Quadruped robot
Introducing PongBot-Q V2 and PongBot-W
PongBot-Q V2 is a quadruped robot with improved hardware and control algorithm of the existing PongBot-Q. Each leg of the PongBot-Q V2 consists of three joints (Hip Roll, Hip Pitch, Knee Pitch) and has a total of 12 degrees of freedom, so it has degrees of freedom suitable for walking on flat and uneven terrain. Each joint is composed of a brushless DC motor and harmonic drive, and a four-bar link mechanism is applied to reduce the moment of inertia of the driving leg. This can provide a high payload with a reasonable walking speed for the robot. With a controller designed to perform uneven terrain walking, PongBot-Q V2 successfully completed a demonstration experiment at Haeundae beach and a booth promotion at Songdo Convensia.
Our laboratory is currently conducting or planning the following researches using PongBot-Q V2:
Improving the walking algorithm:
Create more natural exercise performance using force control algorithms such as Quadratic Programming and Model Predictive Control
Improving trotting performance through leg swing/stance speed and period control
Optimal landing path calculation:
Recognizing the landing area through external information such as camera, GPS, LIDAR et al.
Calculate the optimal landing path through dynamic planning et al.
Increasing mobility of the PongBot-V2:
Improved mobility through the installation of wheels on the legs: PongBot-W will be introduced on the page below.
Introducing PongBot-W
PongBot-W is a Wheeled Quadrupedal Robot that enables hybrid locomotion. Legged Robots are well suited for locomotion on irregular terrain that obstacles like stairs. But, they have limited speed and are not very energy-efficient. In other hand, Wheeled robots can move quickly and efficiently on flat terrain and have very low transportation costs compared to legged robots. They cannot overcome obstacles larger than the radius of the wheels, However. So, we're research on new hybrid locomotion robot that can complement them.
Our laboratory is currently conducting or planning the following researches using PongBot-W:
Hybrid moving algorithm about Wheeled Quadrupedal Robots.
Control framework which takes into account the additional degrees of freedom introduced by wheels.
Development of Generating FootStep Algorithm for Wheeled Quadrupedal Robots.
Strategies of Wheeled Quadrupedal Robots for overcoming obstacles and rough terrain.
Change of control period according to walking speed for Wheeled Quadrupedal Robots.
Specifications
Overall size
Length (L) : 0.79 m
Width (w) : 0.49 m
Height (H) : 0.5 m
Mass : 43kg
DOF : 12 DOF
Actuator : BLDC motor, Harmonic gear
Sensor : IMU, Encoder
Power : 19V, 48V
Videos
Flying trot (max vel : 1.3)
QP-based trot walking & SLAM
Walking around Haeundae (2022.08)
PongBot-Q V2 in the Korea Police World Exhibition (2022.10)