Abstract
This paper describes the performance of a hexapod
robot that uses low level leg reflexes to aid in walking over uneven
terrain, and is currently being developed at the University of
Johannesburg. The goal of this research is a robot able to deploy
in both the inspection and search and rescue roles, within an
underground mine environment. The robot has six legs with three
degrees of freedom per leg, and is equipped with a two degree of
freedom arm with a sensor payload attached to a pan-tilt system.
Throughout the development of this new robot the Design Science
Research Methodology was used to guide the decision making
process. This paper presents an overview of the robot, including
the control architecture, and the testing conducted to verify the
robot’s performance when walking over a laboratory test field.