RoboTrikke: A Novel Undulatory Locomotion System

— In this paper we present a mathematical model of the TRIKKE, a human-powered scooter produced by Trikke Tech Inc. The Trikke is a three-wheeled, single-rider vehicle that can be propelled by a combination of cyclic motion of its handlebar and swaying motion of the rider. Commercial versions of the Trikke with a human rider are capable of speeds up to 18 mph on flat ground. We show that the TRIKKE can be modeled as a modifiedroller-racer with an unstable steering setup opposite to that of a bicycle. We show that the model of the TRIKKE reduces to the roller-racer in the absence of this steering arrangement. Furthermore, we prove that under certain conditions on the geometric parameters of the system, the TRIKKE and roller racer systems cannot be stopped after motion starting from rest using the steering control as the sole input. As a consequence, the ideal model is severely limited from the point of view of controllability. We demonstrate the validity of our model through compari...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: ICRA
• Authors: Sachin Chitta, Peng Cheng, Emilio Frazzoli, Vijay Kumar
• Keywords: ICRA 2005, Robotics, Trikke, Trikke Tech Inc, Unstable Steering Setup