Maneuvering Robotic Vehicles
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A robot capable of addressing various obstacles, comprising:
- a chassis supporting a skid steered drive and having a leading end, a trailing end, and a chassis center of gravity (chassis CG) therebetween;
a set of driven flippers, each flipper having a pivot end, a distal end, and a flipper center of gravity (flipper CG) therebetween, each flipper being pivotable about a first pivot axis common with a drive axis near the leading end of the chassis;
a neck having a pivot end, a distal end, and a neck center of gravity (neck CG) therebetween, the neck pivotable about a second pivot axis substantially at the leading end of the chassis; and
a sensor head at the distal end of the neck, the head having a pivot end, a distal end, and a head center of gravity (head CG) therebetween, the head pivotable with respect to the neck about a third pivot axis at the distal end of the neck,the chassis, flippers, neck and head;
(i) having a combined center of gravity (combined CG) disposed in a fore-aft sense between the distal and pivot ends of the flippers when the flippers are in a stowed position with their distal ends between the leading and trailing ends of the chassis, and(ii) being movable between a first position and a second position to overcome an obstacle.
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Abstract
Configurations are provided for vehicular robots or other vehicles to provide shifting of their centers of gravity for enhanced obstacle navigation. A robot chassis with pivotable driven flippers has a pivotable neck and sensor head mounted toward the front of the chassis. The neck is pivoted forward to shift he vehicle combined center of gravity (combined CG) forward for various climbing and navigation tasks. The flippers may also be selectively moved to reposition the center of gravity. Various weight distributions allow different CG shifting capabilities.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A robot capable of addressing various obstacles, comprising:
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a chassis supporting a skid steered drive and having a leading end, a trailing end, and a chassis center of gravity (chassis CG) therebetween; a set of driven flippers, each flipper having a pivot end, a distal end, and a flipper center of gravity (flipper CG) therebetween, each flipper being pivotable about a first pivot axis common with a drive axis near the leading end of the chassis; a neck having a pivot end, a distal end, and a neck center of gravity (neck CG) therebetween, the neck pivotable about a second pivot axis substantially at the leading end of the chassis; and a sensor head at the distal end of the neck, the head having a pivot end, a distal end, and a head center of gravity (head CG) therebetween, the head pivotable with respect to the neck about a third pivot axis at the distal end of the neck, the chassis, flippers, neck and head; (i) having a combined center of gravity (combined CG) disposed in a fore-aft sense between the distal and pivot ends of the flippers when the flippers are in a stowed position with their distal ends between the leading and trailing ends of the chassis, and (ii) being movable between a first position and a second position to overcome an obstacle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of controlling a robot to climb stairs having a first pitch and a first step span, wherein the robot comprises:
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a chassis supporting a skid steered drive and having a leading end, a trailing end, and a chassis center of gravity (chassis CG) therebetween; a set of driven flippers, each flipper having a pivot end, a distal end, and a flipper center of gravity (flipper CG) therebetween, each flipper being pivotable about a first pivot axis common with a drive axis near the leading end of the chassis; a neck having a pivot end, a distal end, and a neck center of gravity (neck CG) therebetween, the neck pivotable about a second pivot axis substantially at the leading end of the chassis; and a sensor head at the distal end of the neck, the head having a pivot end, a distal end, and a head center of gravity (head CG) therebetween, the head pivotable with respect to the neck about a third pivot axis at the distal end of the neck, the chassis, flippers, neck and head; (i) having a combined center of gravity (combined CG) disposed in a fore-aft sense between the distal and pivot ends of the flippers when the flippers are in a stowed position with their distal ends between the leading and trailing ends of the chassis, and (ii) being movable between a first position and a second position to overcome an obstacle; the method comprising directing the robot to; approach the stairs; raise flippers to an angle of at least about 30 degrees; mount a lowermost stair to a first position where the chassis is oriented at approximately the first pitch; adjust flipper orientation to approximately match the first pitch; and adjust the position of the overall gravitation center of the robot (robot CG) by moving the neck forward into a stair ascending position. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A method of controlling a robot to overcome an obstacle, the method comprising directing the robot to perform the following tasks:
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approach the obstacle; raise flippers to an angle to mount the obstacle; mount the obstacle to a first position where a robot chassis is oriented approximately at the first pitch; adjust the flippers to shift a robot center of gravity at least laterally toward the obstacle; and adjust a robot center of gravity (robot CG) by moving a neck forward into an obstacle mounting position. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification