Intrinsic geometric path for a new kinematic template

Abstract

OctoRoACH is a miniature eight legged robot which is envisioned to be a step toward the development of small crawling robots that can be used for reconnaissance, search and rescue, sensor coverage, etc. To enable the robot to complete task along these lines, it is necessary to solve the motion planning problem for these types of robotic platforms. In this thesis, we study a kinematic model that serves as an abstraction of the quasi-static motion behavior of the OctoRoACH robot. We see the eight-legged mechanism being abstracted into a switching four-bar linkage. Three motion primitives are defined for this model: straight line motion, left turn arc and right turn arc. The work described in this thesis contributes by providing a method to quantify the radius of curvature of the curved paths generated by this kinematic model. Once the link between model parameters and path curvatures is made, then the wealth of existing motion planning methods, specifically the ones that involve a well studied nonholonomic kinematic model known as the Dubin's car, become relevant to the kinematic analysis and the study of the motion planning problem in these miniature robots.