Design and Simulation of An All Terrain Mobile Robot: 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student http://www.cepolina.
com
4820 Design and simulation of an all terrain mobile robot
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Francesco Cepolina
To design and control a new rover.
19/4/97 B.ENG MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MECH 3810 Engineering Project
Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97
ABSTRACT
Since the creation of the first robot ( in 1961 ) technology is becoming more robust, more capable; the next generation of robots will be able to autonomously traverse rough terrain. The aim of this project is to study a robot that is able to navigate rough terrains. What is the best design for a moving robot? This problem is not easy; William Whittaker, a Dante II principal investigator, suggests: One of the reasons we havent solved the best means of mobility is that there may be not one. Look at the diversity of the nature, from snake locomotion and insects to the bi-pedal type of motion humans use to get around. Those are not minor variations. Its a very diverse world out there. My sense is that there is probably a robotic counterpart for every physical entity in the biological kingdom. [5] . For this reason, before starting the robot design phase, it is important to define the kingdom in which the robot has to move. The project rover environment is Mars surface. Wednesday December 4, 1996, NASA launched Pathfinder. Pathfinder is the first mission to Mars in which rovers are used; an ambitious USA project foresees a series of planetary, low cost vehicles to be launched on Mars by 2005. The great concern and commitment of the technologically evolved nations on this subject underlines the importance of the problem tackled in this project.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would say thanks to Dr.Plummer, because he gave me the opportunity to develop a really interesting project. Dr. Plummer constantly gave me helpful suggestions during each phase of the developement of the project; moreover he was really available and patient. I really appreciated the attentions he paid to me; certainly the technical discussions I had with him were very benefical.
CONTENTS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS NOTATION INTRODUCTION OBJECT LITERATURE REVIEW SPECIFICATION SHEET DESIGN LEG MODELLING AND SIMULATION CONTROL REFERENCES APPENDICES
page i ii iii iv 1 3 4 12 13 37 46 55 A1
Contents in detail
1. INTRODUCTION 2. OBJECT 3. LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1 MARS: THE PLANET 3.2 SEMIAUTONOMOUS VERSUS AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION 3.3 SEMIAUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION: INFORMATION EXCHANGE 3.4 NASA SPACE PROGRAM 3.5 ROVER TECHNOLOGY 3.5.1 FULL SIZE ROVERS 3.5.2 MICROROVERS 3.5.3. NANOROVER 3.6. SPACE TECHNOLOGY FALLOUT ON TERRESTRIAL ROBOTS
1 3 4
Errore. Il segnalibro non definito.
4. SPECIFICATION SHEET 5. DESIGN

5.1 LEG EXTREMITIES 5.1.1 RELATION BETWEEN LEG EXTREMITIES DOF AND GROUND ROUGHNESS 5.1.2 SHAPE OF THE CONTACT EXTREMITY/TERRAIN 5.2 NUMBER OF EXTREMITIES 5.3 LEG ARCHITECTURES 5.3.1 ONE DOF SOLUTIONS 5.3.2 TWO DOF SOLUTIONS 5.3.3 THREE DOF SOLUTIONS 5.3.4 LEG ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW AND CHOICE OF THE ROVER LEG
12 13
5.4 LEG SIZING The leg dimensions have to satisfy different conflicting specifications; the legs have to be: 5.4.1 ROVER CLIMBING STEEP SLOPE 5.4.2 ROVER EXCEEDING A STEP 5.4.3 ROVER EXCEEDING A DITCH 5.4.4 ROVER EXCEEDING A WALL
5.5 EXAMPLES OF LEGS 3D MODELS 5.5.1 QUADRA ROMB LEG [22] 5.5.2 DOUBLE PARALLELOGRAM LEG 5.6.3 DOUBLE PENDULUM LEG 5.6 ACTUATORS 5.6.1 AVAILABLE ACTUATORS 5.6.2 CHOICE OF THE LEG ACTUATOR 5.6.3 AVAILABLE GEAR REDUCERS 5.6.4 CHOICE OF THE GEAR REDUCTION 5.6.5 SELECTION OF THE LINKING SOLUTION 5.7 SELECTED SOLUTIONS FOR THE LEG DESIGN
6. LEG MODELLING AND SIMULATION

6.1 KINEMATIC MODEL 6.1.1 DIRECT KINEMATICS 6.1.2 INVERSE KINEMATICS 6.2 DYNAMICS 6.3 LEG DYNAMIC SIMULATION 6.3.1 OPEN LOOP DYNAMIC SIMULATION
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7. CONTROL
7.1 CONTROL SYSTEM 7.1.1 LINEAR CONTROL 7.1.2 ADAPTIVE CONTROL 7.1.3 MODEL REFERENCE ADAPTIVE CONTROL ( MRAC) 7.2 CLOSED LOOP SYSTEM SIMULATION
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REFERENCES APPENDIX A: PROJECT ORGANIZATION
55 A1
APPENDIX B: MARS
PLANET PROFILE GENERAL INFORMATION ON MARS ENVIRONMENT MARS MAIN REGIONS
A3
APPENDIX C: ROVERS
SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE MAIN EXISTING ROVERS
A5
APPENDIX D: TOOLS
MATLAB(R) SIMULINK
A7
PRO/ENGINEER EUCLID
APPENDIX E: SIMULATION
CONSTANTS OF THE SIMULATION I (MATHLAB FILE) CONSTANTS OF THE SIMULATION II (MATHLAB FILE) SIMULINK BLOCKS
A10
APPENDIX F: HARMONIC DRIVE CATALOG
A14
ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS IN DETAIL NOTATION
2 3 4 5 9
NOTATION
d Di ditch dimension (m) i th dimension of the suspension (m)
DOF degree of freedom e Ec error kinetic energy (Joule)
Ep potential energy (Joule) Et total energy (Joule) Fx , Fy external forces acting on each foot, due to the interaction with the ground ( N) g hw acceleration of gravity ( g=0.38*9.81 m/s2) isolated wall hight (m)
I1 , I2 moments of inertia of the centres of gravity of the leg bars 1 and 2 relative to centers of gravity (Kgm2 ) J leg jacobian matrix (2*2)
Kdi leg derivative gains Kpi leg integral gains Kpi leg position gains
l1 , l2 lenghts ( from joint to joint) of the bars 1 and 2 ( m) lc1 , lc2 distances of the centres of gravity of the leg bars 1 and 2 from their joint nearest to the vehicle
body ( m). The centroids of the links are assumed to be located on the center line passing through adiacent joints. m1 , m2 masses of the leg bars 1 and 2 ( Kg) terrain slope gradient () 1 hip joint acceleration (radiant//s2) 2 knee joint acceleration (radiant//s2) 1 hip joint velocity (radiant/s) 2 knee joint velocity (radiant/s) 1 1d 2 2d r s 1 2 u w y hip joint displacement (radiant) desired hip joint displacement (radiant) knee joint displacement (radiant) desired knee joint displacement (radiant) output reference vertical step hight (m) hip joint torque (Nm) knee joint torque (Nm) actuation variable isolated wall thickness (m) actual output
1. INTRODUCTION
Robots that can competently, effeciently and autonomously operate in extreme terrain do not yet exist. A few rovers have already been in Mars: on 27 American and Russian missions only 9 have been successful. Space exploration poses special problems for robotics; in general it is possible to outline that: planetary rovers need walking mechanisms suited to traversing extreme terrain : steep slopes, steps and ditches with materials ranging from hard rock to sand and dust; planetary rovers need different kinds of sensors: - sensors for perception and motion control; - sensors and experimental equipment to solve on-board interpretation and exploration tasks; very often full size rovers are outfitted with robot arms for handling objects; planetary rovers need on-board power source and actuation facilities; rovers have to drive on rough terrain with high stability and performance to safely carry the instrumentation; mechanical structure and locomotion control have to be robust and safe to fulfill the mission; Now a days there are two different rover locomotion tendencies: robot rovers similar to cars with good suspension that roll (A) or robots with legs that walk (B) .
NASA Mars Pathfinder address http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/roverpwr/blue_up1.jpg
California Cybernetics Company: Manifold traversing architecture address http://www.ccyber.com/heglp.html
A B
SPEED high slow
AGILITY able to cross only smoothed ground capable to walk on any land terrain
SHAPE CHARACTERISTICS compact and so sturdy supports well artificial intelligence control
Fig. 1 - Basic example solutions for rover locomotion
The locomotion studied in this project combine together the A and B solutions to have at the same time a versatile ( legs) and a high average speed ( wheels) robot (hybrid locomotion). The task is to create a rover with legs similar to B, but with power driven wheels at feets end. It is important, while designing the project model, to locate room in the central body for the scientific instruments. Every kind of device will be arranged so as to keep the rovers center of mass as low as possible, in order to have an easier control of the dynamic equilibrium because, on Mars, surface is very rough and there are strong winds. Planetary rovers need on board intelligence to support autonomous walking in extreme terrain;
however the task of this project is only to find a functional Mars rover body, so autonomous navigation software is not studied. Hopefully this model could give some new ideas for the construction of future rovers, possibly suited also to terrestrial applications such as hazardous waste environments and mining.
2. OBJECT
Listed below are the agreed objectives of this project: 1. To analyze the Mars environment conditions 2. To study the last generation rovers 3. To compare various suitable rover designs 4. To select the best robot design 5. To create a physical model of the robot leg 6. Dynamic testing and control of the selected robot leg
3. LITERATURE REVIEW
3.1 MARS: THE PLANET This section is devoted to the geographical, geological and physical characteristics of the Mars planet that represents the environment and the scenario for the mobile robot studied in this project. The main physical characteristics of the planet are described in Appendix B. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun; this planet travels around the Sun in an elliptical orbit. Mars is considered the red planet because of its bright red colour; the overall red colouring of the terrain is due to an abundance of oxidised iron in the eroded material. The pink colour of the sky is caused by extremely fine red dust that is suspended in Mars' thin atmosphere. The Red Planet has the greenhouse effect which raises the temperature about 5 degrees. The surface of Mars can be seen in detail from Earth. The rust coloured portions are thought to be desert-like regions. The greenish regions are thought to be the seas of the planet. On Mars winds transport dust and water vapour around the planet and influence the cycle of carbon dioxide sublimation/condensation in the polar regions. The small amounts of water found are not enough to support human needs. The two moons of Mars rotate very close to the surface. Both moons were discovered by Hall in 1877. Scientists speculate that Deimos and its companion moon Phobos were once passing asteroids that were pulled in by the gravity of Mars. Soil Martian rocks are similar in colour to basaltic rocks on Earth, Red soil covers the top of the rocks. In some places rocky plains tend to dominate, in other regions drifts have formed. Any rocks are fragment
of a lava flow that was later ejected by an impact crater. Patches of drift material and possibly bedrock are present on the surface; large rock can be 2 m wide.
Fig. 2 - Image of Mars soil.
Some salient information ( about Soil in Main regions) are done in Appendix B
3.2 SEMIAUTONOMOUS VERSUS AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION Several aspects make planet exploration a difficult problem for robotics: the robot has to move in a natural, unstructured and a-priori unknown environment; there is no possibility of continuous interaction with the robot because of the significant delays in communications; the information on the robot and on the environment has to be acquired through the robots own sensors; the power for actuation, moving and handling is limited. These constraints rule out direct teleoperation and telerobotic approaches and point towards robots with semiautonomous and autonomous capacities. In this section are presented different approaches to the control and guidance systems for planet exploration by mobile robots. First are discussed problems for systems that provide for mission planning and supervision from a Earth ground station and, after, for on-board mission interpretation and execution, including autonomous navigation, such as the most recent NASA rovers
3.3 SEMIAUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION: INFORMATION EXCHANGE
Sensors signals
Planet of interest Images
Rover
(rover semiautonomous navigatioin system)
vehicle info+global routes
local routes
Global routes
JPL
Earth
JPL
images topographic map global routes topographic map+rover technical info
Fig. 3 - Sketch of the information exange between Earth and a rover on Mars. A semi-autonomous rover control is desirable to increase the capability and safety of many types of missions. The long time delay (for example, up to 45 minutes for a round trip to Mars at the speed of light) precludes a total "telepresence". Some satellites that are around the studied planet, send different images to Earth. It is possible to create from this data a topographic map of the studied planet. The rover which carries a pair of mini wrist cameras, sends to the Earth stereo pictures. A human operator compares these stereo pictures with the topographic map information and using a pair of 3DOF joysticks, gives a safe path for the robot.
In addition, the operator can use a model which, when overlayed on the image of the vehicle, measures the location and heading of the vehicle. The lighting can be controlled, to view the scene better. The commands are then transmitted to the robot for execution. The Rover autonomously tries to reach the destination by instantiating sensor-based reactive behaviours of varying complexity. These might include obstacle avoidance, or searching for specific features. All the operations are to be done very carefully; a rover breakdown would compromise the mission result. On Earth the rout chosen for the robot is analysed and discussed. An active force control is used to accommodate imprecise knowledge of the terrain.
3.4 NASA SPACE PROGRAM NASA robotic research agenda is keyed to three broad areas; on orbit activities, free flyer service, planetary rovers. In the third area are studied robots that will explore some potential landing sites of scientific interest and place instruments. High levels of local autonomy are required for these missions. Specific applications are the Mars Surveyor Program and other programs planned by the Mission From Planet Earth user communities. The broad objectives of such missions would be to observe and gather materials representative of the planets geophysical, meteorological and biological conditions and to return a varied selection of samples. Since the payload of the return vehicle is limited, the mission requires a sophisticated on-site system that can explore, assay and select. The rover exploration goals are: - vehicle mobility; - intelligent terrain navigation; - manipulation of scientific instrumentation. Specific goals over the next four years (1) autonomously traverse 100 m of rough terrain: terrain within sight of a lander; (2) autonomously traverse 100 m of rough terrain over the horizon with the return to lander (3) autonomously traverse 1 km of rough terrain with execution of selected manipulation tasks. (4) complete science/sample acquisition and return to lander with over the horizon navigation Ultimate goals to built robots that, with little direct human intervention, can explore remote planetary surfaces real-time perception for autonomous identification of scientific goals: MECH 3810 Engineering Project 6
- rock coring, - autonomous navigation over long distances of tens of kilometres or more, - video camera, - multisensory grippers.
3.5 ROVER TECHNOLOGY Many types of rovers have been studied, designed and built. This section is devoted to a short survey of the main proposed solutions and realisations. Following the traditional rover implementations, micro and nano untypical prototype solutions, based on living organisms motion methods, are reported.
3.5.1 FULL SIZE ROVERS
From a mechanical point of view the rover branch of research includes: vehicle stability, legged vs. wheeled vehicle mobility, handling and grasping dexterity. The rover technology efforts have two major thrusts: science rover development and miniaturised rovers; reducing mass, power and consumption. Possible kind of research tasks obstacle avoidance and fault-tolerance; sensor suites for long distance navigation; autonomous performance of the designated science sample acquisition task; autonomous search and recognition of potentially interesting targets; acquisition of scientific samples; autonomous control of miniature sampling devices and science instruments; sensor pointing, emplacement, or burial; identification and integration of science instruments on small rover platforms for experimentation; computer-based characterisation of data via heuristics, data analysis methods and data reduction methods; intelligent vision and touch-guided grasping; ability to select materials, including atmosphere, soils and rocks; rock sample acquisition and transport;
camera positioning for scientific imaging, navigation, and vehicle self-inspection; analysis of multispectral imaging data to find areas of interest; rover arm able to position the instruments in different positions; supports commanding waypoint positions using stereo imaging data.
Full size rover examples
DANTE is a robot that has attempted to survey a live Antarctic volcano; the second test on the volcano was successful, this kind of robot with its light legs, can climb on very inclined surface. NASA provided $ 1.7 million for the Dante II ( the robot of the second test).
ROBBY is a six wheel machine; this three-body articulated vehicle offers high mobility. The vehicle hinges about the centre axle to allow the six wheels to comply to complex terrain geometry. The back and the front cab have steering stereo vision and a puma manipulator
BLUE ROVER a three segmented early prototype.
GOFOR characteristic is to have an active centre of gravity compensation.
3.5.2 MICROROVERS
The cost of a full size rover mission is of several billion-dollars. Microrovers are cheaper than full-size rovers because of their light weight and compact volume allows a low flight cost. Microrovers give a plausible idea about the computations, the mass, the power of the full size rovers. 20-kilogram-class MECH 3810 Engineering Project 9
microrovers will be able to autonomously traverse many kilometres on the surface of Mars, perform scientist-directed experiments, and return relevant data back to Earth. Present microrover technology has several limitations precluding more ambitious science-rich missions. Current microrovers have very limited traverse capability (tens of meters), have limited science packages on board, are designed for short-term (10-day) missions, and require repetitive ground control. Currently the actual rover research tasks are to increase vehicle mobility, intelligent terrain navigation, manipulation of science instrumentation. Possible kind of research tasks Reducing mass and volume of rover structural and actuator design from 10 kg to 5 kg. Cost reduction. Providing minimal soil/rock retrieval and return-to-lander capability. Capability to deploy science instruments away from the lander, on the order of 5-30 meters maximum. Examining viable rover deployment and sample-delivery concepts. Providing instrument/vehicle packaging concepts. Ability of new rover to traverse up to 10 meters in Mars Yard using hazard-detection capabilities. Achieving high-density power delivery over wide thermal ranges. Maintaining a stable thermal environment, to use commercial electronics technologies. Creating new classes of ultra-light, environmentally resistant miniaturised robotic sampling devices. Controlling force-contact tasks of an ultra-light rover-manipulator platform on uneven terrain. Integrating broad-capability science instruments into these rover architectural innovations.
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Microrovers 20-kg to 5-kg class examples
ROCKY-3, has an interesting laser light stripe obstacle detection and behaviour control. Rocky 3.2 based on the ROCKY-3 technology, has a capable data compression system.
ROCKY-4 is a six wheeled rover which utilises a springless suspension system that consists of two pairs of rocker arms connected through a differential gear; this kind of suspension allows it to go on rocks as high as 18 cm ( the wheels have 13 cm of diameter). In the main body there is enough space for the instruments and the sensors. The steering is available in the front and in the back, the motor is in the hub of each wheel. Some significant characteristics are given in C.
MARS PATHFINDER is a NASA program that targets in the Ares Valles region on the surface of Mars. MFEX ( Microrover flight experiment) mission, that will take place in July 1997, is a part of the Mars Pathfinder program. SOJOURNER is the rover used for the MFEX mission; one of the goals of the MFEX mission is to determine the Surveyor wheel soil interactions. Sojourner, is based on Rocky-4 and similar in perception and control to Rocky-3. It is a six wheeled rover. Sojourner leaved the Earth in December 96 and will arrive on Mars in 1997; it will need four days to complete the primary mission. Some significant characteristics are given in C.
ROCKY-7 is a prototype, it is built using relevant Sojourner and Rocky 4 characteristics. This rover performed a survey of Mars Yard, executing 10 science sorties, the microrover performed site imaging and soil sampling with only five command uplinks. In each sortie, the microrover identified at least one scientific target or acquired at least one sample at
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designated sites, then returned to the vicinity of the lander. The task of many Rocky-7 experiments, is to better understand how to decrease the cost of long-term missions. Some significant characteristics are given in Appendix C.
Microrovers under 5-kg class examples
UNDER 5-KG ROVER PROTOTYPE for local operations, and the larger-scale science rovers dedicated to long-distance traverse and orbiter-based communications. If most of these objectives can be addressed, a 5-kilogram rover would become a viable vehicle for extendedduration Mars Surveyor Program science under line-of-sight (10-100 meters), and could also provide a major technology option for a samplereturn mission around 2005, particularly in the context of a likely precision landing capability by that time. DEXTEROUS MANIPULATOR ( ROBOT ARM) is a novel 3-degrees-of-freedom telescopic arm. New high-strength lightweight, composite are used to minimise mass and volume. Gasdeployable segmented linkage allows arm launch stowage in a 10 litres volume. Some significant characteristics are given in Appendix C.
3.5.3. NANOROVER
Little rovers can only move about two-thirds of a centimetre a second and dont have very much power. A nanorover acts like an insect, it gets around the obstacle. Nanorovers are small planetary surface explorers. This section is devoted to describe a nanorover example: the shape is like a tank. It moves about in a "reactive" mode on the surface, much the same way as an insect does. That is, if there is an obstacle on the left, it moves right, and vice versa. If it begins to move out of the sunlight and is losing power, it changes course. If it senses more of what it is seeking (e.g., water vapour) on one side than the other, it turns toward its goal. Large numbers of such systems can be accommodated in the lander to compensate for possible individual failures. MECH 3810 Engineering Project 12
Nanorovers example
NANOROVER MODEL Solid-state adsorption-based chemical sensing will be the principal means of scientific exploration. The package that contains all the controls weights less than 1 gram. Some significant characteristics are given in Appendix C
3.6. SPACE TECHNOLOGY FALLOUT ON TERRESTRIAL ROBOTS Many terrestrial applications are based on space technology. Some interesting examples of commercial applications are: teleoperated robots in dangerous environments, telemanipulators, robotically assisted surgery, microsurgery. Agriculture tractors have low speed and long distances to run; a solution for this problem is June a robotized commercial harvester that is able to operate on mild and rough terrain autonomously .
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4. SPECIFICATION SHEET
(1) Mobility: all terrain vehicle (2) Dimensions ( maximum): body- 2 m long, 1 m wide and 80 cm high (3) Control: semi-autonomous\autonomous rover control (4) Top vehicle speed: at least 0.1m/sec
(5) Terrain obstacles:

gradient : at least 45 degrees ditch d : at least 1m vertical step s : at least 1m isolated wall h,w : at least 1m high, and 0.5m wide the dimensions not specified can assume any value
d s w
hw

Fig. 4 - Sketch of the terrain obstacles specifications (6) Range ( minimum): 500 km (7) Equipment:

stereo vision and sampling manipulator arm with end-effector for digging, grasping and instrument pointing, onboard spectrometers bi-directional sensing and driving scanning calorimeter gas analyser photographic/video camera room for other instruments
(8) Power: solar panel nuclear battery chemical batteries (9) Maximum body mass: 100 kg
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5. DESIGN
The rover is a very complex object made by a mechanical and a control system; the following sections are devoted to the functional and structural problems of the rover leg. After presenting and discussing several 1 and 2 degree of freedom leg mechanisms, a simple double pendulum leg has been chosen: the leg dimensioning is done by taking into account the specification sheet: the reference rover architecture has four wheeled legs in the classical car arrangement. Some example legs has been modelled with 3D parametric modellers. Actuation and motion transmission problems are considered and suitable solutions are suggested in the last sections of this chapter.
5.1 LEG EXTREMITIES

5.1.1 RELATION BETWEEN LEG EXTREMITIES DOF AND GROUND ROUGHNESS
ground plain
possible kind of extremity 0
DOF of each extremity
example cart
comments The cart in this simple case represents the optimum rover.
slightly* rough
D1
car
The car on slow rought grounds at low velocities can be considered an optimum rover
highly* rough
D1
2
D1
rovers
If the roughness is high no basic solutions are available
(* function of the dimensions of the extremities. In the case of the car highly rough means: distance wheel-terrain >Dmax ( the max length of
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The lenght of the suspension D1 is limited, so if the hole1 under the wheel is too deep, the wheel cannot touch the terrain. The problem could be overtaken giving to the extremity two degrees of freedom; this new model has more skills because it can search a combination of D1 and D2 ( D1min D1 D1max, D2min D2 D2max) to touch the terrain. It is possible to extend this concept to a 3DOF extremity ( introducing D3min D3 D3max). For a plain terrain it is possible to find an optimum rover. In the case of rough terrains the dimensions of the optimum rover are choosen as a function of the shape of the terrain ( the point that the endeffector has to reach must be inside the workspace of the robot). Optimum rover conditions in rough terrain
2DOF
3DOF
In this case a cartesian extremity was considered: similar considerations can be extended to other kinds of extremities.
1) It is considered only terrain with holes; it is not considered terrain with little hills. This assumption doesnt represent a restriction; it is only necessary define ground ( level hearth) the highest piece of terrain ( ).

1DOF
D 1min D 2 min D 3 min
D1 D2 D3
D 1max D 2max D 3max

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5.1.2 SHAPE OF THE CONTACT EXTREMITY/TERRAIN
Wheels alone are difficult to develop into a device for negotiating uneven terrain. But its adaptability can be enhanced by combination of wheels with legs. Examples are: the MF3, famous four crawler vehicle mounted with slave manipulator; the Mars Rover, four legged vehicle with crawler attached at the heel, developed by JPL and the four leg vehicle with wheels attached to the body, developed by Mitsubishi Heavy ind.Ltd. [23]. The shape of the end part of the leg is important, specially if dynamic equilibrium is studied.
L STABILITY function of L WORK needs a further DOF to be well CONDITIONS positioned weak doesnt need further DOF ( the wheel is always tangent to the ground
The rover design, using the above assumptions, can be reduced to the project of the extremities. If a car can be considered the basic body of a rover, it is possible to assert that the rover design task is to develop a particular kind of suspensions, able to guarantee, even on rough terrain, the contact extremities/terrain; the legs can be considered as suspension during wheeled locomotion: the legs can be used as passive suspensions, when the motors are off and when the joints are blocked, if the elasticy and the damping characteristics are adequate to the terrains; the extremities can be used as active suspensions, when the motors are on, to have a better terrain adaptability. The wheels have to be large enough to include electric motors and reduction mechanism To fulfill the objectives of the project a wheel diameter of 0.36 m has been chosen. These wheels are big enough for medium roughness and motor placement; to exceed higher obstacles the rover uses legs.
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5.2 NUMBER OF EXTREMITIES To guarantee always an isostatic support, the rover needs at least four extremities: three extremities are needed to have an isostatic support, the fourth extremity allows the mobility. To have all the extremities equal and driving gives the following advantages: high vehicle mobility ( the orientation is made by the steering wheels), modularity useful during the design and during the maintenance, lightness, reliability, easier assembly.
The problem of the positioning of the four extremities is not examined in this report. For reasons of cost, reliability and easier controllability for the four wheled legs has been chosen a traditional car arrangement.
5.3 LEG ARCHITECTURES We selected legged locomotion because of its superior rough-terrain traversability characteristics, its theoretical efficiency, and its ability to keep sensors and sampling equipment steady and stable [34]. Walking locomotion is uniquely advantageous to autonomous travel of extreme terrain: because a walker adapts its feet to the terrain, it can avoid undesirable footholds, optimize stability, and propel body independently from terrain details. The body can be lifted and lowered without significantly affecting foot forces, thus enabling obstacle crossing to be a controlled and safe maneuver [30]. It is necessary to have 2 DOF to reach a general point (x,z). From the specifications (x,z) is the plane where the obstacles are positioned. However it is possible to think of cheaper solutions that use only 1 DOF ( only one motor). These solutions allow the positioning (x,z) with x and z not indipendent. In this section are examined leg architectures with 1 DOF and leg architectures with 2 DOF. The characteristics considered are: mobility workspace load capability upright posture x,z degrees of freedom locus of the points that can be reached by the end-effector capability to support heavy loads ability of the leg to maintain the vehicle body orizontal while the obstacles are overcome relations between x= horizontal direction and z= vertical direction 16
suspensions retractability
leg architecture stiffness characteristics ability of the leg to be bended
The functional schemes of the legs, presented in the following are sketched with reference to the following graphical symbols: bar bar designed in a different position rover frame rotary joint rotary actuator joint fixed to the rover frame linear actuator linear joint fixed to the rover frame
5.3.1 ONE DOF SOLUTIONS
Chebyshev leg (1850) The mechanism is formed by one crank AB that rotates and is powered by a motor. The crank moves the bar AM. The bar AM is linked in D to the bar DC. The point C is fixed to the frame. If these proportions are respected: CD=AD=DM=2,5*AB; BC=2*AB [37]
the foot M does a closed traiectory with a rectilinear vertical stroke joined together an elliptical path.
A B D C M
x z
mobility 1 DOF
workspace limited
load capability upright posture medium no
x,z z=z(x)
suspensions quite good
retractability poor
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Fig. 5 - Sketch of the Chebyshev leg Evans leg The following figure shows the Evans four bar mechanism. When the lenghts of the links comply with the conditions: AD = 1,92 *AB; DM = 2,92*AB; CD = 2*AB; CB = 2,3*AB; DF = 2,87*AB point M describes a straight line passing through M and F [37]
C A F D B
x z
M
mobility 1 DOF workspace limited load capability upright posture medium no x,z z=z(x) suspensions quite good
retractability poor
Fig. 6 - Sketch of the Evans leg Four-bar linkage leg The four bar leg is a generalisation of the Chebyshev leg; the proportions are not respected. The performances of the two legs are the same. The actuators are positioned in A and B. The two actuators move the bars AD and BC. The foot M is rigidly connected to the CD bar. Movements are coupled and workspace is limited. This model has low possibility of crouch, when it moves on wheels
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A C B
x z
workspace limited load capability upright posture good no x,z z=z(x) suspensions pretty good retractability poor
M
mobility 1 DOF
Fig. 7 - Sketch of the four-bar linkage leg Muscle leg The leg is articulated in B. while the point A is fixet to the frame. The linear motor is positioned between C and D. The motor changes the angle DBC, and so moves the foot M.
B C A D
x
M
mobility 1 DOF workspace limited load capability upright posture medium no x,z z=z(x) suspensions good
z
retractability medium
Fig. 8 - Sketch of the muscle leg

5.3.2 TWO DOF SOLUTIONS
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Double pendulum leg The actuators driving the two bars are in the joints A and B. A is fixed to the body frame and can be considered as the hip point; B can be considered the leg knee.
x z
M
mobility 2 DOF workspace wide load capability upright posture medium yes x,z independent suspensions good, adaptable retractability very good
Fig. 9 Sketch of the double pendulum leg Parallelogram leg The side AB is linked to the frame. A motor positioned in B drives the bar BD that, during its movement, drags all the parallelogram. Another motor is positioned in D, and moves the bar DM.
A B C D
x z
load capability upright posture x,z suspensions retractability
M
mobility workspace
20
2 DOF
quite good
good
yes
independent
good, adaptable
good
Fig. 10 - Sketch of the parallelogram leg
Double parallelogram leg This leg architecture is suitable for high loads but workspace is rather limited.
A B C D
x
M
mobility 2 DOF workspace almost wide load capability upright posture medium yes x,z independent suspensions quite good
z
retractability medium
Fig. 11 - Sketch of the double parallelogram leg
Five bar leg The two actuators are positioned on the body frame and do not load the leg links. The workspace is limited and depends on the mechanism geometrical dimensioning.
21
E C A B
x
M
mobility 2 DOF workspace rather limited load capability upright posture quite good yes x,z independent suspensions good
z
retractability limited
Fig. 12 - Sketch of the five bar leg Mammal type leg The 2 dof leg architecture considered presents the drawback of low energy efficency [20]; in fact the actuators on the hip and knee during the stroke are used as brakes when the rover body advances bylifting the foot behind the hip joint (see sketch b in the following figure). If the actuating torque on the joint is in the same direction as the angular velocity the actuator is doing positive work; if they have opposite directions the actuator is acting as a brake and is backdriven: energy is converted into heat and is not used for advancement motion.
22
The study of human and animal locomotion shows that our actuators (muscles) act mainly across two joints improving mechanical efficiency [20]. This leg has a linear actuator CD acting on the two joints B(hip) and F (knee); this actuator is always doing positive work to rise the leg and exceed the obstacles; during the support phase the actuator AE does not work. Also AE acts across hip and knee joints; at the end of the stroke AE gets shorter and the leg is braked by gravity (positional and reusable energy).
B A E F
x z
load capability upright posture high yes x,z independent suspensions good retractability limited
M
mobility 2 DOF workspace not wide
Fig. 13 - Sketch of the mammal leg

5.3.3 THREE DOF SOLUTIONS
There are other 3 and +DOF models. These models [21] are not studied because they highly increase the costs without offering real improvements in the performance. The precision and the positioning accuracy is based mainly on the control feedback, not on the leg mechanism. The sensors of the control system get information directly from the external environment, and so the sensors are not influenced by the mechanical imperfections. Some of the most common mechanical imperfections are link flexibility, the gear backlash or
transmission sliding.
5.3.4 LEG ARCHITECTURE OVERVIEW AND CHOICE OF THE ROVER LEG
One DOF solutions MECH 3810 Engineering Project 23
CHEBYSHEV LEG
TENDON LEG
FOUR BAR LINKAGE LEG
EVANS LEG
Two DOF solutions DOUBLE PENDULUM LEG PARALLELOGRAM LEG DOUBLE PARALLELOGRAM LEG FIVE BAR LEG
MAMMAL TYPE LEG
From the comparison of the available legs, the double pendulum leg seems to be the most suitable for the robot locomotion. This architecture offers very wide workspace. The load capability is limited (the paralelogram leg supports the loads better), but the weight of the research tools is not too high, the leg can be stored in small space and it is well retractable. MECH 3810 Engineering Project 24
Moreover this kind of leg is cheap because of its structural semplicity. 5.4 LEG SIZING The leg dimensions have to satisfy different conflicting specifications; the legs have to be: long enough to overcome the considered obstacles maintaining the right horizontal attitude of the body; short when completely retracted, - in the launch phase, - in the wheeled locomotion; rigid to hold up the body load; elastic to act as a good suspension mechanism. The first two considerations define the link lenghts; the last two suggest the shapes and the thickness of the links. The following figures are sketches that show some subsequent configurations that the rover can assume to satisfy the obstacles exceeding specifications. For each obstacle type several frame sequences are shown and some brief notes are written. The considerations, examined in the following sections 5.4.1-5.4.4, have suggested that these robot leg lenghts are adopted: first link leg second link leg 0.70 m 0.90 m
25
5.4.1 ROVER CLIMBING STEEP SLOPE
At the beginning of the slope (A) the rover need to rise on the four legs and to adapt the front legs configuration to the terrain slope (B); then the legs are braked and freezed in the obtained by
position and the rover climbs the slope
wheeled locomotion. For the downhill run (negative slope) manoeuvres the
are the same but the rear legs
configuration is adapted to the steepness. It can be noted that these specifications (slope gradient = 45) are severe in terms of legs lenght : the overall leg extension must be equal to the
B
Fig. 14 - Rover exceeding a 45 gradient slope
distance between the hip side joints in order to maintain the desired upright rover position. The sketches suppose a side arrangement for the legs.
26
5.4.2 ROVER EXCEEDING A STEP
A is the starting position , the rover in front of the step is rising on the four legs. From the position A the rover has to go to the position B, moving the
two front extremities. The two extremities must be moved one at a time. Once the position B is reached, the rover has to translate foreward by wheeled locomotion, braking the legs, before that
the other two extremities are lifted (position C). From the position C back extremities are lifted one at a time, to maintain the equilibrium. After this step, the rover is finally totally climbed on the step ( position D) and can turn to the standard
configuration (position E)
Fig. 6 - Rover exceeding 1 meter step
27
5.4.3 ROVER EXCEEDING A DITCH
The rover approaches the ditch (A) and extends one front leg at a time (B); then it
move the legs so to shift forward the body (C); now it can brake the legs and advance by wheeles (D); the task is terminated bending rear legs, one at the time, beyond
the ditch.
Fig. 15 - Rover exceeding a ditch 1 meter wide.
28
5.4.4 ROVER EXCEEDING A WALL
Rover upstands on the legs (A) in front of the wall; then puts its body foreward as much as
possible (B). The rover can now put the first front leg, and then the second one on the other side of the wall (C). From the position C rover advances by wheels
reaching new position D; now, using the rear legs it advances the body to a position (E), above the wall, from which it can exceed the wall using the rear legs (F); then it can reassume standard upstanding position (G).
C F
D G
Fig. 16 - Rover exceeding the specified wall 1 meter high and 0.5 meters wide.
29
5.5 EXAMPLES OF LEGS 3D MODELS It is possible to have an immediate view of the leg shapes using 3D solid modelers. In this project two different 3D modeling packages (see Appendix D) have been considered: EUCLID from Matra Datavision Pro/Engineer from Parametric Technology Corporation. Before presenting the developed models it must be noted that the model dimensions does not satisfy the selected leg sizes, because the leg functional design and the 3D modeling have been done concurrently. However, once the 3D model is done, it is really easy to change each dimension because both the used modelers are parametric.
30
5.5.1 QUADRA ROMB LEG
Hirose and Ootsukasa proposed and developed a Mars rover [22] with very interesting characteristics similar to ones of this project. In particular the suspension-leg has been considered and redesigned using the 3D parametric solid modeller Pro-Engineer. Main characteristics of this project are: use of wheels disposed in the rhombus shape instead of in rectangular shape to obtain higher terrain adaptability; 2DOF front suspension able to probe the terrain roughness, similarly to the leg of this project; traction provided by servo electric motors placed inside the spherical wheels. The motors are linked to the wheels by a down gear-box. The position of the engines improves the traction of the vehicle and protects the motors from the dust. The figures 17 and 18 show parts and assemblies. The front sunspension is composed by these parts: leg ( fig.18) is the central body, on which are linked the pivots of the wheels and the two arms and the suspension 2 arms linking the leg with the frame
Fig. 17 - Parts of the quadra rhomb leg suspension ( fig.18) has the same shape as the arms but it has different dimensions MECH 3810 Engineering Project 31
pivot with down gear-box two half-wheels ( fig.17) with cavities. The cavities will be filled with the electric motors. The mechanism considered has 2DOF. The arms and the suspensions are linked to the leg in two different points, so the leg-arms-suspension from an articulated square, that has only one degree of freedom. The other degree of freedom is given by the sunspension ( the lenght of the sunspension is not constant). a b
b b
Fig. 18 (a) Overall mechanism of the quadra rhomb rover [22]; (b) Assemblies of the quadra rhomb leg
5.5.2 DOUBLE PARALLELOGRAM LEG
32
It is considered a robust leg composed by two four bar parallelograms particularly suitable for heavy loads. The design is very simple and modular. The software used is Pro/Engineer.
Fig. 19 - Parallelogram leg parts and assembly
33
5.5.3 DOUBLE PENDULUM LEG
The selected solution is the double pendulum leg; this type of leg has been modelled with Euclid. The program Euclid Quantum, a new 3D parametric modeller package, has been used for the embodiment and parts design. There are two main advantages using this software: some 3D views of the same leg show very well its shape, moreover important information, like the inertia and the volume, are automatically calculated.
Fig. 20 - Parts and sssembly of the double pendulum leg.
34
5.6 ACTUATORS
5.6.1 AVAILABLE ACTUATORS
FLUID ACTUATORS Hydraulic Pneumatic
ELECTRICAL ACTUATORS DCmotorStepping motor ACmotor
http://www.marinet.or.jp/com/ntcl /image/e70679_1.jpg
rotary actuator http://www.phdinc.com/rotary.htm
http://www.chinapages.com/zhejiang/zh oushan/hse.htm
http://www.berger- lahr.com/
CONSTRUC TION
SPEED CONTROL
POWER ACCURAC Y
mechanical simplicity ( few moving parts) Both rotary and telescopic actuators are available. almost high uses hydraulic servo valves and analogue resolver unit for control very high Usually oscillations about the set-point on completion of a movement give an imprecise response. Well designed control can give to this actuator the accuracy & repeatability usually associated with electrically actuated robots incompressible fluid ( usually oil) used when high power is required self lubricating self cooling expensive maintenance problems
mechanically simple ( usually on/off) Both rotary and telescopic actuators are available. high an electrical siugnal controls a valve which, in turn, controls the flow to a cylinder. relatively high power-toweight ratio The accuracy of this actuator is enough good. Compressibility of the air limits control and accuracy aspects
reletively complex
reletively complex
very high it is possible to apply sophisticated control tecniques almost high good accuracy and repeatability high repeatibility
high simple digital positioning device (open loop); driven by a train of electrical pulses limited good can slip during rapid acceleration of high inertia loads
COMMENT
low cost the most common actuator do not pollute less noisy than hydraulic need a air compressor relatively inexpensive simple controller which opens and closes valves in sequence, can sequence a complex series of operations used for small pick and place grippers need an air compressor need of power source problems of overheating in stalling conditions
born with the continuouse computerisation of electronics cheap clean
clean inherently high speed with low torque hence gear trains or other power transmission units are needed gear backlash limits precision some form of damping is required to eliminate vibrations and to reduce overshoot
35
5.6.2 CHOICE OF THE LEG ACTUATOR

Specifications (1) Mobility: all terrain
vehicle
(2) Dimensions
body- 2 m long, 1m wide and 80cm high
(3) Control:
semi-autonomous\autonom. rover control
(4) Top vehicle speed:

at least 0.1m/sec
(5) Terrain obstacles:

- gradient q : at least 45 degrees - ditch d : at least 1m - vertical step s : at least 1m - isolated wall: at least 1m high, and 0.5m wide
Hydraulic Pneumatic DC motor Stepping motor This specification underlines that the robot leg must have agility. This means that each leg structure must have a number of degrees of freedom ( actators) maior than 0. It is important to study a rover shape that The electric motors have the characteristic to have occupies small space; for this task it is a compact shape; however if the power required is possible to adopt for example telescopic fluid high, the volume of these actuators increases actuators. considerably. A semi-autonomous Pneumatic actuators The control of the stepping motors is more easy \autonomous control, offer only an easy than the control of the DC motors. From this needs accuracy & on/off control, not point of view, stepping motors are to be preferred repeatability. So if adeguate for this kind to DC motors; however stepping motors can hydraulic actuators of specification. oscillate around the stopped position and are adopted, the overshoot when driving light loads; they can slip control must be during rapid acceleration of high inertia loads. particulary well. designed Fluid actators offer quicker movements; the Electric motors are fast and accurate; new rare fluid is always under compression, so as the earth motors have high torques, reduced weight, valve is opened the cylinders are quickly and fast response time filled. Fluid and electric actuators can provide both rotary and translational movements; so in general both the actuators could be used to avoid obstacles. The selection of the best actuator able to satisfy this specification, can be done only comparing each of the particular leg models.
(6) Range ( minimum): 500 km
(7) Equipment:
- stereo vision and sampling manipulator - arm with end-effector for digging, - grasping and instrument pointing, - onboard spectrometers - bi-directional sensing and driving - scanning calorimeter - gas analyser - photografic\video camera - room for other instruments
Very high autonomy is required, for this reason each actuator adopted must have large reliability. In general each actuator should be insulated from external agents like dust storms. The changing of temperature is particuraly dangerous for the fluid actuators; in each condition the hermetic contact between the piston and the walls of the cylinder has to be guaranteed. Vibrations can damage the instrumentation, Electric actuators are rigid so it is complex to and influence the relevant on board sensors. reduce the vibrations. It is possible to provide an The elasticity offered by the fluid actuators adaptive damping doing a very accurate control, gives useful damping effect. able to make a trajectory planning soft and smoothed
(8) Power:
- solar panel - nuclear battery - chemical batteries
(9) Maximum body mass:

100 kg
Usually the compressors for the hydraulic and pneumatic actuators, are acted by internal combustion engines. The oil power is not between the power available for the specifications. ( If oil were provided, however some additional study should have done to change the project of terrestrial engines because of the Mars air composition is different from eart air composition). The use of a compressor acted by electric motor is energetically not convinient; electric motor transforms electric energy into mechanical energy ready to use. A compressor acted by electric motors, wastes enegy, because the mechanical energy given by the electric motor is not directly used but is converted into another kind of energy ( compressed fluid). This means that it is not energetically convenient for the rover to use hydraulic or pneumatic actuators. For this energetic considerations electric actuators should be preferred. This actuator can This actuator is not Electric actuators can support this weight; in the easily carry this strong enough to case of four legs rover, each leg has to carry an
36
weight. A bigger size of this rover can be done just by changing the kind of hydraulic actuator
carry this heavyf mass.
average weight of 25 kg and 33 kg in the obstacle avoidance time.
5.6.3 AVAILABLE GEAR REDUCERS
Pullery reducers
Harmonic drive
Price Accuracy
around $150 US less expansive than the other gear reducers good accuracy and vibration reduction
high price very good positional accuracy; low or zero backlash configurations Exceptional torque-to-weight ratio Long life and high reliability
Torque Reliability
Reduction
transfers high torque The simple design requires low maintenance, timing belt tension is easily adjustable. Ratio from 2.1 to 4:1
In-line, from 50.1 to 200.1 singlestage reduction Configuration versatility
Configurati It is possible to use more than one pullery on reducer together to reach high velocity reductions
37
5.6.4 CHOICE OF THE GEAR REDUCTION
From the comparison the harmonic drive reducers have been selected (see Appendix F). Hereafter it is possible to see Precision Compact Reducers: a a precision compact in-line speed reducer that can be mounted directly on the motor shaft. This reducer is ideal for robot arms.
Precision compact reducer
Motor
Harmonic drive
Compact Motor
Compact harmonic drive
Fig. 22 - Precision compact reducer
38
5.6.5 SELECTION OF THE LINKING SOLUTION
There are different ways to locate the motors. In the case A and in the case B the motor is positioned in the upper part of the leg. In the case C the motor is positioned between the two bar. All the three solutions give the advantage that the position of the motor doesnt encreases the inertia of the down leg. While in the case A, the axis of the motor is the same of the axis of the
down bar, in the case B the two axis are perpendicular, this implies that the thansmission in the case B is less efficient that the transmission of the case A and C.
C
The symmetrical structure of the solution C gives a very equilibrated distribution of the weight of the engine. Legenda motor location joint axis
39
Fig 23 - Different solutions of motor locating (These pictures are taken from http://robotics.com/robomenu/) inertia of the down bar + + + transmission + + engine load distribution +
A B C
From the above considerations results that the C linking solution is to prefer to the other two. 5.7 SELECTED SOLUTIONS FOR THE LEG DESIGN
Leg architectures
ONE DOF SOLUTIONS Chebyshev leg (1850) Evans leg Four-bar linkage leg Muscle leg TWO DOF SOLUTIONS Double pendulum leg Parallelogram leg Double parallelogram leg Five bar leg Mammal type leg THREE DOF SOLUTIONS
Actuators
FLUID ACTUATORS Hydraulic Pneumatic ELECTRICAL ACTUATORS DC motor-AC motor Stepping motor
40
Gear reducer
Pullery reducers Harmonic drive
Contact extremity terrain

One wheel Two wheels
Linking solutions
Solution A Solution B Solution C
6. LEG MODELLING AND SIMULATION

6.1 KINEMATIC MODEL The selected model, shown in fig 24 has a 2D structure, so the position kinematic equations can be found easily. The position equations are derived to have the velocity equations and the acceleration equations. The variables chosen are the coordinates of the angles 1 and 2. The task in the cartesian space is defined by the vector of the external coordinates of the foot: x and y.
41
X

C1
C2
Fx Fy
Fig. 24 - Reference model of the double pendulum leg

6.1.1 DIRECT KINEMATICS
From the figure it is possible to write this equations:
x 1 , 2 l 1 cos 1 l 2 cos 1 2 y 1 , 2 l 1 sen 1 l 2 sen 1 2
The equations of the velocities are obtained deriving the equations (6.1); J is called Jacobian matrix.
2
J
J
l 1 sin 1 l 2 sin 1 2 l 2 sin 1 2 l 1 cos 1 l 2 cos 1 2 l 2 cos 1 2

The velecities of the centers of mass, useful for the dynamics computation, are:

x( 1 , y( 1 ,
) 2)
1
l c1
l 1
l c2
l 2
( 6.2) ( 6.3)

( 6.1)
fram e

42
and
1 1 2 2
2 vc1 xc21 yc21 2 2 vc 2 xc22 yc 2
( 6.6)
6.1.2 INVERSE KINEMATICS
These equations are obtained elaboring the direct cynematic equations:
2x,y atan2(s2 ,c2 ) 2 2 2 2 2 = cos 2 x y l 1 l 2 c 2l 1l 2 con 2 = sen 2 1 c2 s 2

1 x,y atan2(y, x) atan2(l 2s2, l1 l 2c2 )
From the equation (6.8): x2
l1
The two solutions s2 ( equation (6.8)) are correspondent to the two configurations that are solution of the inverse kinematic problem.
MECH 3810 Engineering Project 43
l2
y 2 l12 l22 2l1l2
1
l1
or ( 6.9) l2
2

vc22

then: vc21
lc21 12 l12 12 lc22 1

2
2l1lc 2 1 1

xc 2 yc 2
l1 sin l1 cos
lc2 sin( lc2 cos(

2

xc1 yc1
lc1 sin lc1 cos
0 0
1

( 6.4)
lc2 sin( lc2 cos(
1
2
( 6.5)
( 6.7) cos
2
( 6.8)
For the particular conditions l1= l2 ( the two bars have the same lenght), an infinite number of configurations achieve the desired position degeneracy [36]. x2 y 2 2l 2 2l 2
2
x=y=0 ( the coordinate origin)
and the leg has a
6.2 DYNAMICS
The equations can be calculed or with the Lagrange method or with the Newton-Eulero method. The equation can be written in the matricial form H11 H12 H12 H 22
1
1 2
or in the equivalent scalar form:

1
12
22
where:
Meaning of each term involved in the closed form dynamic equation: gravity terms G1 (Nm) is the gravity moment due to the masses m1 and m2 about the hip joint axis;
Fex 2
Fy l2 cos
2
Fx l2 sin
2

Fex1
Fy l1 cos

G2
gm2lc 2 cos
2
1
l2 cos
2
Fx l1 sin

G1
g m1lc1 cos
m2l1lc 2 sin
m2 lc 2 cos

H12
m2l1lc 2 cos

H 22
m2lc22
I2 m2lc22 I2

H11
m1lc21 I1 m2 l12 lc22
2l1lc 2 cos
2
2

H11 1 H
H12 2 H
2 h 2 2h 1 2 G1 Fex1 h 12 G2 Fex 2
( 6.11)
I2
l1 cos
1
1
l2 sin
2

0 h
h 0

2 1 2

s2

1 1
2h 1 2 0
G1 G2
Fex1 Fex 2
( 6.10)
(6.12)
G2(Nm) is the gravity moment due to the mass m2 about the knee joint axis; G2, G2 are functions of g ( that in the equations is considered in absolute value) and funtions
of the leg actual configuration; these moments are maximun if the leg is horizontally stretched. The gravity g on Mars is small ( it is 0.38 of the the Earth gravity), and so the values assumed by G1, G2 are modest.
Environment terms due to the external forces Fex (Nm) rapresent the interactions of the environment on the foot. During a walking task
execution, if the foot is free, Fy is the wheel weight and Fx =0. When the foot is in contact with the terrain, being considered a four legged rover, is Fy = 1/4 of the rover weight, when all the four legs touch the terrain; Fy = 1/3 while the rover is overcoming a obstacle; Fx =f Fy (where f= terrain friction factor).
Inertial terms The terms of the matrix leading diagonal H (Kgm2) accounts for the moments of inertia
seen by the first or the second joint respectively when the second or the first joint is immobilized; H22 is minimum if the leg is bended;
H12 accounts for the effect of the second link motion upon the first joint: it is the same effect
that the first link motion acts on the second joint. h (Kgm) accounts for the effects of the centrifugal and Coriolis forces.
6.3 LEG DYNAMIC SIMULATION The leg dynamic model is non-linear with coupling terms, formed by two differential equations of the second order. This model has been implemented in Simulink: Dynamic System Simulation Software. The main characteristics of this software are done in Appendix D . Due to the model complexity the opportunity that Simulink offers to build blocks in cascade has been extensively used, having broken down the problem in subproblems. This characteristic allows to face a reduced problem at a time and debug it before integration of the complete system. For flexibility sake the program has been written in parametrized form, defining all relevant
parameters in an initialization file that can be easily modified to describe different leg dimensions and different working conditions. For the output , beyond the traditional graphics, too an animation module found in a Simulink demo has been used. Indeed a double pendulum Simulink demo exists, but it has been foundonly after the MECH 3810 Engineering Project 45
program develpoment; moreover, though it is written in a very sophisticated and straitforward way , the model is quite simplified , the inertial coupling terms being cancelled. The presented and simulated model , described by the equation (6.10), is implicit and very critical to solve also for Simulink.
6.3.1 OPEN LOOP DYNAMIC SIMULATION
If the loop is open: the positions, velocities and angular acelerations of the joints are function of the torques applied to the joints. Initial conditions on the angular position and velocities has to be given.
geometric parameters: l1,l2, lc1,lc2 parameters of mass : m1,m2, I1,I2 environment interaction forces: Fx,Fy
q 1 (t) q 2 (t) q 1 (t) q 2 (t)

1
It is possible to verify the rightness of the simulation, trough the energy calculation. If on the leg there are:
no actution torques no forces applied to the foot Fx= Fy= 0 no friction.
the system is conservative and the total energy must be costant at each time t.
(t ),
(t)
LEG
q 1 (t) q 2 (t)
Fig. 25 - Open loop simulation scheme
46
Energy calculation
The energies are scalar quantities: the total energy is given by the sum of the kinetic energy and the potential energy:
ET EC E P
The kinetic energy is computed as
( 6.12)
E C E C1 E C 2 1 1 2 E C1 m1v 2 I 11 c1 2 2 1 1 2 E C 2 m 2 v 2 I 2 1 2 c2 2 2

where the square velocities of the centers of mass are given by (6.7) The potential energy is considered zero in the position in which the centers of mass are positioned on the x axis.
E P E P1 E P2 E P1 gm1y c1 gm1l c1 sin 1 E P2 gm 2 y c2 gm1l1 sin 1 gm 2 l c2 sin1 2

If the total energy is constant along the traiectory, at the same initial conditions, the model and the simulation program are likely correct.
q q
1
(t)
q q q
(t)
(t) (t)
(t) (t)
LEG DYNAMICS initial state
actual state
Fig. 26 - Open loop simulation scheme with energy computation The layout of the main simulation blok is given in figure 27; in figure 28 are shown the blocks written to compute the energy for the aim of program validation. The constant Matlab file and other Simulink bloks are reported in Appendix E.

ENERGY ET
47
Fig. 27 - Open loop main simulation block
48
Fig. 28 - Energy computation blocks
Simulation I First simulation is relative to free leg dynamics: figure 29 shows sketches of the leg initial and subsequent positions.
Fig. 29 - Sketch of the simulation test The total energy is conserved only if there are no external forces applyed; the forces at the extremity of the leg are equal to zero (Fx=0 and Fy=0); there is no contact
between the leg extremity and the terrain

the actuators of the double pendulum are off.
The initial conditions that have been choosen are:
49
teta1_initial=0 rad teta1p_initial=0 rad/s
teta2_initial=0 rad teta2p_initial=0 rad/s
All the simulation constants are stored in a Matlab file; before to start the simulation it is necessary to load the constants file. From the simulation output it is possible to see that the double pendulum model is right; the kinetic energy and the potential energy have nearly specular graphs. The total energy is not exactly constant because of the following reasons: every calculation is affected by an approximation error; the number of bits assigned to each
variable is limited.
Each new calculation is based on the previous results that are already affected by errors, so the
errors increase while the simulation is running.

The Matlab method that allows to solve implicit equations introduces some additional
imprecision.
50
7. CONTROL
7.1 CONTROL SYSTEM
Retouched image ( the original image is MD-2 Stepper Motor Control Systems ( http://www.robotics.com/md2.html))
Fig. 30 - Control elements The scheme above shows the most important elements for the double pendulum control. First the general control theory is analysed to define the control strategies to managing the leg
After it is necessary to write the kinetic and dynamic model of the leg. In this case the system considered is the double pendulum. The model of the double pendulum is loaded in the computer by a simulation software; The control strategies are also loaded and connected to the virtual leg. The aim of the control system is to send the control signals (e.g. current) to the motor drivers so to bring the leg links to the desired positions.
51
The dual motor drivers transforms the control signals into power signals. The power signals obtained are sent to the actuation motors. The two actuation motors are driven by the reducers the leg links. From the classical control theory, a closed loop control system can be represented by the following block diagram: each block of the scheme represents a particular component of the control system. The arrows that link the blocks show the relations between the blocks. The direction of the arrows is referred to the direction of the signals. The system energy source and the sensors, that gather the actual state variables, are not represented in the scheme, being considered ideal and so not influencing the dynamical behaviour of the system.
+ -
CONTROL
SYSTEM
r input u input of the system y output O sum node e error signal
desired output value control signal computed by the control real system answer sums r and -y, giving e error between the desired and the actual output value Fig. 31 - Closed loop control scheme
7.1.1 LINEAR CONTROL
The leg to control is a non-linear , dynamic coupled Multi (2) Input Multi (2) Output system . The more suitable control systems, allowing high performances, may be the adaptive and decoupling ones; however they result very complex to realize. In this project a simple linear control has been chosen for sake of reliability, taking into account that the rover will be teleoperated.
On each link there is a PID controller. The model is not linear in the variable q, however if the velocity and the acceleration are small, the coupling terms are small and so the control gives a good
52
approximation of the real system.
2 K P2 2 d 2 KD2 K I2 2 d 2 dt 2d 2
(7.1)
LEG HIP JOINT LEG KNEE JOINT
2d
2d
Fig. 32 - Linear control applied to the leg It is also possible to apply more sophisticated models with non linearity compensations.
7.1.2 ADAPTIVE CONTROL
Closed loop linear control is accurate if there are local disturbances but it is inaccurate for: long term variations in the environment dynamic changes; in the parameters, in robot behavior such as load changes, dynamic couplings between links, in the system due to non linearities such as Coriolis, gravity and centrifugal forces. The non

2

K P2
KD2 2 d
K 2 I2
dt

linearities vary with robot configuration. Adaptive control systems adjust system parameters (e.g. control gains) in order to obtain the desired dynamical behavior over a range of operating conditions, solving the problems due to dynamic couplings, non linearities and model, time-variant parameters. The robot with servo loops on its joints, indicated in figure as system, has a new higher level control loop that forces the system to have a desired performance computed according to a significative performance index; errors on the index of performance ( IP) drive an adaptation mechanism which changes system parameters or synthetizes a new input to the system with the aim to have actual IP equal to the desired IP
Unknown disturbances Known disturbances
Desired output
SYSTEM
Actual output
ADAPTIVE MECHANISM
Modification
IP MEAUSURE
Identification
Desired IP
COMPARISON
Decision
Fig. 33 - Adaptive control system scheme
54
7.1.3 MODEL REFERENCE ADAPTIVE CONTROL ( MRAC)
The system is forced, by the adaptive loop, to follow the dynamical behavior of a reference model: typically each controlled link is forced to follow a linear well-behavioured second order model with the same input. The comparison is made on position, velocity and acceleration errors; the adaptive mechanism normally changes the gains. Adaptive systems are very time consuming and parallel computers can be very useful. A popular MRAC algorithm needs the solution of 10th order differential equations for each mobility .
SYSTEM
ADAPTIVE MECHANISM
REFERENCE MODEL
Fig. 34 - MRAC scheme
7.2 CLOSED LOOP SYSTEM SIMULATION
The control system needs to know: the geometry of the system, the masses, the environment (g) the laws that drive the motion the actual errors of position, the actual errors of velocity The control system calculates the values of the torques in the joints, and applies that to the leg that
assumes another configuration.
1d 2d
+ -
CONTROL
1, 2
DYNAMICS
1(t),2(t)
Fig. 35 - Leg closed loop control scheme The dynamics of the leg driven by linear controller has been simulated using Simulink. The overall Simulink scheme is represented in figure 36. The controller has been implemented in Simulink as shown in figure 37.
56
Fig. 36 - Closed loop simulation main block MECH 3810 Engineering Project 57
Fig. 37 - Leg linear control blocks
Simulation II Simulation results, relative to the controlled leg dynamics, are hereafter presented: figure 38 shows sketches of the leg initial and subsequent positions.
Fig. 38 - Sketch of the simulation test The leg has to put the end effector in a desired position using the two actuators. During this simulation an extern force is applied to the end effector; a 20 N vertical force has been considered. In general the position of the frame and the position of the leg vary as function of the time, however to semplify the analysis it is possible to think fixed the position of the frame. The initial condition are the same of the last simulation: teta1_initial=0 rad teta1p_initial=0 rad/s err1_initial=0; MECH 3810 Engineering Project 58 teta2_initial=0 rad teta2p_initial=0 rad/s
err2_initial=0; The leg task desired values are: teta1d=1.5 rad teta1pd=0 rad/s teta2d=0.3 rad teta2pd=0 rad/s
effect position gains velocity gains integral gains
reaction of the selected values system while improve the response, reduce the +++++ kp1=36 kp2=36 damping ratio, increasing overshoot allow to improve response maintaining ++++ kd1=28 kd2=28 good overshoot decrease slightly the steady state error + ki1=0 ki2=0.5
In this control problem the position gain is very effective and integral gain has nearly no effect. The behaviour of a proportional and derivative control is far more improovedthan the behaviour of an only proportional control. As the proportional gain encreases, the control is critically damped. increasing the gain further (50-100) the control is underdamped and stability is poor. While stable closed loop control is achieved, the response is slow. The response of the leg can be significantly improved by a proportional plus derivative law. The derivative gain results in critically damped control with much faster response. However two problems arise with derivative control. First, the derivative of a step (position reference in the considered walking task) is an impulse so noise on the feedback signal may cause indesirable fluctuations in position; in the leg case the mechanical inertia cut these high frequency fluctuations. Second, the fast response of the motor is achieved by applying a higher voltage to the motor to produce higher torque and large acceleration: in the leg case the torques required result acceptable. To reducing the error is possible to add an integral component to the control law. if the integral gain is too large or too small, the response is underdamped and the position control overshoots. The difficulty to compute a correct value for the integral gain in the leg control project is also due to the non linearity of the dynamic model. Only several simulations tests can suggest the right value for the integral gain. It must be noted that all the considerations on the selection of the control gains do not apply stratforward to highly non linear model. The values selected for the control gains are well suited only MECH 3810 Engineering Project 59
for a narrow range of walking tasks. The following figures are simulation outputs
external coordinates) are known. So the simulation scheme needs to have also a block of inverse kinematics.
xP , y
1d,2d INVERSE + KINEMATICS -
Fig. 39 - closed loop simulation scheme with task defined in the external world

1
Usually the internal coordinates
are not known, but the desired foot coordinates x,y ( the
1, 2 CONTROL DYNAMICS
1(t),2(t)
60
REFERENCES
LITERATURE REVIEW [1] Mortellaro J., Martin D.: Mars, planet profile, Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology, November 25, 1996, California, http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/welcome/mars.htm [Mor96] [2] Melanie A., Raynor N.: Mars, edu/~MidLin/Mars.html [Mel96] The Red Planet http://longwood.cs.ucf.
[3] Hamilton C.J.: The surface of Mars, http://bang.lanl.gov/solarsys/marssurf.htm [Ham96] [4] Weisbin C.R., Lavery D.: NASA Rover and Telerobotics Technology Program, Proc. of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, December 1994, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546 [Wei94] [5] David L.: Electronics, Aerospace America/, September 1995, pp. 30/35 [Dav95] [6] Catling D., Arno R., Merrihew S.: The Mars micrometereology mission, Space Science & Project Division, Ames Center, http://www-mgcm.arc.nasa.gov/mgcm/micromet/ micromet .html [Cat96] [7] Zimmerman W.:Exploration Robotics: Archive - Dec1994, Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology, Dec. 1994, http://lmooradian.jpl.nasa.gov/ExRobs.html [Zim94] [8] Wilcox B., Mishkin A.: Robotic vehicle group, Jan96, http://robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/groups/rv/ homepage.html [Wil96] [9] Schenker P.S.: Planetary robotics, Rover and Telerobotics Technology Program http://137.79. 14.197/Planetrobs.html [Sch96] 1/96
[10] Welch R., Volpe R.: Mars Yard, JPL Robotics and Mars Exploration Technology Program http://robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/tasks/scirover/marsyard/homepage.html [Wel96] [11] Gilbertson R.G.: Robotstore, Collection of Miniature Robots & Supplies, Mondo-tronics Inc. San Anselmo, CA 94960 USA http://www.robotstore.com/advanced.html [Gil96] [12] Volpe R.: Mars microrover power subsystem, California Institute of Technology and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, http://wwwrover.jpl.nasa.gov/projects/rover/descrip.htm [Vol96] [13] Hirose S., Ootsukasa N.: Design and development of a quadra-rhomb rover for Mars exploration, Proc. of 1993 Intl. Conf. on Advanced Robotics., Nov.1-2, 1993, Tokyo (Japan), vol.1, pp. 109-112 [HiO93]. [14] Hirose S.: A study of design and control of a quadruped walking vehicle, The Intl. Journal of Robotics Research, 1984, vol. 3, no. 2, 113/133, [Hir84].
[15] Hirose S.: Three basic types of locomotion in mobile robots, Proc. of 1991 Intl. Conf. on Advanced Robotics, June 19-22, 1991, Pisa (Italy), vol. 1, pp. 12-17 [Hir91]. [16] Krotkov E., Simmons R.: An integrated walking system for the Ambler planetary rover, Proc. of IEEE Intl. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, Apr. 1991, Sacramento (CA) [KrS91]. [17] Moravec H.P.: The Stanford cart and the CMU rover,Proc. of IEEE, July 1983,vol. 71, no. 7 pp. 872-884 [Mor83]. [18] Wilcox B.H., Gennery D.B.: A Mars rover for the 1990s, I.J. Cox, G.T. Wilfong Editors, 1990, Springer Verlag [WiG90] [19] MECH3160 Robotics Beng/Meng University of Leeds autor [20] Song S.M., Waldron K.J.: Machines that Walk MIT Press Cambridge Mas, USA, 1989, [SOW89] [21] Senta Y., Emura T., Noguchi Y., Hiraki M., Arakawa A.: Trotting Gait of a Quadruped Robot Using Parallel Crank-Slider Mechanism ICAR95, September 20-22, San Feliu de Guixols, Spain, 1995, pp. 406-411, [SEN95] [22] Hirose S., Ootsukasa.: Design and developement of a Quadra-Rhomb Rover for Mars Exploration ICAR93, Mechano-Aerospace Engineerinf Departement, Tokyo, Institute of Technology Tokyo, Japan, pag 109-112 [HiO93] [23] Hirose S.: Three Basic Types of Locomotion in Mobile Robots, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Departement of Mechanical Engineering Science, Tokyo Japan pag 12-17 [Hir91] [24] Matsumoto O., Kajita S., Tani K.: A Four Wheeled to Pass Over Steps by Changing Running Control Modes, IEEE Interantional Conference on Robotics and Automation, Ibaraki Japan, pag 1700-1706 [MKT95] [25] Freeman P.S., Orin D.E.:Efficient dynamic Simulation of a quadruped Using a Decoupled Tree-Structure Approach International Journal of Robotic Research, Vol.10, No 6, December 1991, pp 619-627, [FrO91] [26] Grishin A.A., Formalsky A.M., Lensky A.V., Zhitomirsky S.V.: Dynamic Walking of a Vehicle with Two Telescopic Legs Controlled by Two Drives International Journal of Robotic Research, Vol.13, No 2, April 1994, pp.137-147, [GFL94] [27] Nakatani I., Kubota T., Adachi T.? Saito H., Okamoto S. : Navigation Technique for Planetary Rover ICAR95, September 20-22, San Feliu de Guixols, Spain, 1995, pp.201205, [NKA95] [28] Kemurdjian A.L., Potiemkin E.K., Miskiniuk V.K.: Planet Rovers Today ICAR95, September 20-22, San Feliu de Guixols, Spain, 1995, pp.293-299, [KPM95] [29] Kemurdjian A.L., Potiemkin E.K., Miskiniuk V.K.: Planet Rovers Today ICAR95, September 20-22, San Feliu de Guixols, Spain, 1995, pp.293-299, [KPM95]
[30] Bares E.G., Whittakle W.L.: Configuration of Autonomous Walker for Extreme terrain, The robot Institute Carnegie Mellon, Univerity of Pittsburg, Pensylvania, pp.535-559 [BaW93] [31] Hirose S., Yoneda K., Arai K. and Ibe T.: Design of Prismatic Quadruped Walking Vehicle TITAN VI ICAR91, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., pag 723-728 [AHT91] [32] Weizer F.: Applying a New Wheel to Steering and Locomotion of Mobile Robots, ICAR93 Departement of Production Engineering, Robotics Laboratory, Chales University of Technology Gothenburg, Sweden, pag 553-558 [Wei93] [33] Liu H., Zhao M., Wen B.: Efficient Algorithm for Force Distribution of a Combined Wheeled and Legged Vehicle, ICAR93, Mechanic Engineering Institute Northeastern University, P.R.China, pag 559-564 [LZW93] [34] Bores J., Hebert M., Kanade T., Krothov E., Michell T., Simmons R., Whittaker W.: Ambler an Autonomous Rover for Planetary Exploration, Carnegie Mellon University, pag 457465 [BHK89] [35] Adachi H., Koyachi N., Nakamura T., Arai T., Homna K.: Developement of a Quadruped Walking Machine and Its Adaptive Crawl Gait, 1990 Japan-USA symposium on flexiblke automation, Kyoto Japan, Pag 90-93 [AKN90] [36] Asada H., Slotine J.J. Robot analysis and control John Wiley and Sons, USA, 1986 [ AsS86] [37]Artobolevsky I.I Mechanisms in modern Engineering Design Vol I-III,MIR Publisher Moscow, 1975 [Art75]
SECONDARY REFERENCES
Interesting Internet addresses Mars Global Surveyor http://mgs-www.jpl.nasa.gov/
Robot Information Central Robotics at Brown University
http://www.robotics.com/robots.html http://www.cs.brown.edu/research/robotics/
Planetary probes Mars Rover Experiment Scenarios and Requirements definition of walking robot Launch period Why legs have three joints ?
http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov/NASA.Projects/Planeta ry.Probes/ http://wundow.wustl.edu/rocky7/Scenarios.html http://hpsys01.kaist.ac.kr/walking.html http:mgs-www.jpl.nasa.gov/ http://www.animats.com/papers/articulated/articulated .html
ictures Biped picture (seems a chick) Black Spider Our leg/wheel robot already done 3wheel robot+comunication space craft Surface of Mars (high resolution) Sojourner view 1 Sojourner view 2 Rocky 7 ( + technical comments) Solar communication rover Mars multiscale map car http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/~wsurobot/projects/biped/ro bo2.jpg http://www.ccyber.com/rid1p.html http://robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/groups/rv/images/gofor.gif ???? on a sheet http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~soper/Mars/surface.html http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/roverpwr/blue_up1.jpg http://robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/groups/rs/images/mfexmod el.jpg http://robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/tasks/scirover/technology/i mages/r7-bench_info.jpg http://www.lunacorp.com/rover 1.gif http://www.c3.lanl.gov/~cjhamil/cgi/mars.cgi http://www.cris.com/~Lrcn/
Films 2 Kangaroo leg with antislip system 2 QTVR (to save) 3 Virtual reality NASA http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/PRPDC/mep/qtvr/rgbvk1 c1.html http://www.animats.com/papers/leggedrun/movies/wit hantislip.mov http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/vr/welcome.html
APPENDIX A: Project Organization
A1
PROJECT PLAN
A2
APPENDIX B: Mars
Planet Profile Mass (kg) 6.42 x 10^23 Diameter (km) 6,794 Mean density (kg/m^3) 3940 Escape velocity (m/s) 5000 Magnetic field absent Gravity acceleration on surface (m/s^2) 0.38g
( g= gravity on the Earth)
Average distance from Sun (Km) 227.8x10^6 Rotation period (length of day ) 24 hours and 37 minutes Revolution (full orbit) period (length of year in Earth days) Obliquity (tilt of axis in degrees) Orbit inclination (degrees) Orbit eccentricity (deviation from circular) Maximum surface temperature (K) Minimum surface temperature (K) 310 150 24 1.85 0.093
686.98
Visual geometric albedo (reflectivity) 0.15 Highest point on surface Olympus Mons (about 24 km above surrounding lava plains) Surface materials basaltic rock and altered materials Atmospheric components 95.3% carbon dioxide 2.7% nitrogen 1.6% argon 0.15% oxygen 0.03% water Moons Phobos Moon Deimos Moon Diameter(km) 22 12 Distance from Mars(km) 9,378 23,459
General Information On Mars Environment in atmosphere fine dust general surface characteristics blocks of stone MECH 3810 Engineering Project A3
drifts with oxidized iron drifts of sand and dust in the zones near the Poles thin water frost cover patches of drift materials rocks with oxidized iron, some rocks are angular, rocks are from 20cm to 1.5m wide rocky plains tend to dominate in some areas water, not enough for human needs Mars Main Regions region Cerberus East side Elysium volcano In the North Olympus Ophir Chasma Schiapparelli Schiapparelli South Pole Cap West Candor surface characteristics sand drifts chaotic terrain channels chaotic terrain radial features on the slopes slumping carbon dioxide frost cover erosion and deposition by the wind water, carbon dioxide ice and dust tectonics, landslides
regions relevant dimensions Crater Schiaparelli diameter 461 km Olympus Mons height 24 km - diam 624 km - caldera wide 80 km Tharsis volcanoes elevations 18 to 26 km Valles Marineris extends 4000 km (one fifth the Mars circumf) Cerberus is a large dark area. There are arcuate markings in the Amazonis plains and may be sand drifts. The Elysium volcano, a yellow area north of Cerberus, has several channels radiating from its flanks. Crater Schiaparelli, is located in Axia Palus and has a diameter of 461 km. Erosion and deposition by the wind have created many streaks. Some areas are covered by carbon dioxide frost. Olympus Mons was discovered in 1965. Located on the Tharsis Plateau near the equator, Olympus Mons is bordered by an escarpment. It is the largest volcano on Mars, and is the largest mountain in the solar system, with a height of 78,000 feet (5 km). This shield volcano is similar to volcanoes in Hawaii, and measures 624 km in diameter. It is 100 times larger than Mauna Loa on Earth. The caldera in the centre is 80 km wide and contains multiple collapse craters created by different volcanic events. The radial features on the slopes of the volcano were formed by overflowing lava and debris. Volcanoes of such magnitude were formed on Mars because the hot volcanic regions in the mantle remained fixed to the surface for hundreds of millions of years.
A4
South Polar Cap of Mars is composed of water and carbon dioxide ice. The ice is reddish due to dust that has been incorporated into the cap. Utopia Planitia has many and large blocks of stone probably ejected from impact craters. Several of the rocks are angular and are thought to be only slightly altered by the action of wind and other forms of erosion. A thin, layer of water frost, covers parts of the surface. The dimension of the rocks is from 20 cm to 1.5 m. The soil presents natural surface features. Chryse Planitia is a barren desert with rocks strewn between sand dunes. Valles Marineris canyon system extends in lounges over 4000 km, covering about one fifth the circumference of Mars. Some parts of the canyon run as deep as 7 km and as wide as 200 km. Compared to Valles Marineris, the Grand Canyon is really small ( 446 km long, 30 km wide and 1.6 km deep). West Candor is in Valles Marineris; its morphology is shaped by tectonics, landslides, wind, and perhaps by water and volcanism. Ophir Chasma, part of the enormous Valles Marineris canyon system in the central equatorial region. There is a slumping along the wall of the canyon. The region covered is about 200 km on a side. The depth of the canyon is about 6 km. This Valles extends from Noctis Labyrinthus, the arcuate system on the west side, to the chaotic terrain on the east side. Many ancient river channels begin from the chaotic terrain and north-central canyons and run north. Tharsis volcanoes rise from 10 to 18 km above the Tharsis Plateau, attaining elevations of 18 to 26 km.
APPENDIX C: Rovers
Specifications For The Main Existing Rovers ROKY-4 Specifications 61 cm long, 38 cm wide and 36 cm high can carry and deploy one object <150 gm for a distance of 10 m the weight can be eventually scaled from 7 kilograms down to 5 kg can acquire a soil sample, to do spectrometry and to use videocameras SOJOURNER Specifications
it weighs 11.5 kg and is the size of a milk crate carries an x-ray spectrometer, to provide the composition of the rocks. the power is provided by solar cells and 6 lithium thionyl cloride D-cell batteries. a heater unit provides heat for the electrical components. ( temperature between -40degC and +40degC ) microrover will assist the lander in status/damage assessment. each wheel is independently actuated and geared (2000:1). the wheels are independently steerable, with the capability to turn in place. the top speed vehicle is of 0.4m/min.
A5
panel/batteries allows a power of 30W; an average of motor encoder (drive) or potentiometer (steering) determines when to switch off the motors. laser striping and camera system determine the presence of obstacles in its path computer updates its measurement of distance travelled to estimate of progress to the goal location. command and telemetry is provided by a modem that links the microrover with the lander
ROCKY-7 Specifications
is part of the 20-kilogram-class microrovers ability to traverse autonomously a complex area with waypoint information provided by uplink telemetry. acquire in-situ geochemical data on-board, stereo images (acuity of human eye and standing at least 1 m above the surface) low power stereo vision and sampling manipulator arm new millennium class processor and software environment low power stereo vision with higher data content 2 DOF stowable arm with subsurface reach, 2 DOF end-effector for digging, grasping and instrument pointing, has onboard spectrometer with fibre optic path to end of arm, has pointable solar array bi-directional sensing and driving room for other instruments new wheel geometry with reduced actuators ability to autonomously recognise designated targets.
DEXTEROUS MANIPULATOR ( ROBOT ARM) Specifications

3.5-kilogram mass (arm and actuation), 1.5-kilogram arm payload 2-meter reach sample microviewing and acquisition acquire and deploy soil and rock specimens retrieve surface instrumentation microscopically view and spectroscopically scan surface
NANOROVER MODEL Specifications

mass of 10-100 grams ( 25-gram mobility chassis) a small imaging system can take microphotographs of surface able to search for water or ice powered by solar cells on the top surface
A6
APPENDIX D: Tools
MATLAB(r) Matlab is a powerful numeric computation software. Matlab is written in Fortran and is trademark of The MathWorks Inc. New releases of this software areconstantly developed. Differents translations of this software are available for the most common computer platforms. The name Matlab stands for matrix laboratory; The basic data element is a matrix that does not require dimensioning. This environment supports: General purpose numerical analysis matrix computation algorithm prototyping Special purpose problem solving that arise in disciplines as: automatic control theory statistics digital signal processing Environment of use/obyective university environments industrial settings for courses and research for research and to solve practical engineering and mathematical problems
The aim of Matlab is to offer an high-level code language. This language is well established and easly understandable. Matlab allows to save a list of functiond in a file ( M-file), so every user can create personal applications. Particular classes of problems can be solved using the toolboxes. The toolboxes are collections of MATLAB M-files. Areas in which toolboxes are available include signal processing, control system design, dynamic system simulation, system identification and neural networks. SIMULINK Simulink is a software form MathWorks Inc. for simulating dynamic system. As an extension to MATLAB, SIMULINK adds many features specific to dynamic systems. It has two phases of use: model definition and model analysis; in practce these two steps are performed iteratively as the user creates and modifies a model to achieve the desired behaviour. To facilitate modelm definition SIMULINK presents a block diagram window from which blocks can be edited by mouse driven commands. MECH 3810 Engineering Project A7
Built-in analysis tools include: several integration algorithms: Euler, RungeKutta and so on; a tool for extracting linear models Linmod; a tool for finding equilibrium points. Pro/Engineer Pro/Engineer is a software from Parametric Technology Corporation. In this project has been used the release 17.0. The principal aspects of parametric solid modeling with this CAD are the following methodologies: Feature based modeling: solid models are represented as combinations of engineering features. Features generally fall into one of the following cathegories: - base feature: all future model geometry will reference this feature. Changes to the base feature will affect the geometry of the entire model. - sketched features: created by extruding, revolving, blending or sweeping a sketched cross section. Material can be added or removed by protruding or cutting the feature from the existing model. - referenced features: rounds, drilled holes and shells, do not need to be sketched. - datum features: generally used to provide sketching planes and references for sketched and referenced features Creating assemblies: just as features are combined into parts , Pro/Engineer parts may be combined into assemblies.Parts are liked by hierarchical relationships and it is possible to create new parts within an assembly. The relationships between features are termed parent-child relationships: features can exist without children, but children cannot exist without parents. An assembly is organized as a tree, with hierarchical structure. Capturing design intent: this software supply several methods of capturing design intent in the models like preserving certain geometrical relationships. The ability to incorporate engineering knowledge into a solid model is a essential aspect of parametric modeling, insuring that critical parameters remain satisfied as the design evolves. EUCLID EUCLID is a software from Matra Datavision. It has been created several years ago and is regularly updated by the Matra Datavision. It is composed by many modules dedicated to different applications: Modeling, Visualization, Control, Data-base, Parametric design. This product is used by the worlds leading aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics and industrial manufacturersfor the design analysis, testing and manufacturing of sophisticated mechanical products and assemblies. Matra Datavision recently introduced EUCLID QUANTUM, a complete suite of design, analysis, manufacturing and product data management software based upon a new generation of modular software tools. Some important characteristics are: The software is built using an object-oriented development framework, called CAS.CADE. One result of the object-oriented paradigm is a very clean user interface without the clutter typical of many competitive systems. The EUCLID QUANTUM suite of applications uses a common STEP-compliant data model.
A8
Matra plans to make the content of this data model public as well as provide documentation on the application programming the EUCLID QUANTUM user interface is very intuitive. The typical screen displays several system buttons and a few functional commands.The underlying concept is that the user takes actions on objects-a point, a surface, a part, an assembly or an analysis folder. Since an object is a collection of data and instructions for manipulating that data, only the valid instructions for manipulating the object appear on the screen. It is a little disconcerting at first, but once you get into the flow of the program, it is quite efficient. The screen is uncluttered, there are no icons displayed that are hard to interpret and illegal commands are impossible. Another important characteristic of EUCLID QUANTUM is that the visual representations on the display screen are independent of the data. A mechanical part can be displayed in wireframe, with hidden lines removed, as a shaded image or as a graph describing how the part was constructed. This is done with a single copy of the part stored in the database. Multiple different representations of a part or assembly can be displayed at the same time. A change to one will be immediately reflected in the other views The package handles both parametric and variational geometry, using whichever is applicable to the operation at hand. constraints can be defined as a part is built, or the user can come back later and add whichever constraints are deemed necessary (dimensions, tangencies, positional relationships, etc.). The way in which a part is subsequently modified does not depend on how it was initially constructed. Matra Datavision believes that this flexibility makes it virtually impossible to create a design that cannot be later modified as can often happen with competitive packages such as Pro/ENGINEER.
A9
APPENDIX E: Simulation
CONSTANTS OF THE SIMULATION I (MATLAB FILE) % (100kg rover mass)=(48kg body mass)+((6kg bar1 mass)+(7kg bar2 mass))*(4 number of legs) % 100=48+(6+7)*4 % % (160cm max high of the leg)=(70cm high of the bar1)+(90cm high of the bar2) %160=70+90 m1=6; % mass of the bar1 (kg) l1=0.70; % high of the bar1 (m) lc1=l1/2; % coordinate of the baricentre of the bar1 (m) t1=0.144; % thickness of the bar1 (m) I1=(m1*l1^2)/12+(m1*t1^2)/12; % inertia of the bar1 (kg*m^2) m2=7; % mass of the bar2 (kg) l2=0.90; % high of the bar2 (m) lc2=l2/2; % coordinate of the baricentre of the bar2 (m) t2=0.091; % thickness of the bar2 (m) I2=(m2*l2^2)/12+(m2*t2^2)/12; % inertia of the bar2 (kg*m^2) g=0.38*9.81; % 0.38 ratio between the Mars gravity and the Hearth gravity (m/s^2) Fy=0; % model validation based on energy conservation Fx=0; % model validation based on energy conservation % Initial conditions teta1p_initial=0; % initial teta1 velocity in rad/s teta1_initial=0; % initial teta1 in rad teta2p_initial=0; % initial teta2 velocity in rad/s teta2_initial=0; % initial teta2 in rad
A10
CONSTANTS OF THE SIMULATION II (MATLAB FILE) m1=6; % mass of the bar1 (kg) l1=0.70; % high of the bar1 (m) lc1=l1/2; % coordinate of the baricentre of the bar1 (m) t1=0.144; % thickness of the bar1 (m) I1=(m1*l1^2)/12+(m1*t1^2)/12; % inertia of the bar1 (kg*m^2) m2=7; % mass of the bar2 (kg) l2=0.90; % high of the bar2 (m) lc2=l2/2; % coordinate of the baricentre of the bar2 (m) t2=0.091; % thickness of the bar2 (m) I2=(m2*l2^2)/12+(m2*t2^2)/12; % inertia of the bar2 (kg*m^2) g=0.38*9.81; % 0.38 ratio between the Mars gravity and the Hearth gravity (m/s^2) Fy=20; % each leg has to carry its wheel Fx=0; % 0.3*25 0.3 is the friction factor % Initial conditions teta1p_initial=0; % initial teta1 velocity in rad/s teta1_initial=0; % initial teta1 in rad teta2p_initial=0; % initial teta2 velocity in rad/s teta2_initial=0; % initial teta2 in rad err1_initial=0; % initial position error of teta1 err2_initial=0; % initial position error of teta2 % leg desired internal coordinates teta1d=1.5; % desired teta1 in rad ( equal to 86 degrees) teta1pd=0; % desired teta1 velocity in rad/s teta2d=0.3; % desired teta1 in rad ( equal to 17 degrees) teta2pd=0; % desired teta1 velocity in rad/s % control gains kp1=36; % position gain kp2=36; % position gain kd1=28; % velocity gain kd2=28; % velocity gain ki1=0; % integral gain ki2=0.5; % integral gain
A11
SIMULINK blocks Hereafter the simulink blocks not included in the main part of the thesis are presented.
A12
SOFTWARE ADOPTED
Application Microsoft Word 6 Canvas 3.5 Photoshop Microsoft Project Matlab and Simulink Euclid Quantum Pro Engineering
Use text editing pictures drawing photo editing project plan leg simulation 3d modeling 3d modeling
Platforms Windows3.1 Macintosh Machintosh Machintosh Windows 3.1 Windows3.1 WindowsNT Unix Unix
A13

Design and Simulation of An All Terrain Mobile Robot: 3810 Engineering Project

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Design and Simulation of An All Terrain Mobile Robot: 3810 Engineering Project

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Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student http://www.cepolina.

4820 Design and simulation of an all terrain mobile robot

To design and control a new rover.

19/4/97 B.ENG MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

1. INTRODUCTION 2. OBJECT 3. LITERATURE REVIEW

Errore. Il segnalibro non definito.

4. SPECIFICATION SHEET 5. DESIGN

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

6. LEG MODELLING AND SIMULATION

REFERENCES APPENDIX A: PROJECT ORGANIZATION

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

APPENDIX F: HARMONIC DRIVE CATALOG

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS IN DETAIL NOTATION

DOF degree of freedom e Ec error kinetic energy (Joule)

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

NASA Mars Pathfinder address http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/roverpwr/blue_up1.jpg

California Cybernetics Company: Manifold traversing architecture address http://www.ccyber.com/heglp.html

SPEED high slow

Fig. 1 - Basic example solutions for rover locomotion

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

Fig. 2 - Image of Mars soil.

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

3.3 SEMIAUTONOMOUS NAVIGATION: INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Planet of interest Images

vehicle info+global routes

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

Full size rover examples

BLUE ROVER a three segmented early prototype.

GOFOR characteristic is to have an active centre of gravity compensation.

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97

Microrovers 20-kg to 5-kg class examples

MECH 3810 Engineering Project

Francesco Cepolina, Erasmus student Leeds 19/4/97