Innovative mobility systems: Hopping Robots
First Generation: the Hopbot
The goal of this task is to explore a different mobility paradigm
which may present advantages over conventional wheel and leg
locomotion. The approach is to achieve mobility by hopping and perform
science and imaging via rolling. The device is currently equipped with
a single video camera representing the science sensor suite. The
hopper is equipped with a simple microprocessor to autonomously
execute a set of fixed tasks. This rover uses a single motor for
hopping in a specified direction as well as pointing the camera via
rolling. The action of pointing the camera determines the hopping
direction since the body is statically balanced.
Current tests have achieved about 80 cm of hopping height. However, the
control of the hopping direction is not satisfactory due to friction in
the pointing mechanism and too much dependence on the surface type.
Current and future work in this task will focus on improving the efficiency
of the spring mechanism, on achieving a better hopping control on
soft terrain, and on integrating miniaturized sensors in the rover body.
The AeroConference 99 paper
Task Description
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Second Generation: the Frogbot
This task has developed a minimalist hopping
robot that can perform basic exploration tasks on Mars or
other moderate gravity bodies. A single actuator can control the
vehicle's jumping and steering operations, as well as the panning of an
on-board camera. Our novel thrusting linkage also leads to good system
efficiency. The inherent minimalism of our hopping paradigm offers
interesting advantages over wheeled and legged mobility concepts for some
types of planetary exploration. The task addressed the evolutionary
development of the system, issues relevant to the design of such jumping
systems, and experiment results.
The ICRA2000 Conference paper
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Movies
Animation
Third Generation: Hopper on Wheels
This task has evolved our concept of hopping robot for planetary
exploration, by combining coarse long range mobility achieved by hopping,
with short range wheeled mobility for precision target acquisition. We
show that a small number of actuators can control the vehicle's
mobility, which now includes hopping distance and angle control, and
independent wheel control. The electronic control of this prototype
consists of a simple multiprocessor architecture, which is coupled to
a mechanical timing logic for additional reliability and reduction in
actuator number. This vehicle carries a color camera, a pair of
dual-axis accelerometers, and an RF modem for remote communication.
The task has addressed issues relevant to the design of
jumping-wheeled systems, and performed field experiments in
different conditions.
The FSR01 Conference paper
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A summary paper
Team: