Haili Gong

Development of an amphibious snake-like robot

This paper presents an amphibious snake-like robots design. This amphibious snake-like robot, mainly composed by 8 Modular Universal Units, is waterproof and can move smoothly in the water while pressurized with O-rings and other essential accessories. The control equations for each gait are introduced. Due to its special joint design and the feature of being densely covered by vanes, the robot is endowed with an omnipotent ability of amphibious locomotion. Experiments both on the land and in the water have been made to testify the function of the amphibious snake-like robot.

Reconfiguration optimization for a swarm of wheel-manipulator robots

This paper focuses on the reconfiguration optimization of the swarm configurations assembled by the reconfigurable wheel-manipulator robots, which can independently perform the actions of locomotion and manipulation. The aim of reconfiguration is to generate better configurations while adapting to the environment. The reconfiguration of swarm configurations can be classified into the configuration assembly and configuration transformation. The Module State Vector and Configuration State Matrix are applied to optimization analysis in order to acquire the relation of the state transformation. The algorithms are presented for assembling optimally the configuration of individual modules and reconfiguring optimally the configuration of the robots. Their validity is evaluated and demonstrated through the numerical simulations.

Development of novel roboticized rock abrasion tool

A roboticized rock abrasion tool is considered to replace the geologistpsilas rock hammer to remove dusty and weathered surfaces of the rock. A roboticicized rock abrasion tool with three degrees of freedom has been developed in this paper. Planetary transmission system is used in the grinding driving system with two inputs (rotation motor and revolution motor) and two outputs (grinding wheel and cutting brush). The third actuator is to feed the grinding system. Abrasion experiments have been made to testify the feasibility. System abrasion experiments on the prototype of the lunar rover have been made to testify the function of the roboticized rock abrasion tool.