mode locomotion. However, single mode gait most likely could not work effectively when the robot is subject to an unstructured working environment with different measures of terrain complexity. As a solution, mixed mode locomotion is proposed in this paper by synchronizing two types of gaits known as serpentine and wriggler gaits used for non-constricted and narrow space environments, respectively, but for straight line locomotion only. A gait transition algorithm is developed to efficiently change the gait from one to another. This study includes the investigation on kinematics analysis followed by dynamics analysis while considering related structural constraints for both gaits. The approach utilizes the speed of the serpentine gait for open area locomotion and exploits the narrow space access capability of the wriggler gait. Hence, it can increase motion flexibility in view of the fact that the robot is able to change its mode of locomotion according to the working environment.