Patent ID: 9688326
Date: 2017-06-27
CPC Classifications: B62D,Y10S

Claim:
1. A drive unit for driving a robot, the drive unit comprising: a pair of wheels rotatably disposed relative to a body; an endless tread engaging the pair of wheels to define a planar bottom surface of the endless tread, the endless tread having a plurality of holes with at least three holes in the plurality of holes being on the planar bottom surface; a vacuum motor connected to a vacuum chamber with an opening that is aligned with the planar bottom surface such that the vacuum motor pulls air through at least one aligned hole when aligned with the opening, the at least one aligned hole being selected from the at least three holes; wherein the opening is provided on an underside of the drive unit and comprises a first vacuum chamber and a second vacuum chamber, the first vacuum chamber and the second vacuum chamber each having a width substantially equal to the width of the endless tread, the first vacuum chamber and the second vacuum chamber being disposed adjacent one another such that each hole in the plurality of holes sequentially passes over the first vacuum chamber and then the second vacuum chamber during actuation of the pair of wheels.