Mobility improvement of a jumping robot using conical spring with variable length endtip

Mobility is one of the most important features for a guard robot since it should be operated in rough places. A wheel-based mobile robot capable of jumping is an appropriate structure for a guard robot because it can easily satisfy the requirements for small guard robots. The jumping robot can reach a higher place more rapidly than other locomotion methods. This research proposes a small robot equipped with the jumping mechanism based on the conical spring with the variable length endtip. The variable length endtip enables the independent control of the jump force and jump angle which are related to the jump height and jump distance, respectively. Various experiments demonstrated that the proposed jumping mechanism can provide the independent control of jump force and jump angle, and improve the mobility of a small robot to overcome an obstacle. Furthermore, a combination of the jumping mechanism and the PSD sensor to measure the distance to the step enable the jumping robot to autonomously climb stairs.