Engineers at UCLA’s Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) have developed a tape measure robot that uses an innovative design to quickly scale obstacles. Called EEWOC (Extended-reach Enhanced Wheeled Orb for Climbing), it comes equipped with a EEMMMa (Elastic Extending Mechanism for Mobility and Manipulation) limb attached to a motorized spool.
For vertical climbing, it can extend EEMMMa up to 3.9-feet, while a magnetized end effector tool grips the metal surface to allow for the robot to pull itself up. The 4.6-pound EEWOC boasts a maximum climbing speed of 0.79-feet per second, making it one of the fastest climbing robots yet. Future plans include adding grippers that would allow it to grab onto surfaces like tree branches.
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The Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory at UCLA is a facility for graduate and undergraduate robotics research and education with an emphasis on studying humanoid robots and novel mobile robot locomotion strategies. Our research interests are in the area of Robot Locomotion & Manipulation, Soft Actuators, Platform Design, Kinematics and Mechanisms, and Autonomous Systems,” said the researchers.
