A Sensor Based Autonomous Climbing Vehicle for Unstructured Environments

This paper describes the latest developments to Robug IIs and in particular the modifications and additions to its sensor system and how this has helped to increase its autonomy in unstructured environments. The configuration of Robug IIs’ local intelligence is described along with the system for control of each leg. The paper also describes Robug IIs’ ability to perform automatic floor-to-wall transitions along with its alignment and positioning to the wall or obstacle by means of ultrasonic ranging. The final section of the paper describes the future enhancements being considered with a view to further increasing the autonomy.