New Body Design for Flexible Mono-Tread Mobile Track: Layered Structure and Passive Retro-Flexion

Abstract

Robot technology is expected to be applicable to missions on rough terrain, such as rescue activities, environmental investigation, and planetary exploration. Tracked vehicles are effective in such environments because the contact pressure of the vehicle can be distributed more widely. To improve mobility, new mechanisms such as serpentine tracked vehicles have been proposed. We previously proposed the flexible mono-tread mobile track (FMT). The first prototype, WORMY, had a mechanical problem when it moves flexing, i.e., track belt interference and derailing. This paper proposes and confirms a new FMT design strategy using a layered structure to reduce space between vertebrae, solving derailing. A new prototype using the layered structure confirmed its mobility. We also used the prototype to evaluate the effectiveness of passive retro-flexion against obstacles.