岩石把持グリッパを用いた 4 足歩行ロボットの開発

抄録

Robotic exploration in an extreme environment plays an increasingly important role. Such an environment is basically not easy for humans to access, and an on-site manned activity also carries a lot of risks. Thus, it is useful to utilize a mobile robot that can investigate and collect information of extreme environment. In this laboratory, we have proposed a rock climbing robot that moves while gripping the surface of the ground with grippers. By gripping the ground surface, it is possible to conduct a stable exploration activity even in irregular terrain with steep slope, where is difficult to travel with wheeled or trucked type robots. In this paper, the authers developed a spine-type gripper capable of gripping the rocky environment and a four-legged robot using the grippers. We also demonstrated the developed gripper and robot are useful for climbing rugged terrain with slope by experiments.