Portable mobile robots, in the size class of 20 kg or less, could be extremely valuable as autonomous reconnaissance platforms in urban hostage situations and disaster relief. We have developed a prototype urban robot on a novel chassis with articulated tracks that enable stair climbing and scrambling over rubble. Autonomous navigation capabilities of the robot include stereo vision-based obsta...

Most individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) demonstrate problems in learning and movement coordination. Consequently, they usually have difficulties in activities such as standing, walking, and stair climbing. To monitor the physical impairments of these children, regular gross motor evaluation is crucial. Straight-line level walking is the most frequently used test of their mobility. ...

Forward stair climbing (FSC) is associated with cardiovascular fitness benefits, but the training effects of backward stair climbing (BSC) have not been reported in the literature. This study compared the effects of 8 weeks of FSC and BSC on the cardiovascular parameters of apparently healthy young adults. Forty apparently healthy young adults, aged 18-30 years were recruited consecutively and ...

Noninvasive portable blood pressure systems (PBPS) are typically based on korotkov sound technique. The performance of related Korotkov sound analysis techniques was assessed in PBPS data obtained from nine normotensive and nine hypertensive men. Multiple-seated PBPS measurements were taken, each following 1 minute of quiet rest, moderate walking, and stair climbing; each PBPS measurement was a...

One of the basic problems of user on manual wheelchair is overcoming architectural barriers (kerbs, stairs etc.) on its way. Even though many research studies have been reported in different fields to increase the independence of wheelchair users, the question of overcoming obstacles by a wheelchair always remains as topic of discussion for many researchers. In this paper, the author has propos...

Abstract In the present scenario the application of robots is quite common to reduce the human effort in several areas. The stair climbing robots are used to climb the stairs for different applications up to now, but the main disadvantage of the rugged terrain robots is not adjustable according to the structure of the stairs. To overcome this, we have developed an adjustable stair climbing robo...

In this chapter, we introduce a stair-climbing robot developed in our laboratory. This robot consists basically of two body parts connected by springs, and hops as a result of the vibration of a two-degrees-of-freedom (2-DOF) system. The excellent combination between the frequencies of the robotic body vibration and the tread-riser interval of stairs enables a small and simple robot fast stair ...

The objective of this paper is to present our method of predicting and simulating visually realistic and dynamically consistent human stair-climbing motion. The digital human is modeled as a 55-degrees of freedom branched mechanical system with associated human anthropometry-based link lengths, mass moments of inertia, and centers of gravity. The joint angle profiles are determined using a B-sp...

Smart aspects in development of a wheel-based robot which is capable to climb stairs autonomously are presented. Autonomy connotes the ability to climb stairs without any mechanical contact to environment except ground contact with wheels. A comparison of wheel-based to other known locomotion systems is given. Advantages of wheel-based systems are emphasized. The presented Stair Climber (SC) ro...