The evaluation method on steering is based on qualitative manner in existence, which causes the result inaccurate and fuzziness. It reduces the efficiency of process execution. So the method by quantitative manner for the shape-shifting robot in different configurations is proposed. Comparing to traditional evaluation method, the most important aspects which can influence the steering abilities of the robot in different configurations are researched in detail, including the energy, angular velocity, time and space. In order to improve the robustness of system, the ideal and slippage conditions are all considered by mathematical model. Comparing to the traditional weighting confirming method, the extent of robot steering method is proposed by the combination of subjective and objective weighting method. The subjective weighting method can show more preferences of the experts and is based on five-grade scale. The objective weighting method is based on information entropy to determine the factors. By the sensors fixed on the robot, the contract force between track grouser and ground, the intrinsic motion characteristics of robot are obtained and the experiment is done to prove the algorithm which is proposed as the robot in different common configurations. Through the method proposed in the article, fuzziness and inaccurate of the evaluation method has been solved, so the operators can choose the most suitable configuration of the robot to fulfil the different tasks more quickly and simply.

This work was published on Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering Vol.29, No.1 2016, PP 21-32, titled Evaluation Method on Steering for the Shape-shifting Robot in Different Configurations.