Moving mechanism in snow and ice environments using buoyancy and propulsion provided by crawler-mounted, “Passive wing wheel”

Abstract

We have been studying a mechanism to realize stable mobility without burial by efficiently generating buoyancy and forward force in snowy and icy environments and its performance verification in non-natural snowy environments. The mechanism proposed in the previous paper was mainly intended to secure "buoyancy" against snow. However, it caused the collapse of the surrounding snow because it compacted the snow in a small area. Therefore, there was a risk of burial in fresh snow. In this report, we propose a mechanism called a crawler-mounted passive wing wheel. This mechanism can simultaneously provide flotation force and forward force. At the same time, the mechanism transforms so that the rotating legs are placed at a deeper angle in the snow. This action allows the robot to escape from the snow. In the previous paper, we proposed a pseudo-snow made of a mixture of plastic pipes. In this report, we focus on powdered materials as pseudo-snow. By adding water to these materials, the physical characteristics of snow are reproduced.