WALKING VEHICLES

The text is at the end of the chapter.

The site : http://cyberneticzoo.com/?page_id=164 is comprehensive.

Goat and ibex on steep slope : the ideal walking machine http://www.planete-rando.com/Ibex

http://toulaho.pagesperso-orange.fr/culmineurope/trig12.jpg

I - WALKING MACHINES BEFORE 1940

	Centipede walking Machine of Meredith Thring, 1967, from Australia and England, walked by modification of wheels and chains. From http://cyberneticzoo.com/tag/meredith-thring/.
	Mavag-Fiat 'Mocher Wagen' with feet, 1923. Rear wheels were replaced by a 'feet propulsion'. It was a scale model made by brothers Haris who run the Haris Automuseum in Budapest, Hungary. Pict and text are from Wheels and Tracks N° 61 about 1998. The author saw also at Rétromobile in the mid 2000s another WWI period walking vehicle on a movie of the 1910s, but unfortunately unknown.
	Walking Truck, 1923, from a German manufacturer. Each side had 2 sets of feet. When a set was raised and moved forwards, the other repeated the motion. From : http://blog.modernmechanix .com/2008/06/12/wheel-less-truck-walks-on-metal-feet/
	Alzetta's Mechanical Horse in Mechanix Illustrated, Apr 1933. Product of an Italian inventor, Alzetta, was said to run on road or off-road with equal ease. Many thinks show that it was not a true walking machine too complex for this time and was a hoax. http://gurneyjourney. blogspot.fr/2009/10/1933-walker-fact-or-fraud.html

II ONE LEG ROBOT

3D One-Leg Hopper 1983-84 of Massassuchetts Institute of Technology built this simplified robot, powered by hydraulics and the leg activated by compressed air. It carried sensors. Balance was achieved with a simple control system. http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/leglab/robots/3D_hopper/3D_hopper.html

II - TWO LEGS WALKING MACHINES

	Bipedal Walking Machine of the 70s, from Russia.
	M2 2 legs robot of MIT, 1998
	Planar Biped 1985-1990 of Massassuchetts Leg Laboratory, had 2 telescopic legs with a hydraulic actuator at each leg. The Planar Biped has been used to study locomotion on rough terrain, running at high speed, and gymnastic maneuvers. http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/leglab/robots/2D_biped/2D_biped.html
	Berkeley Walking Wheelbarrow, 2002, from University of Berkeley, California, as Human Assisted Walking Device. http://bleex.me.berkeley.edu/research/human-assisted-walking-machine/
	Runbot, 2 legs, 2006, developed by researchers from Germany and Scotland. It was the fastest robot on 2 legs. 30 cm high, it could walk at 3,5 leg-lengh per second. In this category was found the human robots. http://blog.makezine.com/category/news_from_the_future/page/41/
	Hardiman GE Exoskeleton, 1965-71, designed by Ralph Mosher. Mass 680 kg, lift capacity 680 kg, power 25 hp, Speed 0,6 m/s, This electro-hydraulic chassis fitted on to a human allowed it to lift big weights. It was one of the first exoskeleton; many have been built since this one. http://cyberneticzoo.com
	Raytheon Sarcos exoskeleton XOS, at Salt Lake City, 2010. Walking, running, climbing, raising loads can be made easily by the Mechanical Squeleton, multiplying the power of humans. The suit is built from a combination of structures, sensors, actuators and controllers, and it is powered by high pressure hydraulics. Only 40 mn autonomy. http://www.nowhereelse.fr/exosquelette-xos-squelette-mcanique-de-combat-vidos-7942/

III - THREE LEGS WALKING MACHINES


	Strider, three legged robot of Romela, 2007, by Dennis Hong at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg. Strider means Self-excited Tripedal Dynamic Experimental Robot, simple and stable. 1 m high for use of cameras, STriDER uses the concept of "actuated passive dynamics" which means that the swing leg simply swings, between the two-legged stance, not actively controlled nor actuated. http://spectrum.ieee.org/ automaton/robotics/robotics-software/this_three_legged_robot_ walks_l#more

	Three-legged robot of the University of Heidelberg in association with those of Mannheim and Zurich which seems to be, after analysis, well suited for running, skipping, climbing, excavating on uneven terrains. http://proaut.ziti.uni-heidelberg.de:8080/proaut/content/e74/e160/e197/index_eng.html

IV - FOUR LEGS WALKING MACHINES

	Moonwalker, 1966, Walking chair for disabled. This walking robot for Moon of Surveyor Program has been abandoned and replaced by this little 'Walker' for young disabled. Built by Space General, it was tested at the Medical Center of California, Los Angeles. Pict and text from Science et Vie, Sept 1968. See also : http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=2616
	Phony Pony, 1968, by Frank and Mc Ghee, University of South Carolina, before existence of microprocessors, but with a computer.
	Raibert's Quadruped robot, 1985-87. By coupling the legs, the quadruped successfully executed trotting (diagonally paired legs), pacing (lateral pairs), bounding (front pair and rear pair) and several transitions between gaits. From Carl Reeves Thesis, Mc Gill University, Montréal, 2002.
	ARS Robots for Ambulatory Robotics Laboratory of Pr Martin Buehler created in 1991. It exploited elastic mechanical devices to reduce power consumption. They achieved dynamic walking, bounding, turning and step climbing. From L to R and U to D : ARL's Monopod II 1996, ARL's SCOUT I 1997, ARL's Scout II 1998, ARL's Scout II with passive knees 1999. From Thesis of Carl Reeves, Mc Gill University, Montréal, 2002.
	Road Runner, 1995, kind of legged moped of Yoshifumi Kaji presented at the Toyota Idea Olympics in Japan. It got a Silver Prize. Nevertheless, it was not at all off-road. Pict from Wheels and Tracks, N° 64 and http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=5969
	Walking Exploration robot of University of Arizona, 1999. Feet instead wheels allowed to move easier in dust. Legs were moved by mechanic springs which contract and extend under the action of an electric current. A simple concept. Pict from 'Science et Vie', Sept 1999.
	Four legged robots of Shigeo Hirose. The Hirose-Fukushima Robotic Laboratory, Tokyo, is one of the most prolific producer of any kind of robots : first snake-like robots (see chap 'Tracked and snakes robots'), walking, wheeled and crawler, planetary, wall climbing, colony robots. Majority of walking robots are 4 legs : from up to down and L to R : Kumo 1976, PV-II 1978-79, Titan III 1981-84, Titan V 1985, Titan VIII, Titan IX. http://www-robot.mes.titech.ac.jp/robot/walking_e.html
	Walking robots of Shigeo Hirose, researcher in robots at Tokyo Institute of Technology from1976. Pict : from upper to down and L to R : Yanbo III 2000 with legs and wheels, Hyperion 1999, Walker-Roller 1994 with legs and wheels (see chap Robot Locomotion), Parawalker II 1997, Air Hopper 2002 jumping, Titrius 2000. http://www-robot.mes.titech.ac.jp/robot/walking_e.html
	Little Dog of Boston Dynamics is used by several Universities to study and learn about legged locomotion. It is able to cross, slowly, rocky terrains. http://www.boston dynamics.com/robot_littledog.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUQsRPJ1dYw
	Cheetah Fastest Legged Robot of Boston Dymamics that gallops at 28 km/h, inside on a treadmill. http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_cheetah.html

V - SIX LEGS WALKING MACHINES

	Shigley Pantagraph walking machine, 1957-60. This system of pantographs was compound of 4 groups of 4 legs, idea of Joseph Shigley of University of Michigan. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=2682
	Iron Mule Train, 1968, for disabled from Space General became Space Division, Aerojet General Corp. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=2746
	Iron Mule Train of Frank Tinsley original idea, 1968, extending Space General Corporation original Moonwalker that inspired Morisson this third variant. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=2746
	Russian walking robots were in Russian hobby magazines from late 60s to mid-80s. This is one model.
	Hexapod of J. J. Kessis, 1980, at University Paris VII. Legs were with pantograph mechanism. Pict of Jean Marquis, Sciences et vie, March 1982. See also http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=3623
	Robot of Robert Mc Ghee, 1982, University of Columbus, Ohio, 6 legged vehicle, of 103 kg. One of the few existing prototypes in the world at that time required complicated mechanisms managed by a fledgling computer.
	ODEX-1 Functionoid walking robot, 1983, of Odetics Inc, Anaheim, Calif, became Iteris (http://www.iteris.com/) Developed by Steve Bartholet, it had 6 articulated legs. Extended, it reached 2 m high and in low position 91 cm. Odex I is now at Smithonian Institution's permanent collection. Pict of http://cyberneticzoo.com
	Odex-1 going up a truck. Its computer and geometry of legs allowed it to get up in a truck that is rare with modern walking machines. Pict from http://cyberneticzoo.com
	Six-Legged Walking Machine of Bessonov, 1983. Left : the robot at Russian Polytechnic Museum in Moscow. The main problem was the height of the chassis above the soil and adjusting the length of the supporting leg to the roughness of the terrain. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=3701
	Ambler robot, 1988-91, of John Bares & William Whittaker of Cargenie Mellon University and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Very tall height 5 to 7 m, mass 2500 kg, speed 35 cm/mn, it was built for planetary exploration (steep slopes rocks, crevices) and has proved its off-road capabilities.

	ODEX-III walking robot using screws in legs. This robot has been modified and renamed Sherpa by the French Energy Commision. Odex II, with a manupulator arm, was sold to Savanah River Labs. Pict of Eric Rabinowitz on Picasaweb.
	Sherpa robot of CEA of Fontenay aux Roses in the 80s. It came from Odetics Company and was modified. Payload 300 kg, The six telescopic legs could be lengthened or shortened thanks to screws and upper part was always level. In 1998, Sherpa had 60 hours of work. It could up and down stairs of 45° and cross walls of 60 cm high.

	NMIIIA Manned Hexapod Rover, 1985, today in Volga city of Togliatti where were born Lada cars. In the Technical Museum of AvtoVAZ is staying this rover : mass 750 kg, capacity 80 kg, speed 0,7 km/h, length 2 m. On left of upper picture, they can see on left a part of wheels of Marsokhod robot. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=3824
	Genghis Robot, 1989, of Rodney Brooks at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It could walk on non-flat ground http://www.mundotech.net/historia-del-robot-cronologia-de-hechos-fundamentales/
	Martin Marietta Mars Rover, 1989, called the Walking Beam, for planetary exploration. On left is the Walker, designed by Wendell Chun, demonstrates, at right, the capabilities of a frame walker as a rover. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=4105
	Mecant robot, 1990-93, from Helsinki University was a fully independent hydraulic six-legged walking machine http://lib.tkk.fi/ Diss/2007/isbn9789512288786/isbn9789512288786.pdf
	Dante I and Dante II, 1992-94, from J. Bares and W. Whittaker at Cargenie Mellon University in 1992. It was used for a mission on Mount Erebus, Antarctica. Dante II, right, was developed by CMU Field Robotic Center and explored Mt Spurr, Alaska. They proved able to move on uneven terrains. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=6433
	IOAN Robot, between 1993 and 1998 had 6 simple legs and 3 parts articulated chassis with torque sensors which produce active suspension and agility walking. http://scmero.ulb.ac.be/project.php?id=5&page=robotics_walking_ machines.html
	Sprawl robot, 2002, from Stanford and Berkeley University. Based on cockroach mobility, it was faster and more robust than classic legged robots. The system was also able to move over distinct types of grounds and in terrains with obstacles, without a significant decrease of the speed and without modifying its gait. http://www-cdr.stanford.edu/biomimetics/sprawlettes.html
	6 legged grasshopper, 1999, of Case Western Reserve University, imitates the true grasshopper http://biorobots.cwru.edu/projects/c_mrobot/c_mrobot.htm
	Polybots Modular robots of Palo Alto Research Center in 2002. In the multiple configurations, one of them, the G2, can walk.
	Lauron IVc of FZI, Karlsruhe, has been developed to analyze statically stable walking on rough terrain. This control system based on behavior generates motion paths for the legs, is coordinating the walk model and generates compensatory stabilization movements of the central system. http://www.fzi.de/index.php/de/forschung/forschungsbereiche/ispe/abteilungen/ids/themen-und-projekte/projekte/5987-projekt-lauron-ivc

	Lauron Robot http://www-ivs.cs.uni- magdeburg.de/EuK/forschung /projekte/laufen/index.shtml
	Lauron IVc, 2006, 6 legged robot from FZI Research Center, Karlsruhe, Germany. Mass 27 kg, speed 0,22 m/s. While walking LAURON can detect obstacles and then either walk over them or around them, if the obstacles are too high. It can be used for exploration of volcanoes or as rescue robot. File source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lauron4c_2009_FZI_ Karlsruhe.jpg
	Ajax, robot V, 2006, cockroach like of Biorobotics Laboratory at Case Western Reserve University, uses braided pneumatic actuators to power all 24 degrees of freedom. http://biorobots.cwru.edu/Projects/robot
	Asterisk Robot, 2006 crossing a step from youtube.
	Asterisk Robot, 2006. With the keyword 'Hexapod robot' on a search engine, thousands of robots are found but the majority of them needs flat and hard ground, which is not the case of Limb Mechanism Robot Asterisk from Arai Lab, Osaka University, unveiled at Robot fair in Osaka, Japan (2006) by Kenechi Ohara. This hexarobot can get over obstacles, is omnidirectional and its legs can be fitted with wheels, it can lies under tight obstacles and run like a wheel. http://technabob.com/ blog/2011/12/14/six-legged-insect-robot/

	Robot Fair in Osaka, Japan, 2006. This robot can get down plots. Seen on Youtube : Robot fair in Osaka, Japan (2006)
	Hexapod Navigator, 2008, full climbing up and down stairs. The obstacle is strait and horizontal, but completely chaotic rocks, should be more difficult to overcome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb_9CihHfOM
	BILL Ant, 2009 of Case Western Reserve University. http://biorobots.cwru.edu/projects/billant/
	Hexapod of Case University of Cleveland, 2010, of W. Lewinger is a robot which can step a march of stair. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid= 1921773&show=html

DASH robot, 2010, designed by Paul Birmeyer at Berkeley University, CA. This small robot is flexible and supports an impact of 10 m/s. He can run on an uneven terrain like a cockroach. It looks a little like the Rhex. http://citris-uc.org/news/2010/02/08/dash_next_gen_robots_small

_cheap_and_feral

Octoroach of Berkeley University tries to harness insects capabilities to create a new generation of insect-like robots. http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/diy/robot-birds-and-octoroaches-on-the-loose-at-uc-berkeley

RHex of BostonDynamics, marketed by Boston Dynamics, was designed by University of Michigan, McGill University, Cargenie Mellon University, University of California, Princeton and Cornell University. It's a true off-road robot of 11 kg controlled by an operator and equipped with cameras front and rear, and 6 rotating legs. http://www.bostondynamics

.com/robot_rhex.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISznqY3kESI

VI - HYBRID WHEELED AND LEGGED WALKING MACHINES

	Walk-roll principle of Von Sybel and Grosse-Scharman, 1961, conceived a vehicle with wheels that roll and then locks the wheels and pull them with a hydraulic actuator. Mobility is a little increased. http://lib.tkk.fi/Diss/2007/isbn9789512288786/isbn9789512288786.pdf PDF : Walking rolling vehicle hans von sybel (1.47 Mo) from From the book : Mechanics of soil vehicle systems, Torino 1961
	«КШМ» Running Mock-up with a wheel-walking using a Chebyshev wheel-walking mode which may be realized by successive movements of the wheel axles and the robot’s body. This wheel-walk system was used on other robots like Marsohkod, Hylos or Toolkit of Collineo. See chap 'Robot Locomotion'. Mass 320kg, speed 0,9 km/h, in walking mode 0,15 km/h, maximum slope in wheel mode 18° and in wheel-walking 34 °. From : http://www.enlight.ru/ib/tech/vtm/vniitm.pdf
	ANT I, early 90s, from DRES, Alberta, Canada, was an articulated vehicle with driven legs. It was conceived for stepping, bridging or crawling. From pdf of Carl Steeve. http://www.google.fr/url?sa= t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s& source=web&cd= 7&ved=0CFQQFjAG& url=http%3A%2F %2Fciteseerx.ist.psu. edu%2Fviewdoc %2Fdownload%3F doi%3D10.1.1.99.9919 %26rep%3Drep1% 26type%3Dpdf&ei= sbKbT9j9B5Ot8QPA _4n2Dg&usg=AFQjCNE d893mkVdd00yMM DmCPy0W5E9qgQ&sig2= mL09AK3L4Unh2uWfH8OGyw
	ANT II
	Articulated Navigation Testbed ANT II, late 90s, used powered wheels at the end of powered legs. By lifting a leg over obstacle, ANT could traverse extreme terrains. From DRES, Alberta, Canada. http://www.nt.ntnu.no/ users/skoge/prost/proceedings/ ifac2002/data/content/00692/692.pdf

	Adachi's Walk'n Roll, 1999. The wheels at rear were driven.
	Wheeled leg Hylos robot built by Christophe Gand of Laboratoire de Robotique de Paris in 2003. See chap 'Wheeled robots and Lunar cars'.
	Work partner, 1998-2003, designed by Aarne Halme at Robotic Institute TKK of Helsinki University, Finland and Rover Company, St Petersburg, also Plustech Oy, now J Deere Oy. It can walk and roll on wheels, chassis is articulated for steering. Speed 12 km/h in any mode. Wheeleg, Alduro, SAP, Robotrac, Ichkawa, Oomichi and Ibe, Athlete, Octopus used the wheeled-leg locomotion. http://autsys.tkk.fi/en/WorkPartner/Media Work-partner-wheeled-legged-robots.pdf
	RT Mover Mobile Platform or Personal Carrier with Leg-Wheel Mechanism, Chiba Institute of Technology, Japan, late 2000. http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/ 22298/InTech-Mobile_platform_with_leg_ wheel_mechanism_for_ practical_use.pdf
	Micro Hydraulic Toolkit of DRDC Suffield, Alberta, and Collineo, Quebec, 2009. This middle articulated wheel-leg unmmaned robot can walk or run. http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA522650
	Wheel-legged chariot seen on the Internet.

Polar Rover Chassis, 1995, has been a widely adopted platform for arctic exploration, using an inching system. From Thesis of Carl Steeves, McGill University, Montréal

VII - HOPPING MACHINES

	Oberth Moon Car conceived 1954 by Hermann Oberth. A gas operated piston vehicle would jump at the surface of the moon. Pict from 'Sciences et Vie' of Sept 1968. See also : http://davidszondy.com/future/space/oberth_moon_car.htm
	RATS Hopping Robots, 2012, from Cargenie Mellon University. This 12 legs hopping spherical robot for rescue or planetary exploration must be very 'offroad'. http://www.rec.ri.cmu.edu/projects/rats/
	PAW Hybrid Wheeled-Leg Robot, 2006, of McGill University, Montreal, Québec. This was a walking, galloping and hopping, bounding robot on which driven wheels were added at the end of legs, for moving on flat and hard ground. PAW was lighter than Scout II http://www.cim.mcgill.ca/~jasmith/docs/Smith-PAW-RollingTurnBrake-ICRA-2006.pdf Carl-Steeves-thesis-hybrid-robots.pdf
	Scout II Running Robot 2012. Ioannis Poulakakis of University of Delaware worked on Scout II which was created at McGill University years ago. For that, he wanted to use elastic energy storage elements such as springs. http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2012/jan/poulakakis-robots-012412.html

	Scout II robot, 1998-2003, of McGill University, could walk, run, bound and even gallop, for the first time, up to 1.3 m/s. It had only one motor per leg and spring suspended legs. http://www.princeton.edu/~poulakas/Research/research.html
	Frogbot, hopping robot, 2000, moved by combinaition of rolls and hops. With 1,3 kg and one motor, it was designed by Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of California, Pasadena. http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0011/29frog/
	SandFlea of Boston Dynamics hopping robot, 5 kg, drives on flat terrain and can jump 9 m high over a wall, a second floor window or upstairs. A gyroscope stabilized it during flight and ensured smooth landing. http://www.bostondynamics .com/robot_sandflea.html
	Hopping Boots of Sergei Antonov, University of Ufa. Mass 2 kg each, engine with kerosene heat air in a piston and makes hoops of 1,5 m. Range 25 km. Pict Science et Vie Junior, June 2001.

VIII - HYBRID LEGS AND TRACKS MACHINES

	Electromechanical snake of Berkeley University. This inching system shows how creeps straight a real snake or a snail. This prototype could be in another chapter (snakes) but had been forgotten. http://bleex.me.berkeley.edu/research/biomimetic-robotics/electromechanical-snake/
	Bear robot drawing as it was conceived about 2007.
	Bear robot of Vecna Technologies founded by Daniel and Deborah Theobald in 1998. This is the proof-of-concept. Good speed on level terrain on wheels when upright. Here, low posture able to travel for kilometers on its belly to be hidden. Based on a Segway, its power and hydraulics enable it to lift 226 kg. http://www.botmag.com/articles/04-25-07_vecna_bear.shtml
	Bear Robot of Vecna Technologies, 2012, practical product issued from initial ideas. Robot to be used to rescue, heavy lifting, security, mine inspection, it is equipped with sensors and gyroscope. See Chap 'Tracked and Snake like robots'. It is a tracked legged robot : this clever human like system allows many movements and off-road travel. http://www.vecna.com/robotics/solutions/bear/index.shtml
	Titan XI, 2002, from Shigeo Hirose is a four legged robot with aim to climb steep reinforced concrete slopes, frequent in Japan for holding terrain, and automatically drill for anchor-bolts. Under the legs is a crawler tractor and winches for cables. Mass 7000 kg,
	Titan X, 2005, from S. Hirose can work on 4 legs mode for rough terrain or 4 tracks mode on relatively flat ground. There are many studies about leg-wheel or leg-track hybrid mobile robots. Mass 29 kg.

IX - WALKING DRAGLINE SYSTEM MACHINES

	Ransomes Rapier-walking-dragline-W170, 1939, using the patented Cameron and Heath walking method. From GB. Pict and text : http://cybeoneticzoo.com/?p=3805
	Big Muskie Dragline, manufactured in 1969 by Bucyrus-Erie, model 4250-W, was the largest single-bucket digging machine ever built and worked in Ohio Coal Company. Mass 12000 t, bucket 165 m3 and 295 tons, height 68 m, mass of empty bucket 209 tons. Big Muskie moved, as do most large mobile draglines, on two huge hydraulically driven walking feet. It was dismounted in 1999. Nowadays, big excavators, smaller, are more economic. http://www.worsleyschool.net/science/files/extreme/muskie.html
	Mosher Quadruped adapted to a tracked vehicle as legs retriever modules. Legs are CAM legs. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=2032
	PrOP-M Mars Mini Rover, 1971, launched in mission Mars 2 and Mars 3 which were each a failure. Mass 4,5 kg, sensors equipped for obstacles, it moved by ski-walking that provide high traction on dry soils but very slow speed : 1m/h. One unit stays at the Museum CEO Peter and Paul Fortress in St Petersburg. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=3830

91-3508-walking-amphibious-barge-of-john-t-tucker-1947-2.jpg

Barge of John T. Tucker Amphibian, 1947, tested at Port Hueneme, California. The principle was the same as walking draglines or the Le Tourneau Tree Stomper of 1964 : see chap 'Walking, Hopping vehicles'. Very stable, the walking mechanism steered by one man give the 60 m craft 2 speeds forward and one reverse. On right picture, the barge hoist itself, step by step, over obstacle of 1,8 m high. From 'Popular Science', May 1948. See also http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=6763

Walking-amphibious-barge-of-john-t-tucker.pdf

Speery Rand Plodding Moon Walker, 1961, of Jet Propultion Laboratory. It alternately advanced a wide center foot, then the two narrower ones at each side. Pict represents a model. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=3315

LIIIM Mars Walking Device, 1975, from former USSR. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=3828

X - BIG WALKING MACHINES

	Multi-Ped Walking Tractor, built between 1947 and 1949. See chapter 'Walking, Hopping and WSL robots and vehicles' where there are 2 pictures of Francis Pierre and the history. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=3169
	Pedipulator, 1962-64 from Ralph Mosher at General Electric. Only a test model has been built but the project was not completed but the four legged Walking Truck will be constructed. Pedipulator was to be 6 m high and servo-motors must copy the movements of the driver by servo-mechanism inherited from Hardiman exoskeleton suit created by GE. www.gereports.com
	Multi-Pedipulator drawing shows a train of Pedipulators connected together. It is the first concept based on biped walkers. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=2108
	Walking trucks projects of General Electric was to be tested in the 60s in swamplands, mountains or on the Moon at 8 km/h with a 1/4 ton on its back. It was in mind of designers a really off-road vehicle. The Walking Truck will be built.
	Walking truck or Cybernetic Anthropomorphous Machine (CAM), prototype of General Electric in Pittsfield, Massachussetts, 1969, built by Ralf Mosher for US Army to use in rough and muddy terrains, at an age without computers. A driver was coupled to servo-mechanisms and the machine reproduced with its legs the movements of the driver. It seems it requested concentration and was quickly difficult for the driver. The hydraulic flow of 190 l/mn needed an external link. Electric engine was replaced in a final phase by a car engine. Mass 1360 kg, speed 8 km/h, capacity 227 kg, it could push 454 kg. It proved impractical because of limitations of the hydraulic systems, driver fatigue while carrying out even the simplest of tasks, and sometimes the fall of the machine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coNO9FpDb6E and http://davidszondy.com/future/war/walkingmachine.htm
	Walking truck of General Electric at Transportation Museum. Pict from : the operator transchool.eustis.army.mil
	Walking Truck of General Electric resides now at the US Army Transportation Museum, Fort Eustis, VA. Stabilizing bars were added in case of loss of balance. Pict : xbradtc.wordpress.com
	Walking truck of GE with its stabilizing bars. From www.gizmodo.com

	OSU ASV scale Model, 1984 led to the full scale ASV. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=2465
	Adaptive Suspension Vehicle (ASV), 1994, was developed by Kenneth Waldron & McGhee at Ohio State University from the late 80s to mid-90s. Unlike the Walking Truck, it used computers and scanning systems. Nevertheless, it was complex, heavy and expensive. The legs did not rise sufficiently over obstacles and oversized tires were equal or better. Pict from the review 'Science et Vie' Feb 1986.
	ASV climbing a wall. http://cyberneticzoo.com/?p=2465
	Walking Beast, built between 2004 and 2007 by Martin Montesano, 8 legs, 6 ton, 3,35 m high, made of steel with V8 engine, top speed 8 km/h. Walking Beast is always showed at Festivals as Burning Man. The next version will be able to walk on terrains that are uneven. http://www.popularme chanics.com/technology/engineering/extreme-machines/megadrive-extreme-machines-pictures-walking-beast-burning-man#slide-2 and http://www.moltensteelman.com/thewalkingbeast.html
	Mondo Spider Walking Machine at Burning Man 2006 in the desert of State of Nevada. 8 legged machine coming from Vancouver, it weight 725 kg and became hydro-electric drive since 2010. http://www.mondospider.com/
	Walking Machine, mid-2000, of Teo Jansen on a The Netherlands beach. http://4volt.com/Blog/archive/2009/03/08/jansen-walker-post-2.aspx and http://4volt.com/Projects/Jansen/Fabric%20walker.jpg

	Walking Machine, 2008, made of Lego with Theo Jansen legs. Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist and a Kinetic Sculptor who builds large skeleton models able to walk on beaches of The Netherlands. They are not off-road but there are perhaps possibilities ? http://technicbricks.blogspot.fr/2008/03/week-techvideo-2008-12-theo-janson.html
	Walking machine with backhoe legs, probably from US patent #08/804,318, 1997, of Jan H. Cocrate-Zilgien, abandoned in 1999. Each leg could be a tool. http://www.cocatrez.net/Earth/AutonomousWalkingRobots/SixhoeProject/SixhoePatApp.html http://www.cocatrez.net/Earth/AutonomousWalkingRobots/SixhoeProject/SixhoeProposal.html
	Lokkeri Walking Machine, 1994, first Forest Walking Machine prototype from Plustech Oy, Finland, is now on display at the honor place of John Deere & Company Pavilion in Moline, Illinois, owner of Plustech since 2005. It accumulated about 2000 working hours. Equipped with sensors, the machine reacted automatically to soft, sloping, or uneven grounds and was able to walk over obstacles. Operator could adjust ground clearance and height of every step. http://www.fordaqmachinery.com/wood/articles/viewArticle/Walking_harvester_on_display__ 28501.jspa;jsessionid=CCA45D7 2C878075C93789D42BE3F5DA4
	Plustech Walking Machine, 2nd prototype, called in fact Plusjack, unveiled in 1999 and staying now at Lusto Museum, Finland. John Deere, the owner, donates it to Lusto on Feb 17, 2011. See Chap 'Museum of Lusto, Forest Machinery'. Advantages of the machine were its off-road ability, it turned on a spot and its footprints on the forest floor were almost invisible. Youtube videos of the machine had been viewed more than one million times. http://www.lusto.fi/english/news.html?id=5758
	Big Dog is a Rough-Terrain Quadruped Robot, since 2008, carrying 50 kg of loads during 2 hours on 10 km at 4 km/h. It is equipped with a gas engine, hydraulics controls, a gyroscope, Lidar vision system and sensors. From Boston Dynamics, Waltham, Massachussetts, it has been sponsored by Darpa. http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_bigdog.html
	LS3-Legged Squad Support Systems will automatically follow a leader with 181 kg load on a range of 32 km lasting 24 hours. It is issued of Big Dog 4 legged robot. http://www.bostondynamics.com/robot_ls3.html

Man always wants to create machines to move in his own image or that of animals. Oddly, the old dream of flying like a bird materializes first. He wants also to build 'walking machines' featured with legs, like animals. His goal ? Be able to imitate the cat climbing on to the trees, the cockroach travelling spaces littered with obstacles or the ibex (photo 1) prancing on the mountain slopes. The idea is really to go places inaccessible to him, and his eyes, a legged machine, equipped with 'lever-legs' that can overcome obstacles, represents an ideal of mobility all-out. In fact, there is nothing in.
For fifty years, the 'walking machine' models of one or more legs were built in the world. Unfortunately not in series !
Various reasons refer to heaviness, complexity and price, slowness, due among other, to the inertia of the legs, but mostly it is far from ibex on mountain slopes. Most of these human made walkers need a flat and hard floor. Some, presented here, are still able to overcome an obstacle, but it's not so easy : their detection system does not always collect 3D terrain information and the control system cannot drive all movements of the joints smooth. The most advanced of them, from Plustech Oy of John Deere & Company, the world's known Plustech Walking Harvester, now at Museum of Lusto, Finland, probably could not outclass its wheeled or tracked counterparts.

Let us set aside for a moment walking machines and open a parenthesis to indicate the difficulty of manufacturers of wheeled or tracked off-road vehicles (such as Foremost) to sell their magnificent specialized vehicles for oil industry. The past decades, many companies have gone bankrupt or been acquired. The reasons are high price and expensive maintenance of these non-standard gears. Today, tankers have increasingly resorted to matting (for instance Strad Energy Services), kind of removable steel or wooden floor lay on the ground, allowing the use of more conventional vehicles.
In the military domain too, all-terrain vehicles are fairly standard and if they have any problem of mobility, preparing site, the engineering opens up new tracks.

Mention may also be made of the small 'rescue robots', used when searching in disasters, often competing in steeplechase racing of international 'Robocop', all equipped with wheels or tracks, not legs.

It would therefore tend to do without very specialized vehicles, except in extreme conditions. As for the legged or hybrid vehicles, and may be latter snake-like, they will be nevertheless, with daily progress, the future of really off-road terrestrial or planetary locomotion, where the use of any other means will be impossible to reach by land inaccessible known places.

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