Koki Kikuchi

Suction Ability Analyses of a Novel Wall Climbing Robot

The wall climbing robot has characteristics of moving smartly and suction reliably on the wall, therefore, this paper proposes a method called critical suction, based on the negative suction and thrust force. Then mechanics, the robots suction mechanism and the performance of air-sealed are analyzed, and the critical suction mechanism is discussed in theory. Furthermore, the fluid model and the fluid network dynamic model of the robots suction system are set up. According to the dynamic response equation of the negative pressure in the suction cup, the suction process of the robot on the wall is simulated. Finally, the effect that the key parameters of the suction cup system have on the suction characteristic is analyzed and the conclusions are presented.

Study on a Kind of Wall Cleaning Robot

This kind of wall cleaning robot has two wheels that can be driven respectively, two vacuum pumps, and one negative suction disc with one mechanic-servo air-sealed ring. Some key techniques on kinematics and hydrodynamics of the robot are proposed in this paper. Aimed at the actual situations for wall cleaning works, this paper presented a sort of physical cleaning method, and analyzes its advantages. In order to let the robot finish its work perfectly, we developed a sort of suitable operation device with cleaning, water-saving and environment protection functions

A floor cleaning robot using Swedish wheels

This paper presents a floor cleaning robot equipped with Swedish wheels. It can be used in crowded places such as houses, train station, airport etc. the robot can perform its work in autonomous and teleoperated mode. Moreover the robot can pivot around without turning, can avoid obstacles and is provided with automatic power management ability. And meanwhile, the kinematics for its control and controlling methods are studied and demonstrated. This new structure, smooth locomotion capability and high working efficiency are verified by experimentation.

Floor‐cleaning robot using omni‐directional wheels

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an omni‐directional floor‐cleaning robot equipped with four omni‐directional wheels. The research purposes are to design a robot for cleaning jobs in domestic, narrow and crowded places and to provide a robotics‐study platform in a laboratory.Design/methodology/approach – The robot system using Swedish wheels, one dust collector (brush) switching device and a sort of air‐bag sensing device is designed. The kinematics and the motion control conditions of the robot are analyzed. Specifically, a design method of wheels is described.Findings – The configuration of the robot, parameters of the wheel and controlling methods are studied and demonstrated. The smooth locomotion capability and high‐working efficiency are verified by experiments.Practical implications – The robot can perform its work in semi‐autonomous and tele‐operated mode. Moreover, the robot can pivot around, avoid obstacles and is provided with automatic power management system.Originality/value...

Motion analysis of butterfly-style flapping robot for different wing and body design

In this study, we manufactured small butterfly-style flapping robots with wing veins and investigated their flight characteristics for different design parameters such as swept-forward wing angle and center of mass (COM). The butterfly-style flapping robot is characterized by a total mass of less than 1 g, the COM at its rear, a tailless wing, a few degrees of freedom (DOF), a low aspect ratio, a low flapping frequency of 10 Hz, and a wide flapping angle from 90 deg to −90 deg. The experimental results showed that the body pitch angle was controlled by the swept-forward wing angle and by the relative positions of the COM and center of lift (COL), and that the model with a swept-forward wing angle of 20 deg and a “far-rear” COM was more suitable than that with a swept-forward wing angle of 0 deg and a “near-rear” COM for butterfly-style flight.

Motion analysis of small flapping robot for various design and control parameters

In this study, we investigate the flight characteristics for various design and control parameters by motion analysis using both constructed hardwares and computational models. We have developed a small flapping robot for use as an observation system in hazardous environments. Here, we have focused on a butterfly design with a few degrees of freedom (DOFs) and a low flapping frequency as a flapping model and have constructed isometric hardware to achieve the same flight mechanism as that of a butterfly. In addition, we have developed a computational model for analyzing the body motion including the abdomen swinging and the wing deformation. Motion analysis using the hardware and software has clarified the flight mechanism of a butterfly, which involves the periodic control of the angle of attack and in which the flight trajectory depends on factors including the center of mass, the body structure, and the wing shape. In this study, we analyze the relationships among the trajectory of the center of mass, the transition of the angle of attack, the design parameter, i.e., the swept-forward wing angle, and the control parameter, i.e., the initial angle of attack, using both the constructed hardwares and the computational models. These results clarify the flight characteristics for the small butterfly-style flapping robot and establish its design methodology.

Robotic design principles emerging from balance of morphology and intelligence

We investigate robotic design principles using an evolutionary robotic system with reconfigurable morphology and intelligence. In this study, we focus on the relationship between an approaching part and the sensor arrangement. In nature, sensors such as the eyes and the nose are concentrated around the approaching part, i.e., the mouth, since the most important task for living creatures is to bring their mouth close to food. Consequently, for living creatures the arrangement of sensors must be based on the position of the mouth. However, a robot does not have a mouth. In addition, an approaching part of a robot can also be changed by a given task. On the basis of this concept, in this study, we investigate the relationship between an approaching part and the sensor arrangement by performing evolutionary simulations. In the simulations, the morphology of a robot is represented as a tree structure consisting of cylindrical cells, and the intelligence of this robot is described as a decision tree. The task given to the robot is to maintain a distance between an approaching part located at the nth cell and an object. The results clarified basic design principles: sensors are optimally arranged on the approaching part and toward the terminal of the tree structure for this task. Furthermore, by analyzing the evolutionary process, we clarified the evolution of a mechanism that creates an effective distance-maintaining function by using the robots body structure as a scale.

Study on the Symmetry of Evolutionary Robotic System

This paper deals with the concept that effective robotic function emerges from intelligence and the balance between morphology and intelligence, the morphology and intelligence of the robot are represented respectively. Both them are automatically generated and evolved by genetic programming for a task of maintaining a certain distance between the robot and an object. And then evolutionary simulation and two experiments are performed. Furthermore, the symmetry properties which have two phases and emerge are discussed

A Wheel-based Stair-climbing Robot with a Hopping Mechanism

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 climbing, soft landing, and energy saving. In an attempt to give the robot mobility in an environment such as an office building having steps and stairs, various mechanisms have been proposed and developed. Each one of which has different characteristics. For example, wheel-based robots are very simple in terms of both mechanical design and control, and they can travel quickly and stably. But their size tends to be big for climbing stairs, as they cannot surmount a riser higher than their wheel radius. On the other hand, although crawler-type robots can climb over a riser higher than a wheel-based robot, they are slow and noisy. Typical examples of crawler-type robots are TAQT (Hirose et al., 1992) that can carry a human and Kenaf (Yoshida et al., 2007) for rescue operations. Legged robots, especially humanoid ones, are well suited for climbing stairs, but require many DOFs and complex control. Honda’s ASIMO (ASIMO OFFICIAL SITE), AIST’s HRP (Harada et al., 2006) and Waseda University’s legged robot (Sugahara et al., 2007) are good examples. In addition, the hybrids of these types have been proposed and have improved upon mutual demerits. Chari-be (Nakajima et al., 2004), with two wheels and four legs, travels quickly on its wheels over flat terrain, and climbs using its legs in rough terrain such as a step and stairs. A biped-type robot with a wheel at the tip of its legs (Matsumoto et al., 1999) climbs stairs smoothly. RHex (Altendorfer et al., 2001) has six compliant rotary legs and travels speedily not only up and down stairs, but also even uncertain terrain such as a swamp. Moreover, modular robots such as an articulated snakelike robot and special mechanisms for stairs have also been proposed. Yim’s snake-like robot (Yim et al., 2001) climbs stairs, transforming its own loop form into a stair shape. These excellent mechanisms have improved the manoeuvrability of the robot for rough terrain, but as most are general-purpose robots for rough terrain, a more specialized mechanism must be developed if we focus solely on stair-climbing ability in an office building. 3

Mechanism of Emergent Symmetry Properties on Evolutionary Robotic System

In order to create an autonomous robot with the ability to dynamically adapt to a changing environment, many researchers have studied robotic intelligence, especially control systems, based on biological systems such as neural networks (NNs), reinforcement learning (RL), and genetic algorithms (GA) (Harvey et al., 1993, Richard, 1989, and Holland, 1975). In a recent decade, however, it has been recognized that it is important to design not only robotic intelligence but also a structure that depends on the environment as it changes because the dynamics of the structural system exerts a strong influence on the control system (Pfeifer & Scheier, 1999, and Hara & Pfeifer, 2003). The behavior of a robot is strongly affected by the physical interactions between its somatic structure and the outside world, such as collisions or frictions. Additionally, since the control system, the main part of robotic intelligence, is described as a mapping from sensor inputs to actuator outputs, the physical location of the sensors and actuators and the manner of their interaction are also critical factors for the entire robotic system. Therefore, to design a reasonable robot, it is necessary to consider the relationship between the structural system and the control system, as exemplified by the evolution of living creatures. From this point of view, several researchers have tried to dynamically design structural systems together with control systems. Sims (Sims, 1994) and Ventrella (Ventrella, 1994) have demonstrated the evolution of a robot with a reconfigurable multibody structure and control system through computer simulation. The Golem Project of Lipson and Pollack has realized the automatic design and manufacture of robotic life forms using rapid prototyping technology (Lipson & Pollack, 2000). Salomon and Lichtensteiger have simulated the evolution of an artificial compound eye as a control system by using NNs and have shown that the robot creates motion parallax to estimate the critical distance to obstacles by modifying the angular positions of the individual light sensors within the compound eye (Salomon & Lichtensteiger, 2000). These researches have shown the importance of adaptation through not only intelligence but also the relationship between morphology and intelligence. However, the mechanism of the function emerging from such relationship or some kind of design principle is not fully understood yet. Meanwhile, for living creatures, symmetry properties may be a common design principle; these properties may have two phases, that is, the structural and functional phases. For