Quadrupedal locomotion subsystem of prototype advanced robot for nuclear power plant facilities

A prototype advanced robot for remote or automatic maintenance and inspection of nuclear power plant facilities has been developed by the ´Advanced Robot Technology´ promoted by the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology. This paper deals with the prototype advanced robot and results of the experiments executed in a verification test facility. The robot measures 700 mm*1200 mm*2000 mm and is 750 kg in gross weight, and each leg has four degrees of freedom. Payload up to 250 kg including a double armed manipulator etc. can be mounted on the robot. The loaded robot can move straight, turn, and stride over impediments. If only the starting and stopping points of walking are given by a supervisory controller, it can walk by itself depending on the signals sent from outside image sensors and according to the map information. Various types of walking of the robot have been confirmed by experiments.<>