SCALER¶

SCALER

SCALER (Spine-enhanced Climbing Autonomous Limbed Exploration Robot) is a quadruped-limbed robot designed for free-climbing in extreme terrains.

It integrates tightly coupled locomotion and grasping (loco-grasping) to traverse vertical, overhang, upside-down, slippery surfaces, and bouldering walls under Earth's gravity.

It uses multi-modal grasping strategies, whole-body approaches, and dynamic climbing gaits to enhance its climbing capabilities.

Mechanical Designs¶

SCALER Rendering
- SCALER (Spine-enhanced Climbing Autonomous Limbed Exploration Robot)
Parallel Linkage Limb Design
- Strictly Coupled Loco-Grasping: SCALER balances power-intensive locomotion and dexterous grasping.
- 5-bar linkage mechanism
Torso Mechanism
- 1 DoF torso / 4-bar linkage
Torso Motion
- Shift workspace on demand
- Realize human stretch motion

End Effector (GOAT Gripper)¶

More Info

Capabilities¶

Sidepull Whole-Body Climbing
Ground Trot
Trotting with Payload
Dynamic Climbing
Sidepull Whole-Body Climbing
Sidepull Whole-Body Climbing
Vertical with Payload
Overhang Climbing
Upsidedown Ceiling Walking
Upsidedown Ceiling Walking on Slippery Surface

Key Characteristics¶

Multi-Modal Grasping: Employs C-GOAT grippers, which enable 7 grasping modes.
Whole-Body Approach: Uses body and limbs to generate extra forces for stable grasping.
Dynamic Climbing: Improves actuation speed for faster grasping and climbing.
Versatile Terrain Navigation: Successfully climbs vertical walls, overhangs, ceilings, and slippery surfaces.
Spine-Enhanced Free Climbing: Combines mechanical design and force control to enhance climbing stability.