@article{8f7809c2c3d14b929612c473a6919348,
title = "A Minimally Actuated Reconfigurable Continuous Track Robot",
abstract = "This letter presents a minimally actuated Reconfigurable Continuous Track Robot (RCTR). The RCTR can change its geometry while advancing, thus enabling it to crawl and climb over different terrains and obstacles. The robot is fitted with a regular propulsion motor similar to a regular track and has a locking mechanism located at the front. The links have a unique design which allows them to be left loose to rotate between negative 20 to positive 45 degrees or be locked at zero or positive 20 degrees relative to each other as they reach the front of the robot. A release mechanism, located at the back, passively unlocks the links. As a result, all the links in the lower part are locked whereas the top links are unlocked. We first present the design of the robot and its mechanisms. Then, we model the kinematics and simulate the different shapes and obstacles that the robot can overcome. Finally, we present multiple experiments showing how this new robot can successfully navigate different obstacles (see video).",
keywords = "Crawling robot, mechanical design, reconfigurable robot, rolling motion",
author = "Tal Kislassi and David Zarrouk",
note = "Funding Information: Manuscript received August 21, 2019; accepted December 4, 2019. Date of publication December 11, 2019; date of current version January 21, 2020. This letter was recommended for publication by Associate Editor J. Son and Editor Y. Choi upon evaluation of the reviewers{\textquoteright} comments. This research was supported in part by the Helmsley Charitable Trust through the Agricultural, Biological and Cognitive Robotics Initiative and by the Marcus Endowment Fund both at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and by the Pearlstone Center for aeronautical studies and by the Israel Science Foundation. (Corresponding author: David Zarrouk.) The authors are with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev 8410501, Israel (e-mail: kislesi@post.bgu.ac.il; zadavid@bgu.ac.il). Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LRA.2019.2959237 Fig. 1. The RCTR is a newly developed robot that can change its external geometry as it advances. The RCTR is actuated by three motors; two motors provide the thrust and the third controls the shape. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016 IEEE.",
year = "2020",
month = apr,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1109/LRA.2019.2959237",
language = "English",
volume = "5",
pages = "652--659",
journal = "IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters",
issn = "2377-3766",
publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.",
number = "2",
}