Halluc II, a very cool robot with "multi-joint wheel modules" fuses robotic technology and automobile technology in one autonomous device. The robot is the product of the Chiba Institute of Technology.
Halluc II is about eighty centimeters in length; it weighs a total of twenty kilograms. Its eight legs end in special wheeled modules that can independently orient themselves in different positions.
The Halluc II robot can orient its wheels forward, and zoom straight ahead or back (Vehicle mode). It can also turn its wheels sideways, and move directly from side to side.
The robot can also disdain the use of wheels, turning each separate wheel module over, and "stump around" on the blunt ends in a spider-like fashion. It can use the same technique with the wheels down, creeping spider-fashion forward, backward and from side-to-side.
Halluc II can also alter the height of pairs of wheels, literally flowing over obstacles as high as 12 centimeters.
The robot also has a choice of how to orient the wheels, to the side (more stable - Insect mode) or under the body (Animal mode - for narrower places).
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