Optimal structural synthesis of agricultural legged robot with minimal damage on soil

Abstract

Optimal structural synthesis of agricultural legged robot is carried out, that causes minimal damage on soil and provide the most favorable conditions for plant growth. A rational structure of a legged robot with orthogonal propel based on kinematic decoupling of the motion is proposed. Most of traditionally used walking robots have universal “insect type” structure with multiple actuators to be synchronized which result in complex control. The alternative design is realizing a concept of functional independence of the actuators when each actuator is responsible for specified purpose: the main actuators are responsible for rectilinear translational motion of cabine/chassis whereas another group of actuators are responsible for adaptation purposes and anothers participate in turning/maneuvering. This allows to carry out the cabine/hull shifting and turning with a minimum number of actuators and simplified control. A new kinematic equivalent scheme of turning mechanism was proposed in order to optimize turning modes of the robot. The proposed planar model allows to determine the optimal parameters of the robot by applying multicriteria synthesis methods of parallel robot manipulators based on isotropy, maneuverability and other criteria.