Citation/Abstract

Mobile robots have been developed for surveillance, reconnaissance and inspection as well as to be effective in hazardous operations. Some are intended to explore not only natural terrains but also artificial environments, including stairs and ramps. This paper will explore algorithms to autonomously climb and descend slopes and stairs which were constructed and implemented for a specific mobile robot with the ability to traverse such obstacles by changing its configurations. Furthermore, algorithms have been developed for conditions under which the mobile robot halts its motion before flipping over or falling down. The technical problems related to implementation of these functions have been identified and analyzed, and their solutions validated and tested. The algorithms and solutions were validated experimentally, illustrating the effectiveness of autonomous climbing and descent.