Abstract
In this study, we develop a curved surface adaptive unit to realize snake robots' undulatory progression on a curved surface such as cylindrical surface. The unit is composed of unit-compliance mechanism using springs between unit and robot, and wheels-stretching mechanism using slider link between wheels. The unit can adapt to changes in relative position of a curved surface and the robot, and changes in distance between surface contact point and the unit center. Experiment with snake robot on cylinder surface is carried out in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the adaptive function to curved surface of the developed unit.
