Locomotion Performance of the Amphibious Robot on Various Terrains and Underwater with Flexible Flipper Legs

Amphibious robots are attracting more and more attentions from researchers worldwide for their broad applications in resource exploration, disaster rescue, and reconnaissance. Amphibious robot with transformable flipper-leg composite propulsion mechanisms can adapt various terrestrial and water environments. In this paper, we explored the locomotion performance of a amphibious robot with flexible flipper legs on various terrains and underwater through dynamical simulation. The influence of the stiffness of the flipper legs on the locomotion performance in various environments was investigated comprehensively. The results indicate that the locomotion with flexible flipper legs is very stable, and the stiffness of the flipper legs has a great impact on the locomotion performance. The verification experiments demonstrate the accuracy of the simulation results. The study facilitates the design of the amphibious robot and indicates that the passively transformable flipper-leg mechanisms also enable amphibious robot to conquer various complex terrestrial environments.