초록 ▼

Configurations are provided for vehicular robots or other vehicles to provide shifting of their centers of gravity for enhanced obstacle navigation. A robot chassis with pivotable driven flippers has a pivotable neck and sensor head mounted toward the front of the chassis. The neck is pivoted forwar

Configurations are provided for vehicular robots or other vehicles to provide shifting of their centers of gravity for enhanced obstacle navigation. A robot chassis with pivotable driven flippers has a pivotable neck and sensor head mounted toward the front of the chassis. The neck is pivoted forward to shift the vehicle combined center of gravity (combined CG) forward for various climbing and navigation tasks. The flippers may also be selectively moved to reposition the center of gravity. Various weight distributions allow different CG shifting capabilities.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A robot capable of addressing various obstacles, comprising: a chassis supporting a skid steered drive and having a leading end, a trailing end, and a chassis center of gravity (chassis CG) therebetween, the chassis having a chassis length and chassis height and chassis width, the chassis length

1. A robot capable of addressing various obstacles, comprising: a chassis supporting a skid steered drive and having a leading end, a trailing end, and a chassis center of gravity (chassis CG) therebetween, the chassis having a chassis length and chassis height and chassis width, the chassis length being less than 24.5 inches and the chassis height being less than 7.5 inches and the chassis width being less than 16 inches;a set of driven flippers, each flipper having a pivot end, a distal end, and a flipper center of gravity (flipper CG) therebetween, each flipper being pivotable about a first pivot axis common with a drive axis near the leading end of the chassis, each flipper having a flipper length;a neck having a pivot end, a distal end, and a neck center of gravity (neck CG) therebetween, the neck pivotable about a second pivot axis substantially at the leading end of the chassis, the neck having a neck length;a sensor head at the distal end of the neck, the head having a pivot end, a distal end, and a head center of gravity (head CG) therebetween, the head pivotable with respect to the neck about a third pivot axis at the distal end of the neck, the head having a head length,the chassis, flippers, neck and head:(i) having a combined center of gravity (combined CG) disposed in a fore-aft sense between the distal and pivot ends of the flippers when the flippers are in a stowed position with their distal ends between the leading and trailing ends of the chassis, wherein the robot has a stowed length in the stowed position equal to the chassis length so that the flipper length, neck length, and head length do not add to the chassis length of the robot in the stowed position, and(ii) being movable between a first position and a second position to overcome an obstacle; anda programmed controller configured, by a plurality of executable instructions stored on the controller, to direct the robot to:approach a plurality of stairs having a first pitch and a first step span;raise the flippers to an angle of at least about 30 degrees;mount a lowermost stair to a first position where the chassis is oriented at approximately the first pitch;adjust flipper orientation to approximately match the first pitch; andadjust the position of the overall gravitation center of the robot (robot CG) by moving the neck forward into a stair ascending position in which the head CG is forward of the chassis CG; andclimb the stairs by driving the flippers and the skid steered drive and maintaining the flipper orientation to approximately match the first pitch so that the robot spans at least two step edges. 2. The robot of claim 1, wherein the first position is a stair ascending position in which the head, neck, and flipper CGs are each forward of the leading end of the chassis such that the combined CG is forward of the chassis CG, and the second position is a stair descending position in which the head and neck CGs are disposed rearward of the leading end and the combined CG. 3. The robot of claim 1 configured for climbing stairs having a pitch and step span, and wherein: the chassis includes tracks defining a rearmost main track ground contact point;each flipper includes a track defining a foremost flipper ground contact point;the first position is a stable stair ascending position in which the head, neck, and flipper CGs are positioned to shift a vertical projection of the overall CG to at least one step span in front of the rearmost main track ground contact point and at least one step span behind the foremost flipper track ground contact point; andthe second position is an unstable stair ascending position in which the head, neck, and flipper CGs are positioned to shift a vertical projection of the overall CG to outside a stable range. 4. The robot of claim 1, wherein the first position is a crevasse approach position in which the head and neck CGs are aft of the leading end and aft of the combined CG, shifting the combined CG toward the trailing end, and the second position is a crevasse traversing position in which the head, neck, and flipper CGs are each fore of the leading end of the robot, shifting the combined CG toward the leading end. 5. The robot of claim 1, wherein the neck is adapted to carry payloads. 6. The robot of claim 1, wherein the flippers house at least part of a robot energy storage device and have a density higher than an average density of the robot. 7. The robot of claim 1, wherein the neck comprises at least one payload carrying fixture. 8. The robot of claim 1, further comprising a payload deck configured to support a removable cargo; and a linkage connecting the payload deck to the chassis, the linkage having a first end rotatably connected to the chassis at a first pivot, and a second end rotatably connected to the deck at a second pivot. 9. The robot of claim 1, wherein the flippers are operable to pivot about a front wheel drive axis of the chassis. 10. The robot of claim 1, wherein the sensor head comprises about 15 percent of a total weight of the robot. 11. The robot of claim 1, wherein the neck comprises about 5 percent of a total weight of the robot. 12. The robot of claim 1, wherein the set of flippers is constructed to have a lower density than that of the skid steered drive. 13. The robot of claim 1, further comprising a rear set of flippers. 14. The robot of claim 1, wherein the robot weighs 30 lbs without a payload. 15. The robot of claim 14, wherein the obstacle has a height of about 8.7 inches. 16. The robot of claim 1, wherein the skid steered drive has a track wheel diameter of about 5 inches, the chassis length is about 17 inches, and the flipper length is about 9.5 inches. 17. The robot of claim 16, wherein the neck length is about 17 inches. 18. The robot of claim 1, wherein the skid steered drive has a track wheel diameter of about 5 inches, the chassis length is about 15 inches, and the flipper length is about 9.5 inches. 19. The robot of claim 18, wherein the neck length is about 15 inches. 20. The robot of claim 1, wherein the chassis length is about 17 inches and the flipper length is about 9.5 inches and the obstacle has a height of 8.8 inches. 21. A method of controlling a robot to climb stairs having a first pitch and a first step span, wherein the robot comprises: a chassis supporting a skid steered drive and having a leading end, a trailing end, and a chassis center of gravity (chassis CG) therebetween, the chassis having a chassis length and chassis height and chassis width, the chassis length being less than 24.5 inches and the chassis height being less than 7.5 inches and the chassis width being less than 16 inches;a set of driven flippers, each flipper having a pivot end, a distal end, and a flipper center of gravity (flipper CG) therebetween, each flipper being pivotable about a first pivot axis common with a drive axis near the leading end of the chassis, each flipper having a flipper length;a neck having a pivot end, a distal end, and a neck center of gravity (neck CG) therebetween, the neck pivotable about a second pivot axis substantially at the leading end of the chassis, the neck having a neck length; anda sensor head at the distal end of the neck, the head having a pivot end, a distal end, and a head center of gravity (head CG) therebetween, the head pivotable with respect to the neck about a third pivot axis at the distal end of the neck, the head having a head length,the chassis, flippers, neck and head:(i) having a combined center of gravity (combined CG) disposed in a fore-aft sense between the distal and pivot ends of the flippers when the flippers are in a stowed position with their distal ends between the leading and trailing ends of the chassis, wherein the robot has a stowed length in the stowed position equal to the chassis length so that the flipper length, neck length, and head length do not add to the chassis length of the robot in the stowed position, and(ii) being movable between a first position and a second position to overcome an obstacle;the method comprising directing the robot to:approach the stairs;raise flippers to an angle of at least about 30 degrees;mount a lowermost stair to a first position where the chassis is oriented at approximately the first pitch;adjust flipper orientation to approximately match the first pitch;adjust the position of the overall gravitation center of the robot (robot CG) by moving the neck forward into a stair ascending position in which the head CG is forward of the chassis CG; andclimb the stairs by driving the flippers and the skid steered drive and maintaining the flipper orientation to approximately match the first pitch so that the robot spans at least two step edges. 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the robot has a furthest rear main track ground contact and a front-most front ground contact; further comprising moving the neck and the head between a stair ascending position in which a vertical projection of the robot CG is located in a stable range at least one step span in front of the furthest rear main track ground contact and at least one step span behind the front most front track ground contact, and at least one alternate position in which the vertical projection of the robot CG is outside of the stable range. 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the robot weighs 30 lbs without a payload. 24. The method of claim 21, wherein the stairs have a 7 inch rise and an 11 inch tread.