The Accessible Region of Space and Workspace for Robots With Intermittent Flight Phases

For traditional robotic chassis driven by wheeled contact with the environment, the accessible region of space can be determined by examining the obstacles that obstruct locomotion. For robots capable of leaving contact with intermittent ballistic flights, the accessible space is not readily apparent. In order to plan robotic exploration in unknown environments, the robot must first have an estimate for the region of space accessible through the use of a ballistic trajectory. This work defines the region of accessible space for a robot capable of intermittent flight phases. This includes hopping robots, swinging robots, and wheeled robots with the capability of jumping away from contact. The accessible space will also be identified for the case where there are limitations on the direction of actuation. Since hopping can be used for climbing vertical walls in some instances, a climbing subspace is defined within the accessible space. This subspace is derived and several examples are shown.