11 accepted papers
This paper introduces an innovation of the Spherical Omnidirectional Wheel, designed to achieve omnidirectional driving motion. In previous models, the supporting shaft was placed at the center of the mechanism. However, achieving both smoothness and high load-capacity in such designs proved challen…
Most articulated robots comprise multiple joints and links that control the position and posture of the end effector. The kinematic pair arrangement determines characteristics such as output force. The link configurations can be classified as serial link and parallel link mechanisms. A typical paral
Machines tend to use powerful actuators and large gearboxes to bear large loads, which are inconvenient in terms of responsiveness as they affect the duration of operations. Thus, to compensate the force to grasp an object, we propose a clamping mechanism implementing the internally-balanced magneti…
For rescue or endoscope applications, snake-like robots have been extensively studied to access and explore confined spaces, such as small-diameter holes or complicated debris. Among them, eversion robot which can evert their flexible surface membrane to extend, exhibit high-mobility performance, ev
The force required to drive a mechanism can be compensated by adding an equivalent load in the opposite direction. By reversing the input and output of the load compensation, we proposed the concept of a displacement-force converter that enables the deformation of the elastic element to be controlle
Thin construction is an advantage in the design of mechanisms. Among them, the soft-bending thin sheet actuator can fit into the shape of an object and grasp it after inserting a finger into a narrow space. However, to facilitate bending, these mechanisms are thin or made of soft materials, which le
To detach a permanent magnet using a control force much smaller than its original attractive force, the internally-balanced magnetic unit (IB Magnet) was invented. It has been applied to magnetic devices such as wall-climbing robots, ceiling-dangling drones, and modular swarm robots. In contrast to…
We introduced the disturbance degree of ground and proposed an evaluation method to measure the mobile performance of a crawler on soft ground during direction switching. First, we developed a planar omnidirectional crawler, which had a configuration with two left and right unit crawlers for perform…
This letter proposes a planar omnidirectional crawler mobile mechanism. This mechanism is the basis for the mobility of search and rescue robots. A planar omnidirectional crawler aims to facilitate penetration into a narrow path and soft or fragile ground. In this letter, the effectiveness of the pr
For the past few years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been successfully employed in several investigations and exploration tasks such as aerial inspection and manipulations. However, most of these UAVs are limited to open spaces distant from any obstacles because of the high risk of falling a…
Tethered robots often experience entangling of their cables with obstacles in uncertain disaster environments. This paper proposes a spherical tether handling device that unfastens a robot's tether during surveys by releasing the tether and carrying it aside. By using a differential mechanism, the d…