A Wheels-on-Knees Quadruped Assistive Robot to Carry Loads

Abstract

This work introduces a high-performance, quadruped-assistive-robot expandable platform with wheel–leg mode transformation functions. The robot platform is designed for transporting goods in residential areas such as apartments, private houses, and office buildings. It is capable to move fast on flat ground on wheels or use legs to move in other places, especially for moving on and off residential staircases and wheelchair accessible ramps. To achieve higher load capacity and combine the knee joint with the drive wheel, we designed a compact torso–leg structure, driving the lower link through a ligament-like structure. Because the distance between the wheel and the torso is short, the mass centroid drops and the force arm caused by the load is reduced; the designed sample robot is capable to transport uniform mass loads up to 15 kg while keeping it affordable. The proposed ligament-like transmission structure also ensures the torso’s even gesture and load capability in its walking mode. Gait motion planning, finite element analysis, and task-oriented simulation have been conducted to prove its applicability and feasibility when given a heavy load to transport across flat and staired scenarios.

Transformable Quadruped Wheelchairs Capable of Autonomous Stair Ascent and Descent

“…Li et al [ 1 ] presented an extended platform for a high-performance quadruped robot with wheel and leg mode conversion capability. This robotic platform is designed to transport goods in apartments, private homes, and office buildings, and it can move at high speeds using wheels on level ground and legs on other areas such as stairs and wheelchair ramps.…”

“…This is because the robot is forced to walk even on flat terrain, where quadruped walking is not necessarily required, and because it must constantly supply power to the leg actuators to maintain its posture. Robots with wheels added to the legs [ 1 ] have emerged to improve efficiency by using wheeled locomotion. Such innovations have the potential to expand the operational range of quadruped robots and significantly improve their utility.…”