A Wheel-Track Transformation Robot System Using Pixhawk 4 Module and Special Designed Crowbar for Step Climbing and Ditch Crossing

This work focuses on developing a special mobile robot for aerial security and search & rescue applications. Firstly, a wheel-track transformation mechanical structure is developed to obtain satisfactory obstacle-surmounting ability and mobility by only one robot. Additionally, a special crowbar module is applied to further enhance the step climbing and ditch crossing ability. Secondly, a new electrical control system is designed using a mature control product, i.e., Pixhawk 4, which is widely used in drones. Thus, the flexibility and reliability of the control system is guaranteed. Thirdly, the pseudo-codes of controlling the developed robot to climb a real step and cross a ditch are proposed. Finally, experimental examples including step-climbing and ditch-crossing missions are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed robotic system. Future work will further improve the perception part by using more gyro and lidar sensors, and develop a new control method to make the robot complete the different missions fully-automatically.