A Service Hexapod Robot As Hospital Guide

© 2019, International Journal of Mechanics and Control, All Rights Reserved. In recent years, autonomous service robots are becoming an important solution to help and assist people in many different service tasks, like surveillance or guiding within human environments. One of the main features of the autonomy of these services robots is the ability or capacity to safely move without crashing with the surrounding objects. For this, it is necessary to implement sensors for an obstacle recognition, and implementing obstacle avoidance strategies. This paper investigate the feasibility of using Cassino Hexapod III for service tasks inside the facilities of a hospital. A specific autonomous operation strategy for overcoming small obstacles and avoid big obstacles after their detection via visual feedback, ultrasound and IMU sensors. Experimental results demonstrate the motion capability and effectiveness of the proposed operation strategy to avoid and overcome obstacles in the addressed environment conditions.