Design and locomotion simulation of an improved eccentric paddle mechanism for amphibious robots

Eccentric paddle mechanism (ePaddle) is a novel locomotion mechanism designed for amphibious search and rescue tasks. The ePaddle is able to enhance the mobility of amphibious robots for multi-terrains tasks. Based on the principle of ePaddle and the experiments on the prototype, an improved mechanism named ePaddle-EGM is proposed in this paper. The ePaddle-EGM is based on the epicyclic gear mechanism, and follows the concept of alternating motion pattern through actively changing the position of the paddle shaft. The key features of the improved mechanism are the motion totally achieved by revolute joints and dynamic coupling between joints. The kinematic analysis as well as the prototype design are presented in this paper. The locomotion simulations of various gaits are carried out to verify the mobility of the new design.