Underactuated multimodal jumping robot for extraterrestrial exploration
2026-03-06 • Robotics
Robotics
AI summaryⓘ
The authors built a small, lightweight robot with one leg that can roll and jump, designed to work on places with very low gravity like the Moon or asteroids. Their robot uses just two spinning wheels to control its body position, helping it balance on the ground and land safely after a jump. It can switch between rolling, jumping to specific spots, and standing back up using only three moving parts in total. This design helps the robot move across different types of rough terrain with simple controls.
underactuated robotreaction wheelsmonopedal locomotionaerial reorientationbalancing controllerlow-gravity mobilitytargeted jumpingself-rightingmultimodal locomotion
Authors
Neil R. Wagner, Justin K. Yim
Abstract
We present a rolling and jumping underactuated monopedal robot designed to explore multimodal locomotion on low-gravity bodies. It uses only two reaction wheels to control its spatial orientation with two controllers: a balancing controller which can aim the robot's jump direction on the ground, and an aerial reorientation controller which can aim the robot's leg for landing after flight. We demonstrate rolling, targeted jumping and landing, and self-righting using only three actuators total, keeping system size to 0.33m and 1.25kg. Simple switching between locomotion modes enables the system to deal with differing landscapes and environmental conditions.