System Design of the Ultra Mobility Vehicle: A Driving, Balancing, and Jumping Bicycle Robot
This work addresses the challenge of dynamic mobility for robotics in rough terrain, though it is incremental as it builds on existing robotic and control methods.
The researchers tackled the problem of creating a versatile robotic platform that mimics athletic bicycle maneuvers by designing the Ultra Mobility Vehicle (UMV), which achieves high speeds of 8 m/s and can jump over obstacles up to 1 m tall (130% of its height).
Trials cyclists and mountain bike riders can hop, jump, balance, and drive on one or both wheels. This versatility allows them to achieve speed and energy-efficiency on smooth terrain and agility over rough terrain. Inspired by these athletes, we present the design and control of a robotic platform, Ultra Mobility Vehicle (UMV), which combines a bicycle and a reaction mass to move dynamically with minimal actuated degrees of freedom. We employ a simulation-driven design optimization process to synthesize a spatial linkage topology with a focus on vertical jump height and momentum-based balancing on a single wheel contact. Using a constrained Reinforcement Learning (RL) framework, we demonstrate zero-shot transfer of diverse athletic behaviors, including track-stands, jumps, wheelies, rear wheel hopping, and front flips. This 23.5 kg robot is capable of high speeds (8 m/s) and jumping on and over large obstacles (1 m tall, or 130% of the robot's nominal height).