Abstract:Aiming at the problems of large turning radius, inflexible motion and poor terrain adaptability of traditional six-wheeled robots, a six-wheeled multimodal mobile robot with articulated double rocker arm suspension and independent drive steering structure was proposed. The overall robot architecture consisted of an independently driven steering module, an integrated body, an articulated rocker suspension module and a control module, which can realize multimodal movement modes such as straight running, translation, in-situ steering, and turning around any point, and had the advantages of manoeuvrability, flexibility, and strong adaptability to the terrain. The multimodal motion mechanism and obstacle-crossing principle of the robot were analyzed, the multimodal kinematics model of the robot was established, and the relational equations of motion parameters under the multimodal motion of the robot were determined. The robot control system adopted a multi-task parallel mode of motor task, sensor task and remote control task, and a multimodal PID controller-based on UCOS Ⅲ parallel operating system, which improved the real-time, reliability and portability of the robot control system. The simulation environment and test prototype of a six-wheeled multimodal mobile robot were built, and the basic motion performance of the robot in multiple modes and the ability to pass through various complex terrains such as stairs, vertical obstacles and trenches were verified. The data of the robot’s motion attitude and motion speed under different terrains were tested, and the results of the robot’s multi-mode simulation motion and prototype test were analyzed to prove that the six-wheeled multimodal mobile robot structure had a better performance of passability and terrain adaptability than that of the traditional six-wheeled robot, and the study can provide a reference for the optimization and improvement of the structure of six-wheeled robots.