Abstract

This dissertation is about improvement of mobility and off-road capability of state-of-art robot vehicles. The overall structure is based on tracker and wheel-type complex driving design in order to achieve the effects of ground proximity and vibration prevention during movement of robot vehicle, while the integration of tracker cantilever mechanism will enhance the off-road mobility leading to much broader range of applications in terms of task assignments. Common vehicles can only travel on common roads and slow slopes such that the scope of application has been rather limited. In this experiment we will design and develop one set of vehicle assist cantilever mechanism with high adaptability based on structural analysis with respect to the scenario of usage such that the developed vehicle can pass through rocky roads with enhanced mobility and expanded scope of investigation. Since the vehicles for military and police must not be too heavy, we select aluminum alloy as the material for such mechanism in order to achieve light weight and high mobility. This kind of tracked vehicle is bound to greatly broaden the scope of application of land-based mobile platform with market potential and mass production technology. Vehicle robot can be directly applied to various purposes such as military and national defense, handling of explosives, chemical and biological attaches, and assaults of fortified buildings. It also leads to applications in various environments of heavy mechanical and electrical industries such as high temperature, high pressure, gas leak, high radiation, and high voltage factory environments. Therefore, the purpose of this experiment is to development vehicle robots for service of mankind in response to environmental demands.