Transformation design of a miniature throw-able robot

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to present a transformation mechanism designed for a miniature throw-able robot, including the mechanical model, related analysis and experiments. Design/methodology/approach – The robot can be thrown into suspicious areas. It keeps in a ball-shaped configuration during throwing and uses the driving motors to implement transformation of the mobile form. A foldable tail is also released out as a third point to guarantee the stability of the robot. Findings – By transformation, the robot possesses the overall shock protection like a regular spherical robot and also has detection ability and agile mobility as a two-wheeled robot. Originality/value – An innovative transformation mechanism was designed, analyzed and tested. The mechanism is suitable for a throw-able robot which is simple in structure, small in volume and light in weight. Effectiveness of the transformation design has been validated through experiments.

Design and experimental study of a new thrown robot based on flexible structure

“…There are some spherical reconnaissance robots in the market, such as EyeBall and SpyEye, developed by ODF Optronics Ltd. and Macroswiss. This kind of robot is very suitable for quick deployment, but not suitable for search missions because of their poor mobility (Liu and Qu, 2014). The robots introduced above are expensive due to the use of expensive materials.…”