Combining wheeled structure with hopping mechanism, this paper purposes a self-balanced hopping robot with hybrid motion pattern. The main actuator which is the cylindrical cam, optimized by particle swarm optimization (PSO), is equipped with the motor to control the hopping motion. Robotic system dynamics model is established and solved by Lagrangian method. After linearization, control characteristics of the system is obtained by classical control theory based on dynamics equations. By applying Adams and Matlab to simulate the system, hopping locomotion and self-balanced capability are validated respectively, and result shows that jump height can reach 750 mm theoretically. Then PID control scheme is developed and specific models of hardware and software are settled down accordingly. Finally, prototype is implemented and series of hopping experiments are conducted, showing that with different projectile angle, prototype can jump 550 mm in height and 460 mm in length, transcending majority of other existing hopping robots.
