{"ID":5676043,"CreatedAt":"2026-07-03T01:40:09.565152011Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-07-05T00:20:42.556504712Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.01554","arxiv_id":"2607.01554","title":"A Reconfigurable Rocker-Bogie Robot for High Step Climbing and Turning","abstract":"This study proposes a reconfigurable rocker-bogie mechanism that achieves efficient turning motion with a small number of actuators while maintaining high step-climbing capability. By installing motors at the bogie joints and actively swinging up and down bogies, the system enables switching between four-wheel and six-wheel configurations. Omnidirectional wheels are mounted on the rear ends of the rockers, allowing smooth turning in the four-wheel configuration based on a differential-drive model. Experimental evaluation using a prototype robot demonstrated that the proposed mechanism achieves zero-radius turning at a speed more than five times that of a conventional rocker-bogie mechanism equipped with six non-steerable grip wheels, while requiring only approximately 17% of the total average wheel torque. In addition, the robot successfully climbed a 40 cm step with an average climbing time of 6.4 s, confirming its high turning and step-climbing performance.","short_abstract":"This study proposes a reconfigurable rocker-bogie mechanism that achieves efficient turning motion with a small number of actuators while maintaining high step-climbing capability. By installing motors at the bogie joints and actively swinging up and down bogies, the system enables switching between four-wheel and six-...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.01554","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.01554v1","authors":"[\"Kento Koizumi\",\"Tomoaki Ohba\",\"Yuta Saito\",\"Takeya Morito\",\"Kenji Suzuki\"]","published":"2026-07-02T00:22:50Z","proceeding":"cs.RO","tasks":"[\"cs.RO\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}