Towards the development of a novel electro-pneumatic hybrid robot morphology

Abstract

Existing robot morphologies have typically failed to demonstrate the full range of terrain adaptability, physical practicality and behavioural diversity needed for general-purpose use, as the most suitable morphologies for certain tasks are highly unsuitable for others. Legged robot morphologies offer increased terrain adaptability at a cost of high energy consumption and poor stability, while infinite rotational mechanisms (e.g.wheels, tracks) possess high stability and energy efficiency but low terrain adaptability. This work presents a hybrid robot morphology that has the terrain adaptability needed to traverse a diverse range of civilian environments, the physical traits required to exploit ergonomically designed spaces and user interfaces which enable practical usage.