Abstract
In this study, we propose a simple hopping mechanism using vibration of a two-degree-of freedom system for a wheel-based robot. The robot, consisting of two bodies connected by spring and a wire, hops by releasing stored energy in the springs and quickly travels using wheels mounted in its lower body. The trajectories of the bodies during hopping change in accordance with the design parameters such as the mass of lower body and the mass of upper body and initial contraction of the spring, the spring constant. This property allows fast movement, hopping up and down steps, leaping over a cable and soft landing. In this paper, we control a soft-landing point by the wire tension and demonstrate fast stair climbing and soft-landing.
