Design of Double-Body Car-Snake Hybrid Transformable Robot

Transformable robots are attracting increasing interest because of their ability of strong environmental adaptability. In this paper, a double-body car-snake hybrid transformable robot with flexible movement and strong environmental adaptability was developed to meet the needs of automatic inspection in complex industrial environments. A special connecting rod with aid of the digital steering gear was designed for the transformable robot, which enables it to quickly switch between car-shaped and snake-shaped moving postures. The transformable robot was also equipped with special mecanum wheels, which allow it to move quickly and omnidirectionally in open areas with the car-shaped posture. In addition, the mecanum wheels can provide the critical axial driving force for the robot in the snake-shaped posture, and with the help of angle control of the digital steering gear, the robot can easily cross the narrow curved channels with different radians. The details of the mechanical and electrical control system design were provided in this paper. Moreover, various motion modes of the transformable robot in different scenarios were demonstrated through experiments.