Michael Schwerin

A mobile hyper redundant mechanism for search and rescue tasks

In this work we introduce a new concept of a search and rescue robotic system that is composed of an elephant trunk-like robot mounted on a mobile base. This system is capable not only of inspecting areas reachable by the mobile base but also to inspect unreachable areas such as small cracks, and pipes, using the camera mounted on its elephant trunk robot. In the report we describe the mechanical structure of the elephant trunk robot, the kinematic analysis of the structure, the robot control, and its human interface systems.

Design and architecture of the unified modular snake robot

The design of a hyper-redundant serial-linkage snake robot is the focus of this paper. The snake, which consists of many fully enclosed actuators, incorporates a modular architecture. In our design, which we call the Unified Snake, we consider size, weight, power, and speed tradeoffs. Each module includes a motor and gear train, an SMA wire actuated bistable brake, custom electronics featuring several different sensors, and a custom intermodule connector. In addition to describing the Unified Snake modules, we also discuss the specialized head and tail modules on the robot and the software that coordinates the motion.

Toroidal skin drive for snake robot locomotion

Small robots have the potential to access confined spaces where humans cannot go. However, the mobility of wheeled and tracked systems is severely limited in cluttered environments. Snake robots using biologically inspired gaits for locomotion can provide better access in many situations, but are slow and can easily snag. This paper introduces an alternative approach to snake robot locomotion, in which the entire surface of the robot provides continuous propulsive force to significantly improve speed and mobility in many environments.

Design and architecture of a series elastic snake robot

This paper details the design and architecture of a series elastic actuated snake robot, the SEA Snake. The robot consists of a series chain of 1-DOF modules that are capable of torque, velocity and position control. Additionally, each module includes a high-speed Ethernet communications bus, internal IMU, modular electro-mechanical interface, and ARM based on-board control electronics.