Effects of the fiber releasing on step-climbing performance of the articulated tracks robots

For a robot used to deliver optical fiber for communication, its center of mass and load change over time. This may affect the robot's obstacle-surmounting capability. In this paper, step-climbing performance of articulated tracks robots was discussed, regarding the maximum height of the step in term of the length of fiber releasing that the robot carries and the swinging angle of the swinging tracks. Two kinds of tracked mobile robots were studied, which were four-track mobile robot with two swinging arms and six-track robot with four swinging arms. The relation equations of the step height, the released fiber length, swinging angles of the swing tracks and the evaluation angle of the main body were founded and the conditions of the maximum step height were deduced. The theoretical relation curve of the maximum height of step and the released fiber length could be obtained, and the curve could be a good reference to the robot's obstacle-surmounting control.