Team Members & Role:

Ken Suzuki: Team Lead

Shaylyn Tavarez: Analysis Lead

Salani Seneviratne: Design Lead

Connor Delaney: Fabrication Lead

Georges Chebly: Controls/Electrical Lead

Peter White: Evaluation Lead

Abstract: Guide dogs are widely used by blind and low-vision (BLV) individuals for assistance in navigation, primarily for their autonomy, safety, and efficiency. However, the cost and responsibility of guide dogs limits access for many BLV individuals. In contrast to their animal counterparts, robot guide dogs offer lower cost, ease of maintenance, and potential for mass production. These advantages make the idea of a robotic guide dog attractive. There are existing quadruped robots but they are either too large for everyday use or cannot traverse everyday obstacles such as stairs. The UMass Dynamic and Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARoS) Lab currently uses the Unitree Go1 robot as their guide dog robot research platform. This setup is unable to climb stairs, limiting its use to flat terrain. For these reasons our team will create a lightweight, power efficient, quadruped robot with hardware capable of stair climbing while maintaining its portability for the DARoS Lab to further their research. Our approach minimizes losses during locomotion by offering legs inspired by the anatomy of golden retrievers. Transmission linkages were chosen to drive the legs due to their efficiency and ease of control. The body size was chosen to accommodate the electronics used by the DARoS Lab while remaining smaller than carry-on suitcase dimensions for easy storage. The body will be fabricated from aluminum sheet metal to lower costs and weight while maximizing durability.

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