Design, Modeling and Control of a Quadruped Robot Equipped with Distributed Vectorable Rotors for Multimodel Locomotion

Abstract

In this work, we present a novel air-ground amphibious quadruped robot which is assisted by spherically vectorable rotors distributed in each link to enable both walking motion and transformable flight. First, we develop a unique mechanical design for quadruped robot that enables terrestrial and aerial locomotion. We then reveal the modeling method for this hybrid robot platform, and further develop an integrated control strategy for both walking and flying with joint motion. Finally, we demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed hybrid quadruped robot by performing a seamless motion that involves static walking and subsequent flight. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first to achieve a quadruped robot with multimodal locomotion capability, which also shows the potential of manipulation in multiple domains.