Electricity: motive power systems – Positional servo systems – Program- or pattern-controlled systems
Reexamination Certificate
2002-12-12
2004-08-10
Duda, Rina (Department: 2837)
Electricity: motive power systems
Positional servo systems
Program- or pattern-controlled systems
C318S567000, C318S568160, C180S008700, C180S009210, C180S009320, C901S001000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06774597
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for traversing obstacles and, more particularly, to an apparatus for traversing obstacles having an elongated, flexible body, and a drive track propulsion system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Robotic vehicles are often used to navigate or traverse varying terrain. As is well known, wheeled robotic vehicles, both large and small, are particularly well adapted for travel over relatively smooth terrain, such as roads and smooth floors. However, it is often necessary for robots to traverse terrain that is not smooth, such as stairs or curbs. Moreover, it is often necessary for robots to traverse terrain that may pose a danger to humans, such as those situations presenting an environmental risk, military risk, or the like. Often robotic devices are useless in these dangerous situations because of their inability to successfully and reliably traverse any severely broken and/or fractured ground that they may encounter. Attempts have been made to overcome the numerous disadvantages of wheeled robotic vehicles in these situations by simply increasing the diameter of the wheels or adding tank crawler tracks to increase the ability of the robotic device to traverse large objects or spans. However, these solutions include additional disadvantages, such as increasing the overall size of the vehicle, which may inhibit the robot's ability to pass through small openings.
Furthermore, many robots suffer from being rendered immobile as a result of a rollover or other situation that prevents contact of their propulsion member(s) on the ground surface. That is, should a wheeled robot encounter a grade sufficient to roll it on its side, the wheels are no longer capable of propelling the robot. In terrains that pose a risk to humans, such rollovers may render the robot unrecoverable.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide an apparatus capable of traversing severely broken and/or fractured ground. Further, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide an apparatus capable of traversing severely broken and/or fractured ground without unduly limiting the ability to pass through small openings. Still further, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide an apparatus capable of engaging its environment at any point about its periphery to minimize the possibility of the apparatus becoming immobile. Furthermore, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide an apparatus for traversing obstacles that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the principles of the present invention, an apparatus for traversing obstacles having an advantageous design is provided. The apparatus includes an elongated, round, flexible body that includes a plurality of drive track assemblies. The plurality of drive track assemblies cooperate to provide forward propulsion wherever a propulsion member is in contact with any feature of the environment, regardless of how many or which ones of the plurality of drive track assemblies make contact with such environmental feature.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4527650 (1985-07-01), Bartholet
patent: 4738583 (1988-04-01), Macconochie et al.
patent: 4872524 (1989-10-01), O'Connor
patent: 4932831 (1990-06-01), White et al.
patent: 5145130 (1992-09-01), Purves
patent: 5255753 (1993-10-01), Nishikawa et al.
patent: 5257669 (1993-11-01), Kerley et al.
patent: 5351626 (1994-10-01), Yanagisawa
patent: 5351773 (1994-10-01), Yanagisawa
patent: 5363935 (1994-11-01), Schempf et al.
patent: 5423708 (1995-06-01), Allen
patent: 5644204 (1997-07-01), Nagle
patent: 5758734 (1998-06-01), Hong et al.
patent: 5807011 (1998-09-01), Hong et al.
patent: 5857533 (1999-01-01), Clewett
patent: 6068073 (2000-05-01), Roston et al.
patent: 6105695 (2000-08-01), Bar-Cohen et al.
patent: 6113343 (2000-09-01), Goldenberg et al.
patent: 6484601 (2002-11-01), Arrichiello
patent: 6512345 (2003-01-01), Borenstein et al.
“Development of Mobile Inspection Robot for Rescue Activities: MOIRA” by Koichi Osuka and Hiroshi Kitajima, Proceedings of the 2003 IEEE/RSJ Intl. Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct. 2003, p. 3373-3377.
“Modeling, Identification, and Control of a Pneumatically Actuated, Force Controllable Robot” by James E. Bobrow and Brian W. McDonell, IEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, vol. 14, No. 5, Oct. 1998, p. 732-742.
“Towards High-Speed, Motion Control of Pneumatic Actuators With Low-Cost Valves” by W. Brockmann and J. Kohne, 4th Int. Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots CLAWAR, Karlsruhe, Germany 2001, p. 339-346.
“An Experimental Comparison Between Several Pneumatic Position Control Methods” by S. Chillari, S. Guccione and G. Muscato, Proceedings of the 40th IEEE Conf. on Decision and Control, Orlando, Florida, Dec. 2001, p. 1168-1173.
“A Tele-Operated Semi-Intelligent Climbing Robot For Nuclear Applications” by S.Glat, B.L. Luk, D.S. Cooke and A.A. Collie, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Portsmount, Portsmouth Technology Consultants Ltd, Havant, England, 1997 IEEE, p. 118-123.
“Introduction to Robotics” Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. 1989, p. 226-235.
“Application of a Maximum Stiffness Rule for Pneumatically Driven Legs on a Walking Robot” by Grzegorz Granosik and Edward Jezierski, Proc. of 2nd Int. Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots, Portsmouth, UK 1999, p. 213-218.
“The Selection of Mechanical Actuators Based on Performance Indices” by J.E. Huber, N.A. Fleck and M.F. Ashby, Proc. of the Royal Society of London, Series A. 453, UK 1997, pp. 2185-2205.
“Optimization of the Control Parameters of a Pneumatic Servo Cylinder Drive Using Genetic Algorithms” by Yong-Soo Jeon, Chung-Oh Lee, and Ye-Sun Hong, Control Eng. Practice, 1998, vol. 6, p. 847-853.
“A Linear Time Varying Model for On-Off Valve Controlled Pneumatic Actuators” by C. Kunt and R. Singh, Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, 1990, vol. 112, p. 740-747.
“An Analysis of a Pneumatic Servo System and Its Application to a Computer-Controlled Robot” by S. Liu and J.E. Bobrow, Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, 1988, vol. 110, p. 228-235.
“Practical Design of a Sliding Mode Controller for Pneumatic Actuators” by S.R. Pandian, Y. Hayakawa, Y. Kanazawa, Y. Kamoyama, S. Kawamura, Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, 1997, vol. 119, No. 4, p. 666-674.
“Comparison Between Linear and Nonlinear Control of an Electropneumatic Servodrive” by E. Richard and S. Scavarda, Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, 1996, vol. 118, p. 245-252.
“Study of Pneumatic Processes in the Continuous Control of Motion With Compressed Air I, II,” by J.L. Shearer, Transactions of the ASME, Feb. 1956, p. 233-249.
“Position Control of a Pneumatic Rodless Cylinder Using Sliding Mode M-D-PWM Control the High Speed Solenoide Valves” by M.C. Shih and M.A. Ma, JSME International Journal, Series C, 1998, vol. 41, No. 2, p. 236-241.
“Continuous Sliding Mode Control of a Pneumatic Actuator” by B.W. Surgenor and N.D. Vaughan, Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, Sep. 1997, vol. 119, p. 578-581.
“Accurate Position Control of a Pneumatic Actuator Using On/Off Solenoid Valves” by R.B. vanVarseveld and G.M. Bone, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 1997, vol. 2, No. 3, p. 195-204.
“A Safer Way to Search Disaster Sites” by Jennifer Weston, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, Sep. 2000, p. 56-57.
“Design and Motion Planning of a Mechanical Snake” by Yanson Shan and Yora
Duda Rina
The Regents of the University of Michigan
LandOfFree
Apparatus for obstacle traversion does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus for obstacle traversion, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus for obstacle traversion will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3292645