LW.Transmech: a family of Leg-Wheel Transformable Mechanisms

Advances in artificial intelligence, robotics and electromobility make it possible to envision a future with multiple applications for the transportation of goods and people by means of autonomous electric vehicles. This paper present a family of leg-wheel transformable mechanisms for ground vehicles driven by electric actuators. The purpose of these mechanism is to combine the efficiency of the wheels with the ability of the legs to move in complex environments. A comprehensive exploration of the different possible architectures of transformable mechanisms by using different types of joints is performed. Finally some observations about the mobility of these mechanisms are discussed.