Abstract
In this paper, a hexapod robot has been developed as a test platform to examine that a legged robot is useful and available to check crop growth and disorders in agricultural fields. The robot can be controlled in two ways : firstly by remote control using an infrared wireless communication, and secondly by autonomous control using infrared distance-measuring sensors. The robot was controlled in the walking patterns such as the tripod, tetrapod and pentapod gaits to move around off-road. In experiments, the walking speed and the durability of a battery was measured for each gait. As the result of the measurement, the robot could walk at the speed of 2.8m/min and the distance of more than 30m by using of one battery. In addition, the robot could on the slope with an inclination of 15°. Finally, it was successfully demonstrated that the robot could autonomously walk between two lines of wooden pillars and maize plants while avoiding collision by using infrared distance-measuring sensors.
