Student Author(s)

Korey Cook
Joshua Swett

Faculty Mentor(s)

Dr. Miguel Abrahantes

Document Type

Poster

Event Date

4-11-2014

Abstract

Tetrahedral robots come from a family of crawling and tumbling robots. They operate by changing their shape. This is a different way to move compared to a traditional rover because it can crawl or tumble over rough terrain and obstacles. The current tetrahedral robot, at Hope College, (8-TET) moves by tumbling or rolling. This becomes a limitation because it constantly is changing its orientation due to the fact that it is rolling and each part is upside down at some point. A new robot was to be designed that does not change its orientation. The idea of the Tetrahedral Worm (TET Worm) came about as an alternate for the current robot. The TET Worm moves by crawling rather than tumbling. By doing this movement, it holds a constant orientation. The new robot could be designed, tested, and controlled using a computer program called SimMechanics, which is a package of MATLAB. After the robot is designed and a control system is implemented on the program several Gaits (the way that the robot will move) must be considered for the TET Worm. The Gaits can then be compared to one another to test for controllability, force on the struts, and speed.

Comments

This project was partially funded by the Michigan Space Grant Consortium.

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