Design of a Track-Leg Hybrid Locomotive Mobile Robot

The use of robotic platforms for operations in harsh and high risk environments such as mining sites has become more popular with the advancements within the field of mobile robotics. In this paper, the designing of a hybrid locomotive mobile platform that utilizes both tracked locomotion and legged-like movements to achieve mobility is presented. The proposed track-leg mechanism and power transmission methodology are discussed in detail along with the overall design framework. The functionality validation and analysis of the legged locomotion was done in a simulation environment using MSC ADAMS with open-loop track-leg velocity control. The designed mobile robot demonstrated the ability to traverse a flat terrain and overcome a semi-cylindrical obstacle without tipping over in the simulations for the selected gait. The mobile robot also consists of 3 degrees of freedom (DOF) robotic arm which facilitates total human replacement by enabling the ability to perform any sample collecting, inspecting, pick and place tasks. The design of the robotic arm is also presented within this paper.