Blade-type crawler vehicle with wings in ground effect for traversing uneven terrain at high speed

Unmanned rescue, observation and/or research vehicles with high terrain adaptability, high speed, and high reliability are needed to reach difficult locations. However, most vehicles achieve improved performance over rough terrain at the expense of low speed and/or complex mechanisms. We developed a blade-type crawler robot with a very simple and reliable mechanism, capable of traversing uneven terrain at high speed, using aerodynamic devices. As these small devices are in the low Reynolds number region, we tested a wing that made use of the ground effect. We experimentally confirmed the success of this approach in improving the traveling speed and ability to traverse uneven terrain. The robot with aerodynamic lift was climbed 1.5 times higher obstacle than without wings.