Evaluation of Locomotion Performances for a Mecanum-Wheeled Hybrid Hexapod Robot

Recently, research on hybrid mobile robots has been attracting considerable interest due to the ability of these systems to perform service tasks in heterogeneous scenarios and irregular terrains. This article proposes a specific hybrid locomotion configuration, which combines legs and Mecanum omniwheels into a six-legged hexapod robot. Theoretical backgrounds and open issues are addressed by considering some challenging problems such as gait planning, modeling omnidirectional motion, and designing control architecture for combining locomotion modes. The article demonstrates suitability, feasibility, and successful performance of the proposed locomotion strategies and presents experimental results and novel scientific contributions regarding the motion of hybrid mobile robots.