Mobile Robot Utilizing Arm Rotations – Performance of Mobile Robot Under a Gravity Environment

In this research, we have considered a mobile robot that can start to move by utilizing rotations of the two arms. This robot consists of two rotating arms and a body. Additionally, it has a device that can fix the body to a platform constructed on a certain wall or floor. In our previous study, we investigated the performance of a robot that could move in a planar space without friction or gravity through several numerical simulations. In this study, we investigate the performance of the mobile robot under a gravity environment. While the body is fixed to a starting platform, the mobile robot can store kinetic energy by rotating its arms. When the body is released from the starting platform, the mobile robot hops to the subsequent platform. We consider a scheme to control the hopping direction of the mobile robot and a scheme to reduce the collision impact against the subsequent platform. Thereafter, we verify the feasibility of the proposed schemes through numerical simulations.