Development of a Terrain Adaptive Quadruped-Wheeled Robot

Hybrid quadruped-wheeled robots offer a compelling blend of mobility and adaptability by combining wheeled and legged locomotion. Despite their promise, their structural and control complexities often result in high costs, limiting broader accessibility. This paper presents the development of a novel, low-cost hybrid quadruped-wheeled robot capable of switching between locomotion modes in response to changing terrain. The robot employs a hexapod-inspired configuration, with its middle legs replaced by wheels to simplify mechanics and reduce costs—though this comes at the expense of speed and agility compared to conventional high-performance quadrupeds. The design emphasizes affordability through the use of lowcost actuators and sensors, making it more suitable for prototyping and educational purposes rather than high-speed or dynamic applications. This paper details the kinematic modeling necessary for motion planning, along with gait generation strategies tailored to its legged locomotion. We also present a basic autonomous navigation system and a terrain-adaptive control framework that enables the robot to intelligently transition between wheeled and legged modes.