Stair Climbing via Successive Perching

Stairs are a primary challenge for mobile robots navigating indoor human environments. Stair climbing is a useful, if not necessary, capability for mobile robots in urban search and rescue, security, cleaning, telepresence, elder care, and other applications. Existing stair climbing robots are large, expensive, and not always reliable, especially when descending stairs. In this paper, we present a novel approach for stair climbing that is...