Advances on Theory and Practice of Robots and Manipulators

This paper presents the functional design and the related detailed mechanical design embodiment of UGV Epi.q-Mod, which is a new version of the Unmanned ground vehicles Epi.q. UGVs Epi.q are mobile robots used for surveillance/reconnaissance/transport operations and they are based on a hybrid wheeled-legged locomotion system. The locomotion system consists of three-wheeled units with epicyclical mechanism capable of switching between wheeled and legged locomotion even without an active control intervention, depending on the dynamic condition of the vehicle. The main characteristic of this robot is the application of the modular approach that allows to generate different architectures based on functional requirements.