Proposal of Walking to Prevent a Fall of a Planetary Exploration Legged Rover Using Effect of Loose Soil Caused by a Propagation of Vibration

Abstract

In this study, a walking method that prevents a fall of the planetary exploration-legged rover is proposed. In the proposed walking method, the leg is sunk by giving vibration to the ground. The posture of the rover is changed to prevent a fall of the rover by sinking the leg. First, the relationship between the kind of vibration and the subsidence of the leg is confirmed. In this experimental result, the leg is shown to be easy to sink to the ground by giving vibration. Moreover, the larger the vibratory force is, the easier the leg sinks to the ground. Finally, the legged testbed walks on the loose ground with a slope using the proposed walking method. In this experimental result, the testbed is difficult to fall down when it uses the proposed walking. Moreover, the angle of a slope that the testbed can walk becomes large by using the proposed walking.