Traversability evaluation of wheeled-robot that controls load distribution by moving the center of mass

The load distribution of the wheels and stability of a robot are closely related to the position on the center of mass of the robot. The position of the center of mass is dependent on the attitude of robot operating on rough terrain. Therefore, this paper proposes a mechanism that can control the position of the center of mass using pitch and roll rotation. First, the effectiveness of moving the position of the center of mass by body rotation is verified by static analysis. The static analysis was conducted on two assumed situations: a step obstacle climb and forward slope travel. The results of the analysis show that the proposed mechanism improves the traversability by reducing the required friction/traction force and controls the stability of the wheeled robot. The results are verified by experiments that are conducted under similar conditions considered in the static analysis.