164. A SELF-TRANSFORMING REACTION WHEEL-STABILIZED CLIMBING ROVER

Department: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Research Institute Affiliation: Center for Control Systems and Dynamics (CCSD)
Faculty Advisor(s): Thomas Bewley

Primary Student
Name: Christopher M. Schmidt-Wetekam
Email: cmschmid@ucsd.edu
Phone: 858-822-3729
Grad Year: 2009

Abstract
A combination of second-generation mechanical devices coupled with sensors and motion-control algorithms has influenced a novel robot design that may have an immediate impact on commercial and defense related applications. The conceptual design makes it capable of maneuvering through difficult terrain by roaming on either two or three wheels and hopping over obstacles when necessary, through the directed release of gradually accumulated elastic energy permitted by a patent pending hopping mechanism incorporating a dual four-bar linkage and using on-board rechargeable batteries. On-board inertial and vision sensors identify the vehicle orientation, as is necessary for stabilizing the vehicle and for path planning. Specifically, Kalman filtering of MEMS gyroscope measurements incorporating non-white sensor noise models provide accurate estimates of the vehicle orientation during roving and hopping, in the presence of impacts, motor vibration, and sensor calibration errors. These signals are passed through a controller with time-periodic feedback gains, obtained via the differential Ricatti equation applied to the (time-periodic) linearized dynamics of the hopping motion, in order to direct the roaming motors in a fashion that guides and stabilizes the system using minimal input energy. Furthermore, an on-board camera, under development, provides input to the time-periodic controller using vision object identification for trajectory generation and body positioning. Conceptual designs and physical prototypes will be presented along with simulation results.

Related Links:

1. robotics.ucsd.edu

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