Stabilization of a mobile robot climbing stairs

Remotec´s Andros VI mobile robot is physically capable of ascending and descending stairs. However, the teleoperated control of the robot climbing stairs is difficult, as the operator´s feedback is limited to visual and audio cues only. Our analysis and experiments show that this tracked mobile robot is inherently unstable in open-loop stair climbing, and the robot under telemanipulation is prone to falling. We describe the design and validation of a feedback system for automatic heading control for stabilization of stair climbing. The design incorporates solid-state attitude sensors as inputs to an on-board multiprocessor system. We have experimentally demonstrated stability of the robot in stair climbing, even in the presence of large disturbances and noise. With the addition of the on-board computing, control of the robot is elevated from teleoperation to supervisory control