Abstract
Being actuated by thermal deformation of bimetal sheets, a quasi-dynamic bipedal walker, which was introduced previously, can walk on a horizontal hot surface utilizing thermal energy. Its performance on inclined surfaces, however, has not been studied well in previous studies. In this study, we analyze the gait of a thermal walker walking up/down or along a certain contour line on an inclined surface. Experimental results show that the thermal walker can walk within such situations, and its stride changes due to the slope angle. However, the walking direction was found backward on upward slopes, which was unintended. Compared with previous studies, the results imply that it is more difficult for a walker with smaller stride to climb upward, suggesting necessity of further investigations on walker characteristics on inclined surfaces.
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Acknowledgement
This work was supported in part by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP18K03903.
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Su, L., Nemoto, T., Yamamoto, A. (2019). Performance of a Thermal Bipedal Walker on Inclined Surfaces. In: Carbone, G., Ceccarelli, M., Pisla, D. (eds) New Trends in Medical and Service Robotics. Mechanisms and Machine Science, vol 65. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00329-6_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00329-6_3
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Online ISBN: 978-3-030-00329-6
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