Field validation of Nomad's robotic locomotion

Benjamin Shamah; Dimitrios Apostolopoulos; Eric Rollins; William L. Whittaker

doi:10.1117/12.335700

8 January 1999 Field validation of Nomad's robotic locomotion

Benjamin Shamah, Dimitrios Apostolopoulos, Eric Rollins, William L. Whittaker

Proceedings Volume 3525, Mobile Robots XIII and Intelligent Transportation Systems; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.335700
Event: Photonics East (ISAM, VVDC, IEMB), 1998, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

During June and July of 1997, a mobile robot named Nomad traversed 223km in the Atacama Desert of southern Chile via transcontinental teleoperation. This unprecedented accomplishment is primarily attributed to Nomad's innovative locomotion design which features four-wheel/all-wheel drive locomotion, a reconfigurable chassis, electronically coordinated steering, pivot-arm suspension, and body motion averaging. Nomad's locomotion was configured through systematic analysis and simulations of the robot's predicted performance in a variety of terrain negotiation scenarios. Experimental work with a single wheel apparatus was sued to determine the effect of repeated traffic and tread pattern on power draw. Field test before and during the Atacama traverse demonstrated Nomad's substantial terrainability and autonomous navigation capabilities, and validated theoretical performance projections made during its geometric configuration. Most recently, the augmentation of the internal monitoring system with a variety of sensors has enabled a much more comprehensive characterization of Nomad's terrain performance. Because of Nomad's unique steering design a comparison of skid and explicit steering was performed by monitoring wheel torque and power during steady state turns. This paper summarizes the process and metrics of Nomad's mobility configuration, and reports on experimental data gathered during locomotion testing.

Citation Download Citation

Benjamin Shamah, Dimitrios Apostolopoulos, Eric Rollins, and William L. Whittaker "Field validation of Nomad's robotic locomotion", Proc. SPIE 3525, Mobile Robots XIII and Intelligent Transportation Systems, (8 January 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.335700

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