飛行、飄浮及滾動皆可的四旋轉翼輪＠PEREGRINE科學點…－桃園吃到飽推薦

圖1. (圖援用自原文)

One of the things that we love most about IROS are the completely novel robot designs that show up out of nowhere. MUWA or "Multi-ﬁeld Universal Wheel for Air-land Vehicle" (and also Japanese for "Dream Ring") is one of these designs: it's a quadrotor surrounded by a circular piece of foam that makes it capable of (among many other things) balancing itself sideways like a wheel and rolling along the ground.

有關智慧型機器人及系統，人們最喜愛的事物之一，是諸多突然出現的全新機器人設計。"陸-空機動車多場地通用輪"(MUWA，日文代表"夢幻環")是此些設計之一。這是一種，邊框由一片使其能像輪子般，自身平衡斜向一側及沿著地面滾動之環狀泡沫材料(如泡沫塑膠、如泡橡膠)組成的四旋轉翼。(IROS：Intelligent Robots and Systems)

(請點閱短片：

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUA1tGdRnv4&feature=player_embedded)

MUWA's big foam ring makes contact with obstacles, water, or the ground not much of an issue, but the secret to the balancing tricks and wheel motion is that unlike most quadrotors, MUWA is equipped with independently controllable variable pitch propellers (+/- 20 degrees of pitch) that can direct thrust in two opposite directions, allowing it to stand up into a vertical position from the ground:

MUWA的大泡沫材料環與障礙物、水或地面接觸沒有太多的問題，不過平衡的竅門及輪子運行的秘密，不像多數的四旋轉翼。MUWA配備了，能直接在兩個相反方向上推進，而使其得以從地面豎立成垂直狀態之獨立可控制的傾斜角可變螺旋槳(傾斜角達正/負20度)：

圖2. (圖援用自原文)

MUWA can also roll, rotate, and even roll while maintaining an arbitrary angle relative to the ground.

MUWA也可以滾動、旋轉及甚至能以保持相對於地面的任意角度滾動。

There are a few reasons why these capabilities are relevant. First, it gives the quadrotor ways to move around without always having to expend energy flying. Second, by rolling, MUWA can squeeze through vertical gaps that it wouldn't be able to while flying horizontally. And by getting MUWA to do things like rotate around a point on the ground while changing its angle ("tornado motion," the researchers call it), a Kinect sensor on the robot can rapidly build up a complete 3D map of its surroundings.

有幾個理由，為何上述諸能耐是有關聯性的。第一，這賦予了此種四旋轉翼，無需始終消耗能量的飛行方式，來到處移動。第二，藉由滾動，MUWA能擠身通過，當水平飛行時會無法通過的縫隙。且在改變MUWA的角度時，藉由使其進行類似圍繞著地面一個點旋轉的動作(此些研究人員稱之為"龍捲風運動")，於此機器人身上的一種動態感測器，能迅速建立其周遭完整的3D圖。

The next generation of MUWA promises to be able to use its wheel motion on water, and somehow, it'll also be able to demonstrate "vertical attitude flight."

下一代的MUWA渴望能使用其輪子於水上移動，及藉著某種方式，也將能示範"垂直式飛行"。

"MUWA: Multi-ﬁeld Universal Wheel for Air-land Vehicle with Quad Variable-pitch Propellers," by Koji Kawasaki, Moju Zhao, Kei Okada, and Masayuki Inaba from the University of Tokyo, was presented yesterday at IROS 2013 in Japan.

由來自日本東京大學Koji Kawasaki、Moju Zhao、Kei Okada及Masayuki Inaba等人撰稿，標題「MUWA：具有四個傾斜腳可變螺旋槳的空-陸機動車多場地通用輪」的論文，2013年11月4日於日本智慧型機器人及系統會議上被提出。