Maneuverability of flexible mono-tread mobile track (FMT)

In the past decade, search robots in rescue operations have been focused on and developed for the purpose of finding survivors trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings. Most of them adopt serpentine mechanisms. However, they might gather to catch debris between tracks or become stuck due to the mechanisms. To get over the problems, a new mobile mechanism have been proposed: flexible mono-tread mobile track (FMT), and a prototype ldquoRescue mobile track No.2 (RT-02) WORMrdquo was developed. The machine is composed of a ldquoflexible chainrdquo and vertebral structure, the body flexes in 3D. As a result of the specific turning mechanism, steering performance of FMT is different from the usual differential-type tracked vehicle (DTV). The purpose of this paper is to show the maneuverability of FMT comparing with that of DTV through some experiments.