インフラ点検のための自動操舵可能なプロペラ推進移動ロボットの開発

抄録

Since many of Japan’s infrastructures were constructed during the high-growth period, the current infrastructures are aging and have become a serious social problem. Currently, periodic inspections are basically conducted visually by workers, but the introduction of robot-based periodic inspections is being promoted. In this research, an automatic steering control of a multi-rotor thrust mechanism is proposed to extend the range of movement direction of a mobile inspection robot. The model shows that the proposed thrust mechanism stably rotates in the direction of the net force by controlling the direction of the two rotors separately. We also developed a four-wheeled robot equipped with a propeller-propelled mechanism and conducted two experiments to verify whether automatic steering is possible. First, we confirmed that the robot steers in the net force direction when the net force direction is changed while the tires are floating. Second, we confirmed that automatic steering was performed when the robot actually traveled on the ground.