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Introduction
Published in Xiaorui Zhu, Youngshik Kim, Mark Andrew Minor, Chunxin Qiu, Autonomous Mobile Robots in Unknown Outdoor Environments, 2017
Xiaorui Zhu, Youngshik Kim, Mark Andrew Minor, Chunxin Qiu
Planetary exploration was the earliest application of outdoor mobile robots. The typical robotic rover was Curiosity, which was launched in 2011. It was designed for exploring Gale Crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory [2], Figure 1.1. Curiosity had six wheels: two middle wheels went straight, and the corner wheels were omnidirectional. Since the rover might cross rugged terrain, the rocker-bogie design of the chassis was invented to allow the rover to keep all of its wheels even on an uneven surface. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) stated that this rocker-bogie system had reduced the motion of the main rover body by half compared to other suspension systems. The Curiosity was also equipped with an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to support safe traverses. Autonomy of Curiosity was kept low because of the special circumstances of space exploration, in which most activities, such as taking pictures, driving, and operating the instruments, would be performed under commands from the flight team.
Application of technology
Published in Mike Tooley, Engineering GCSE, 2012
Sojourner was a six-wheeled vehicle of a rocker bogie design (see Figure 3.22). The ROV weighed a mere 11.5 kg (25 lbs) and was about the size of a milk crate. The six-wheeled design allowed the ROV to traverse obstacles of up to a wheel diameter (13 cm) in size. Each wheel was independently actuated and geared (2000:1) providing superior climbing capability in soft sand. The front and rear wheels were independently steerable, providing the capability for the vehicle to turn in place. The vehicle had a top speed of 0.4 m/min.
Application of new technology in engineering
Published in Mike Tooley, Engineering GNVQ: Intermediate, 2012
Sojourner was a six-wheeled vehicle of a rocker bogie design (see Figure 2.14). The ROV weighed a mere 11.5kg (25 lbs) and was about the size of a milk crate. The six-wheeled design allowed the ROV to traverse obstacles of up to a wheel diameter (13 cm) in size. Each wheel was independently actuated and geared (2000:1) providing superior climbing capability in soft sand. The front and rear wheels were independently steerable, providing the capability for the vehicle to turn in place. The vehicle had a top speed of 0.4 m/min.
Modeling and simulation of cooperative transport of an object by two mobile manipulators on an uneven terrain using KSOM network
Published in International Journal of Modelling and Simulation, 2021
In this paper, a learning-based method for cooperative task performance by two-wheeled mobile manipulators (MM) on an uneven terrain is presented. There have been a large number of studies of mobile manipulator systems on flat ground but studies on uneven ground are rare. Using multiple MMs versus a single robot has the advantage of distributing a heavy payload that a single robot cannot carry, among many smaller robots. In addition, there could also be augmentation facility in handling the payload, fault tolerance and re-configurability if the system is redundant. Several advantages to choose multi-robot systems over a single robot can be found in [1]. Each MM consists of a mobile base platform and a manipulator arm mounted on top. The mobile base consists of six wheels with a passive rocker bogie mechanism that permits it to climb over rough terrain, small obstacles, loose sand, etc. As compared to a cooperating stationary arm [2], a MM provides a larger range of motion [3] and it can stably move on rough terrain. Such systems have applications in relief and rescue operations, space exploration, defense application, transportation, construction, etc.
Autonomous robots for harsh environments: a holistic overview of current solutions and ongoing challenges
Published in Systems Science & Control Engineering, 2018
Cuebong Wong, Erfu Yang, Xiu-Tian Yan, Dongbing Gu
Recent attempts have been made to develop more effective solutions for planetary exploration. Aswath et al. (2015) proposed a rover that adopts the same rocker-bogie suspension mechanism from the Curiosity rover and carries an additional mechanical arm and humanoid robot onboard. These features provide the system with human-like investigation skills and extend the functionalities of the rover greatly. Robotic swarms have also been proposed for large-scale exploration (Staudinger, Zhang, Dammann, & Zhu, 2014). These solutions adopt the concept of a team of robots that work cooperatively to explore an environment, but acts as a single entity aiming to accomplish a common goal. This quickly introduces another kind of challenge: the coordination of multiple robots within an uncertain and unsafe environment. Yliniemi, Agogino, and Tumer (2014) discussed the benefits and challenges of multi-robot coordination from the perspective of planetary exploration. In their work, the appropriateness of reinforcement learning to overcome these challenges was also presented.