The problem: Designing a vehicle capable of traversing varied terrain at moderate speeds (up to 4 miles per hour). Development of such a vehicle was originally undertaken to meet NASA requirements for a remotely controlled instrument carrier to be used for unmanned exploration of lunar and planetary surfaces. The solution: A battery-powered motorized vehicle with three pairs of legs that are connected to push rods and a series of linkages. How it's done: Locomotion of the basic vehicle is accomplished by three pairs of legs, one pair in the front and two pairs in the rear. Each leg consists of an upper horizontal portion, a middle vertical portion, and a foot. Two cams connected to the drive mechanism (a small motor, gearbox, and push rods) control the motion of the legs. The two outer rear legs move in unison with the right front leg, and the two inner rear legs move in unison with the left front leg. Each set of three legs is lifted to clear or rest on any expected obstacle on the terrain to be traversed by the vehicle and advanced a fixed distance for the succeeding step. A system of spring-loaded vertical-motion linkages permits obstacles (within design limitations) to be traversed with a minimum disturbance of the vehicle's axes. The linkages are arranged to permit the legs to be folded when the vehicle is stored. Steering is accomplished by a small motor, which swings the front pair of legs to the desired angle. The rear legs are connected by a differential linkage to compensate for the required variation in step length or speed between the right and left pairs of rear legs when turns are made.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Vehicle Walks on Varied Terrain, Can Assist Handicapped Persons


    Publication date :

    1964-11-01


    Type of media :

    Miscellaneous


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




    The development of a powered vehicle for handicapped persons

    Marinissen, A. H. / Oldenkamp, I. / Institut national de recherche sur les transports et leur securite et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1992


    Heuristic Algorithms for the Handicapped Persons Transportation Problem

    Toth, P. / Vigo, D. | British Library Online Contents | 1997


    Electrical motorized handicapped vehicle

    GARIMELLA RAGHU CHANDRA / GANDRETI PAVANI / NEETOORI RADHAKRISHNA et al. | European Patent Office | 2021

    Free access


    A Guiding System for the Persons Handicapped to Move

    Tanaka, M. | Online Contents | 1996