An insectomorphic robot overcoming obstructions formed by isolated cylinders (Q2239189)

This paper solves a problem of overcoming obstacles formed by large single cylinders or a set of spaced cylinders of small radii that lie on a horizontal surface by an hexapod insectomorphic robot. The robot's rigid body has the form of a rectangular prism. Six identical insectomorphic legs are symmetrically attached at the sides of the robot's body. The leg attachment points on each side are equally spaced. Each leg consists of two solid links -- a hip of length and mass and a shin of length and mass. The robot may touch the supporting surface and the surrounding objects only by its feet and the robot's legs are not allowed to have mutual intersections during the motion. The cylinders in the obstacles can freely roll on the plane. They are affected by the Coulomb and rolling friction. The problems for three types of obstacles are solved, namely: Problem 1 -- series of cylinders; Problem 2 -- thick cylinder; Problem 3 -- large cylinder. An algorithm for solving these problems is proposed. The algorithm is tested using the Universal Mechanism software taking into account the dynamics of the system as a whole.