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'Adaptive Suspension Vehicle'

The Adaptive Suspension Vehicle (ASV) is an experimental six-legged vehicle designed and “built to develop and prove the technology needed to build walking machines at a useful scale for transportation in very rough terrain.” Machines that Walk: The Adaptive Suspension Vehicle, Shin-Min Song and Kenneth J. Waldron, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1989, 317. Completed in May 1985, the ASV was the most sophisticated and practical artificial legged locomotion machine developed up to that time. Its design has influenced research in the fields of mechanical design and robotics.

Robert McGhee

Kenneth Waldron Professor (Research) Emeritus, Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering. Waldron’s work in mechanical design, robotics, and biomechanics led to the design of the ASV.

Plusjack Walking Harvester

The Plusjack Walking Harvester, developed in the late 1990s by Plustech Oy (a Finnish subsidiary of John Deere), is one example of a robotic vehicle that made use of the technology developed for the ASV. http://www.lusto.fi/english/news.html;jsessionid=81B5270F4880127F99D35CBDFAFB30E%206?id=5758

Kinetically Ordered Locomotion Test (KOLT) Robot

Collaborative effort between students at Stanford University and Ohio State, the KOLT was built as a fully actuated robot that “features a powerful transmission mechanism capable of thrusting it into a gallop. Ironically, control and operation of KOLT is complicated by its very dynamics. For instance, in laboratory testing, the KOLT experiences impact forces that are nearly double those seen in galloping mammals. Such severe dynamics, in turn, unduly stress on-board controls and navigation systems. In addition, obstacles and irregularities of the terrain impose chaotic disturbances that further complicate the sensing problem.” Surya P. N. Singh, Self-contained measurement of dynamic legged locomotion: design for robot and field environments, Ph.D. thesis, Stanford University, xi, 2006.

KOLT Developers:

Darren Krasny: Software Engineer at Battelle Memorial Institute

Jamie Nichol: Founder and president of J. Gordon Nichol & Company, LLC. Interests in software development, mechatronics, kinematics, control systems and machine design. http://www.jgnichol.com/people.php

David Orin: Professor Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering, The Ohio State University. Interests in robotics include humanoid dynamic walking and running, biped locomotion, dynamic maneuvers in legged locomotion, robot dynamics, quadruped galloping, walking machines, intelligent control, graphical simulation. http://www2.ece.ohio-state.edu/~orin/

Luther Palmer: Assistant Research Professor, University of South Florida, Biomorphic Robotics Lab, Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The Biomorphic Robotics Lab (BRL) performs research in legged locomotion, striving to unravel the mysteries and replicate the tremendous capabilities of legged animals, which also has applications to human prosthetics. http://www.cse.usf.edu/~palmer/

James Schmiedeler: Associate Professor at University of Notre Dame, Locomotion And Biomechanics Laboratory, Fitzpatrick Hall of Engineering. Research interests include kinematics, dynamics, and machine design, particularly as applied to the development of robotic systems and an understanding of human motor coordination. His current work focuses on biped robot locomotion, human recovery from stroke and spinal-cord-injury, robot-assisted rehabilitation, prosthetic devices, mechanical energy storage for vehicles, and the design of shape-changing mechanisms. http://engineering.nd.edu/profiles/sjames

Surya P. N. Singh: Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at the University of Queensland, Robotics Design Lab. His research interests lie in the design and control of compliant systems in dynamic (field) environments. Of particular interest are projects with humanitarian or social goals that advance the aim of democratizing robotics. http://robotics.itee.uq.edu.au/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Site.Research