Quadruped

TurboQuad is a successor of the Quattroped. Our aim was to develop a mobile leg-wheel transformable robot with smooth transitions between wheeled mode, which is suitable for quick and smooth movement on flat terrain, and legged mode, which can stably negotiate uneven terrain. With the novel transformation mechanism and model-based control strategies aided by sensor feedback, TurboQuadcan smoothly perform fast leg-wheel transformation and utilize multiple bio-inspired gaits to adapt to varying terrain smoothness efficiently.

Quattroped is a 4-leg/4-wheel transformable mobile robot. In contrast to most hybrid platforms which have separate mechanisms and actuators for wheels and legs, this robot is implemented with a unique transformation mechanism which directly switches the morphology of the driving mechanism between the wheels (i.e. a full circle) and a 2 degree-of-freedom leg (i.e. combining two half-circles as a leg), so the same system of actuation power can be efficiently utilized in both wheeled and legged modes. Taking advantage of the leg-wheel combination, the robot is capable of performing different behaviors, including wheeled driving, step and bar crossing, irregular terrain passing, stair climbing, etc.