Shipping Cargo on a Raft by an Insectomorphic Robot

An algorithm for designing the motion of a hexapod robot aimed at shipping the robot together with a cargo to the other shore of a body of water on a raft in the simple case when the robot imparts the initial push to the raft from the shore is described. The proposed motion control algorithm includes transporting the cargo from the shore to the raft, moving the cargo across the moving raft, and carrying the cargo from the raft to the other shore. The algorithm is worked out using computer simulation within the complete dynamical model of motion taking into account the nonstationary action of water on the raft. The numerical results prove the validity of the algorithm as long as sufficient data about the motion for the purpose of control is available.