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Excellent obstacle surmounting performance is essential for the robotic vehicles in uneven terrain. However, existing robotic vehicles depend on complex mechanisms or control algorithms to surmount an obstacle. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a new simple configuration of an all-terrain robotic vehicle with eight wheels including four-swing arms.

This vehicle is driven by distributed hydraulic motors which provide high mobility. It possesses the ability to change the posture by means of cooperation of the four-swing arms. This ensures that the vehicle can adapt to complex terrain. In this paper, the bionic mechanism, control design and steering method of the vehicle are introduced. Then, the kinematic model of the center of gravity is studied. Afterward, the obstacle surmounting performance based on a static model is analyzed. Finally, the simulation based on ADAMS and the prototype experiment is carried out.

The experiment results demonstrate that the robotic vehicle can surmount an obstacle 2.29 times the height of the wheel radius, which verifies the feasibility of this new configuration. Therefore, this vehicle has excellent uneven terrain adaptability.

This paper proposes a new configuration of an all-terrain robotic vehicle with four-swing arms. With simple mechanism and control algorithms, the vehicle has a high efficiency of surmounting an obstacle. It can surmount a vertical obstacle 2.29 times the height of the wheel radius.

Wing construction consisting of one main wing and one or more auxiliary wings which, by means of swinging arms hinged with the auxiliary wings, can be moved and whose angle of attack as a result of the movement of the swinging arms can be altered. The arrangement is characterized by the fact that the swinging arms may be moved beyond a position corresponding with the greatest distance between the leading edge of the auxiliary wing and the leading edge of the main wing.

This study aims to the complex and unpredictable terrain environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau scientific research station, such as cement road, wetland, gravel desert, snowfield, ice surface, grassland, slimy ground, steep slope, step, etc., a reconfigurable walking mechanism based on two movement modes of wheel and triangular crawler was proposed.

By analyzing the deformation mechanism of the walking mechanism, a reconfigurable wheel-crawler-integrated walking mechanism and the configuration scheme are designed. The analysis of the kinematics and mechanical properties of the swing arm system and the deformation mechanism of the walking mechanism.

The reconfigurable wheel-crawler-integrated walking mechanism can be switched between the wheel and triangular crawler modes by driving the deformation mechanism. Through the numerical simulation of its movement process, and the trial production and experiment of the prototype, indicates the validity of the reconfigurable wheel-crawler-integrated walking mechanism design.

The work of this paper provides a reconfigurable wheel-crawler-integrated-walking mechanism, which can be used by robots in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau scientific research station. It has excellent reconfigurability and can effectively improve the robot’s adaptability to complex terrain.

Field robots can surmount or avoid some obstacles when operating on rough ground. However, cable-climbing robots can only surmount obstacles because their moving path is completely restricted along the cables. This paper aims to analyse the dynamic obstacle-surmounting models for the driving and driven wheels of the climbing mechanism, and design a mechanical structure for a bilateral-wheeled cable-climbing robot to improve the obstacle crossing capability.

A mechanical structure of the bilateral-wheeled cable-climbing robot is designed in this paper. Then, the kinematic and dynamic obstacle-surmounting of the driven and driving wheels are investigated through static-dynamic analysis and Lagrangian mechanical analysis, respectively. The climbing and obstacle-surmounting experiments are carried out to improve the obstacle crossing capability. The required motion curve, speed and driving moment of the robot during obstacle-surmounting are generated from the experiments results.

The presented method offers a solution for dynamic obstacle-surmounting analysis of a bilateral-wheeled cable-climbing robot. The simulation, laboratory testing and field experimental results prove that the climbing capability of the robot is near-constant on cables with diameters between 60 and 205 mm.

The dynamic analysis method presented in this paper is found to be applicable to rod structures with large obstacles and improved the stability of the robot at high altitude. Simulations and experiments are also conducted for performance evaluation.

This paper aims to present an approach of utilizing multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar concept to enhance pedestrian classification in automotive sensors. In a practical environment, radar signals reflected from pedestrians and slow-moving vehicles are similar in terms of reflecting angle and Doppler returns, inducing difficulty for target discrimination. An efficient discrimination between the two targets depends on the ability of the sensor to extract unique characteristics from each target, for example, by exploiting Doppler signatures. This study describes the utilization of MIMO radar for Doppler measurement and demonstrates its application to improve pedestrian classification through actual laboratory measurements.

Multiple non-modulated sinusoidal signals are transmitted orthogonally over a MIMO array using time division scheme, illuminating human and non-human targets. The reflected signal entering each of the receiving antenna are combined at the radar receiver prior to Doppler processing. Doppler histogram was formulated based on a series of measurements, and the Doppler spread of the targets was determined from the histograms. Results were compared between MIMO and conventional single antenna systems.

Measurement results indicated that the MIMO configuration provides able to capture more Doppler information compared to conventional single antenna systems, enabling a more precise discrimination between pedestrian and other slow-moving objects on the road.

The study demonstrated the effectiveness of using MIMO configuration in radar-based automotive sensor to enhance the accuracy of Doppler estimation, which is seldom highlighted in literature of MIMO radars. The result also indicated its usefulness in improving target discrimination capability of the radar, through actual measurement.

The purpose of this paper is to examine several calibration techniques that have been developed to determine the discrete element method (DEM) parameters for slow and rapid unconfined flow of granular conical pile formation. This paper also aims to discuss some of the methods currently employed to scale particle properties to reduce computational resources and time to solve large DEM models.

DEM models have been calibrated against simple bench‐scale experimental results to examine the validity of selected parameters for the contact, material and mechanical models to simulate the dynamic and static behaviour of cohesionless polyethylene pellets. Methods to determine quantifiable single particle parameters such as static friction and the coefficient of restitution have been highlighted. Numerical and experimental granular pile formation has been investigated using different slumping and pouring techniques to examine the dependency of the type of flow mechanism on the DEM parameters.

The proposed methods can provide cost effective and simple techniques to determine suitable input parameters for DEM models. Rolling friction and particle shape representation has shown to have a significant influence on the bulk flow characteristics via a sensitivity analysis and needs to be accessed based on the environmental conditions.

This paper describes several effective known and novel methodologies to characterise granular materials that are needed to accurately model granular flow using the DEM to provide valuable quantitative data. For the DEM to be a viable predictive tool in industrial applications which often contain huge quantities of particles with random particle shapes and irregular properties, quick and validated techniques to “tune” DEM models are necessary.

Only robot welding can give the quality and consistency of output demanded in welding the steel frame and aluminium alloy swing arm of the new range of Triumph motorcycles. Project engineer Ben Parry talks to Jack Hollingum.

A shotblast room can be very complex and expensive. It has to provide protection, ventilation, abrasive recovery, abrasive cleaning, dust removal and collection, and very good lighting.

A new manufacturing plant has been installed in Oxford, UK, to manufacture the new BMW Mini car. An important aspect of the £230 million investment at the site is the fully automated body‐in‐white assembly shop containing 230 robots.