Transformation design of a miniature throw-able robot

Purpose - This paper aims to present a transformation mechanism designed for a miniature throw-able robot, including the mechanical model, related analysis and experiments. Design/methodology/approach - The robot can be thrown into suspicious areas. It keeps in a ball-shaped configuration during throwing and uses the driving motors to implement transformation of the mobile form. A foldable tail is also released out as a third point to guarantee the stability of the robot. Findings - By transformation, the robot possesses the overall shock protection like a regular spherical robot and also has detection ability and agile mobility as a two-wheeled robot. Originality/value - An innovative transformation mechanism was designed, analyzed and tested. The mechanism is suitable for a throw-able robot which is simple in structure, small in volume and light in weight. Effectiveness of the transformation design has been validated through experiments.