Shape reconfigurable mechanism of an earthquake rescue robot

This paper presents the study of shape reconfigurable mechanism of an earthquake rescue robot. The robot based on the shape reconfigurable mechanism is designed to be able to intelligently alter its body shape to fit voids within rubble. The paper illustrates a concept design how the robot alters its body shape to fit voids. The control algorithm uses a looking-up table way combined with the method of least squares to predict the shape of the robot under the influence of actuators. The paper also presents the design of both the hardware and software system of the robot and the laboratory experiment of robot body module. The lab experimental results indicate the feasibility of the control algorithm of the robot shape reconfigurable mechanism. Discussions and conclusions about the experiment are given at the latter section of the paper.