Structural design and obstacle-crossing performance analysis of hexapod reconnaissance robots

ObjectiveIn order to improve the passing ability and stability of unmanned reconnaissance robots in complex terrain environments, a six-legged reconnaissance machine motion platform suitable for unstructured environments was designed.MethodsIn view of the high load-bearing and high flexibility requirements of the robot, a collaborative design method of flexibility and passing ability was proposed. Combined with the cockroach leg configuration, the low-inertia singleleg structure was optimized and analyzed by deriving the forward-inverse kinematics equation and using the Monte Carlo method, the robot workspace was analyzed, and the leg mechanism parameters were determined. Then, Ansys Workbench was used to perform static analysis on key components to verify the reliability of the structural design. Finally, Matlab and Adams software were used to conduct kinematic simulation of the robot’s obstacle-crossing process, and the engineering prototype test was designed and completed.ResultsTest results show that the hexapod robot can achieve high-stability movement in complex unstructured terrain, laying the foundation for further research on motion control of robots in complex terrains.