Design of a Novel Wheel-Legged Robot with Rim Shape Changeable Wheels

The wheel-legged hybrid structure has been utilized by ground mobile platforms in recent years to achieve good mobility on both flat surface and rough terrain. However, many designs of the obstacle-crossing part transformation driving this is highly coupled, which limits its optimal performance aspects. This paper presents a novel robot with rim shape changeable wheels, bi-directional smooth ability. Based kinematic model, geometric parameters wheel design variables four-bar mechanism are optimized separately. Experiments show that prototype installed transformable can overcome steps height 1.52 times radius less fluctuation centroid performs locomotion capabilities different environments.