A six-legged rover for planetary explorationTo survive the rigors and isolation of planetary exploration, an autonomous rover must be competent, reliable, and efficient. This paper presents the Ambler, a six-legged robot featuring orthogonal legs and a novel circulating gait, which has been designed for traversal of rugged, unknown environments. An autonomous software system that integrates perception, planning, and real-time control has been developed to walk the Ambler through obstacle strewn terrain. The paper describes the information and control flow of the walking system, and how the design of the mechanism and software combine to achieve competent walking, reliable behavior in the face of unexpected failures, and efficient utilization of time and power.
Document ID
19920035037
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Simmons, Reid (Carnegie-Mellon Univ. Pittsburgh, PA, United States)
Krotkov, Eric (Carnegie-Mellon Univ. Pittsburgh, PA, United States)
Bares, John (Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA, United States)