Caprine Agility

Robots with Caprine Agility

Our agile robot platform is based on our unique wheel frame consisting of a front and a back wheel in combination with two side wheels – where front and back wheels synchronously turn in the opposite direction, allowing for 360°-turning on the spot and high directional precision.

Our name and logo are inspired by the Latin word Capra, which refers to the goat genus. Goats are a big inspiration for our robots, especially in terms of agility, endurance, robustness, and their wide field of vision. Furthermore, goats are fantastic climbers, they are agile, friendly and you might feel like patting them, but not like kicking it. All these qualities are highly relevant for robots that are intended for our target application areas.

Due to our patented wheel frame, our mobile robots can climb 50% slopes, curbs of up to 15 cm, and perform 360° turns even on a 30° sloping surface. They are highly agile robots, and due to their AWD design, they can drive in all terrains from urban to rural settings, and on any surface, from pavement to mud and sand, without getting stuck.

Effortless Curb Climb

We have developed a new kind of suspension system has been developed and integrated with the wheel frame, giving variable flexibility allowing for climbing larger curbs, and being very terrain adaptable.

By the combined torque effort of both the front and rear wheel motors, our agile robot can efficiently traverse obstacles up to 40% of wheel height. Whether the obstacle is sharp, rounded and regardless of one or all wheels encounter the obstacle, the effect stays the same.

When first encountering an obstacle, our agile robot pulls with its front wheel and pushes with its rear wheel, effectively climbing the obstacle. As soon as the front wheel has traversed the obstacle, the side wheels can be pulled over the obstacle by the combined effort of the front and rear wheel, which inherently stabilizes the steering. This movement is further strengthened due to the pull angle, going from the front to the side wheels.

Once the side wheels have cleared the obstacle and gained stability, the rear wheel is pulled over the obstacle by a combination of its torque and the pulling force of the front wheel. The side wheels further strengthen the movement due to the pull angle, going from the side wheels to the back wheel.

Precise Steering and Powerful Propulsion

Typically, mobile robots are based on either Differential steering or Ackermann steering. We have combined the two, utilizing their advantages and omitting their disadvantages.

A differential-wheeled robot varies the drive output of its two drive wheels in a differential manner to generate a curvilinear motion. This method’s drive path is unstable due to its reliance on surface friction, tire wear, and the distance between the driving wheels.

An Ackermann-wheeled robot turns the front wheels to allow it to deviate from a straight line. The point of the steering mechanism is to avoid tires slip sideways when driving in a curvilinear motion. While ensuring controllability and stability, the wheel frame suffers from low agility and high turning radius.

Our agile robot has steering, and drive forces separated through its innovative wheel frame. This constellation makes it simpler to predict the robot’s drive path and movement becomes more energy-efficient since all available drive torque goes into propelling the robot forward. Additionally, our solution utilizes the agility from differential steering and the stability from Ackermann steering.

Your next step

Feel free to contact us if you have a question. Alternatively, book a demo and Capra Hircus will come to you.