Development of the hybrid wheel-legged mobile robot WR-3 designed to interact with rats

Qing Shi*, Shunsyuke Miyagishima, Shinichiro Konno, Shogo Fumino, Hiroyuki Ishii, Atsuo Takanishi, Cecilia Laschi, Barbara Mazzolai, Virgilio Mattoli, Paolo Dario

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper presents the design and development of a bio-inspired mobile robot called WR-3 (Waseda Rat No.3), as an experimental tool to study social interaction between rats and robots. According to the motion analysis of rats, their motion can be divided into two phases: moving and interaction. Therefore, a novel hybrid mechanism in which wheels are used for moving and legs are used for interaction has been designed to actuate the WR-3. Consequently, the robot can move at a high speed using its wheels and reproduce the rats' interaction using its legs and other parts. Based on the dimension and body structure of a mature rat, WR-3 has been designed with dimensions of 240×70×90[mm] and is the same shape as a rat. It consists of 18 DOFs in total: two 1-DOF wheels, four 3-DOF legs (including passive DOFs), a 2-DOF waist, and a 2-DOF neck. Preliminary interaction experiments with rats demonstrate that WR-3 is capable of reproducing interactions such as following, rearing, grooming, mounting, etc. similar to a real rat.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2010 3rd IEEE RAS and EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, BioRob 2010
Pages887-892
Number of pages6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes
Event2010 3rd IEEE RAS and EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, BioRob 2010 - Tokyo, Japan
Duration: 26 Sept 201029 Sept 2010

Publication series

Name2010 3rd IEEE RAS and EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, BioRob 2010

Conference

Conference2010 3rd IEEE RAS and EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, BioRob 2010
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityTokyo
Period26/09/1029/09/10

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