Analysis on the Environmental Adaptability of A Reconfigurable Wheel-Tracked Wheel

Abstract

In view of the complex outdoor road conditions, such as soft grounds and obstacles, this paper proposes a novel reconfigurable wheel, which is suitable for the locomotion of the robot. There are two different moving modes of the reconfigurable wheel, i.e., a wheeled mode and a tracked mode. The wheel can adaptively change the mode of the wheel according to the road conditions. It can move as fast as the ordinary wheels on hard ground. Meanwhile it can perform well on the soft ground and easily climb over obstacles in the tracked mode. Based on the adaptive requirements, the mechanical structure of the wheel is designed. Moreover, the mechanical model of the wheel on the soft ground is established, and the adaptability of the wheel to different road conditions is analyzed. The mechanical model of the wheel in the wheeled mode climbing over a vertical obstacle is established, and the rationality of the wheel climbing over obstacles is verified. The finite element analysis of some key components is conducted to verify the rationality of the design. A good adaptability of the reconfigurable wheel to the environment and a high working efficiency are verified according to the above analysis.