A hybrid legged-wheeled obstacle avoidance strategy for service operations

Hybrid legged-wheeled robots are gaining interest in various service applications, like surveillance or inspection in hospitals. The autonomy of these robots is not only related to their power consumption, it mostly refers to their capability to safely move in complex partially structured environments. This paper proposes to investigate the combination of different moving strategies and sensors to enhance the adaptability and autonomy of a hybrid hexapod robot in specific environments shared with humans. Namely, this paper proposes a locomotion strategy that combines leg motions and Mecanum omniwheels with multiple sensory feedbacks to achieve safe obstacle avoidance during a service operation. Several experimental tests are carried out by using Cassino Hexapod III in combination with sonar, IMU and Lidar sensors at IRCCS Neuromed site in Pozzilli. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed operation strategy with Cassino Hexapod III to avoid multiple obstacles.