Robotic exploration of surfaces and its application to legged locomotion

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.R. Sinha ◽  
R.K. Bajcsy
Keyword(s):  
Legged Locomotion ◽  
Robotic Exploration

Stress fields in granular material and implications for performance of robot locomotion over granular media

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 2005-2009
Author(s):  
Diandong Ren ◽  
Lance M. Leslie ◽  
Congbin Fu
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Granular Material ◽  
Granular Media ◽  
Rotation Frequency ◽  
Legged Locomotion ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Navier Stokes ◽  
Maximum Speed ◽  
Sigmoid Curve ◽  
Multi Body

 Legged locomotion of robots has advantages in reducing payload in contexts such as travel over deserts or in planet surfaces. A recent study (Li et al. 2013) partially addresses this issue by examining legged locomotion over granular media (GM). However, they miss one extremely significant fact. When the robot’s wheels (legs) run over GM, the granules are set into motion. Hence, unlike the study of Li et al. (2013), the viscosity of the GM must be included to simulate the kinematic energy loss in striking and passing through the GM. Here the locomotion in their experiments is re-examined using an advanced Navier-Stokes framework with a parameterized granular viscosity. It is found that the performance efficiency of a robot, measured by the maximum speed attainable, follows a six-parameter sigmoid curve when plotted against rotating frequency. A correct scaling for the turning point of the sigmoid curve involves the footprint size, rotation frequency and weight of the robot. Our proposed granular response to a load, or the ‘influencing domain’ concept points out that there is no hydrostatic balance within granular material. The balance is a synergic action of multi-body solids. A solid (of whatever density) may stay in equilibrium at an arbitrary depth inside the GM. It is shown that there exists only a minimum set-in depth and there is no maximum or optimal depth. The set-in depth of a moving robot is a combination of its weight, footprint, thrusting/stroking frequency, surface property of the legs against GM with which it has direct contact, and internal mechanical properties of the GM. If the vehicle’s working environment is known, the wheel-granular interaction and the granular mechanical properties can be grouped together. The unitless combination of the other three can form invariants to scale the performance of various designs of wheels/legs. Wider wheel/leg widths increase the maximum achievable speed if all other parameters are unchanged.

A stepping stone approach to human and robotic exploration of space

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Pengra ◽  
Stephen Johnson ◽  
Mark Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Stepping Stone ◽  
Robotic Exploration

LEAPFROG Generation-X: Exploring Modularized Martian Robotic Exploration through Crowdsourcing the Open-Source Community

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ortega ◽  
Anubhav Thakur Thakur ◽  
Eduardo Aldana ◽  
Michael Jacobs ◽  
Pieter Kranenburg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Generation X ◽  
Robotic Exploration

scholarly journals Getting grip in changing environments: the effect of friction anisotropy inversion on robot locomotion

2021 ◽  
Vol 127 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Halvor T. Tramsen ◽  
Lars Heepe ◽  
Jettanan Homchanthanakul ◽  
Florentin Wörgötter ◽  
Stanislav N. Gorb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Legged Locomotion ◽  
Hexapod Robot ◽  
Friction Anisotropy ◽  
Anisotropic Friction ◽  
Walking Behavior ◽  
Robot Locomotion ◽  
Computational Morphology ◽  
Anisotropic Structures ◽  
Walking Environment

AbstractLegged locomotion of robots can be greatly improved by bioinspired tribological structures and by applying the principles of computational morphology to achieve fast and energy-efficient walking. In a previous research, we mounted shark skin on the belly of a hexapod robot to show that the passive anisotropic friction properties of this structure enhance locomotion efficiency, resulting in a stronger grip on varying walking surfaces. This study builds upon these results by using a previously investigated sawtooth structure as a model surface on a legged robot to systematically examine the influences of different material and surface properties on the resulting friction coefficients and the walking behavior of the robot. By employing different surfaces and by varying the stiffness and orientation of the anisotropic structures, we conclude that with having prior knowledge about the walking environment in combination with the tribological properties of these structures, we can greatly improve the robot’s locomotion efficiency.

scholarly journals Simulation and Analysis of Self-Replicating Robot Decision-Making Systems

Computers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Andrew Jones ◽  
Jeremy Straub
Keyword(s):  
Lower Risk ◽  
System Construction ◽  
System Configuration ◽  
Operating Environment ◽  
Robot System ◽  
Robotic Exploration ◽  
Mission Success ◽  
Robot Systems ◽  
System Configurations

Self-replicating robot systems (SRRSs) are a new prospective paradigm for robotic exploration. They can potentially facilitate lower mission costs and enhance mission capabilities by allowing some materials, which are needed for robotic system construction, to be collected in situ and used for robot fabrication. The use of a self-replicating robot system can potentially lower risk aversion, due to the ability to potentially replenish lost or damaged robots, and may increase the likelihood of mission success. This paper proposes and compares system configurations of an SRRS. A simulation system was designed and is used to model how an SRRS performs based on its system configuration, attributes, and operating environment. Experiments were conducted using this simulation and the results are presented.

scholarly journals A Bio-Inspired Compliance Planning and Implementation Method for Hydraulically Actuated Quadruped Robots with Consideration of Ground Stiffness

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2838
Author(s):  
Xiaoxing Zhang ◽  
Haoyuan Yi ◽  
Junjun Liu ◽  
Qi Li ◽  
Xin Luo
Keyword(s):  
Harmonic Oscillation ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Legged Locomotion ◽  
Soft Ground ◽  
Quadruped Robots ◽  
In Series ◽  
Reaction Forces ◽  
Implementation Method ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Natural Dynamics

There has been a rising interest in compliant legged locomotion to improve the adaptability and energy efficiency of robots. However, few approaches can be generalized to soft ground due to the lack of consideration of the ground surface. When a robot locomotes on soft ground, the elastic robot legs and compressible ground surface are connected in series. The combined compliance of the leg and surface determines the natural dynamics of the whole system and affects the stability and efficiency of the robot. This paper proposes a bio-inspired leg compliance planning and implementation method with consideration of the ground surface. The ground stiffness is estimated based on analysis of ground reaction forces in the frequency domain, and the leg compliance is actively regulated during locomotion, adapting them to achieve harmonic oscillation. The leg compliance is planned on the condition of resonant movement which agrees with natural dynamics and facilitates rhythmicity and efficiency. The proposed method has been implemented on a hydraulic quadruped robot. The simulations and experimental results verified the effectiveness of our method.

Modeling and Control of Legged Locomotion via Switching Max-Plus Models

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 652-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel A. D. Lopes ◽  
Bart Kersbergen ◽  
Ton J. J. van den Boom ◽  
Bart De Schutter ◽  
Robert Babuska
Keyword(s):  
Legged Locomotion ◽  
Modeling And Control ◽  
And Control

A Simple Analytical Tool for Legged Robot Design

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuohua Shen ◽  
Justin Seipel
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Solutions ◽  
Inverted Pendulum ◽  
Legged Locomotion ◽  
Robot Design ◽  
Slip Model ◽  
Legged Robot ◽  
Biologically Relevant ◽  
Analytical Approximations ◽  
Energy Conserving ◽  
Spring Loaded Inverted Pendulum

Although legged locomotion is better at tackling complicated terrains compared with wheeled locomotion, legged robots are rare, in part, because of the lack of simple design tools. The dynamics governing legged locomotion are generally nonlinear and hybrid (piecewise-continuous) and so require numerical simulation for analysis and are not easily applied to robot designs. During the past decade, a few approximated analytical solutions of Spring-Loaded Inverted Pendulum (SLIP), a canonical model in legged locomotion, have been developed. However, SLIP is energy conserving and cannot predict the dynamical stability of real-world legged locomotion. To develop new analytical tools for legged robot designs, we first analytically solved SLIP in a new way. Then based on SLIP solution, we developed an analytical solution of a hip-actuated Spring-Loaded Inverted Pendulum (hip-actuated-SLIP) model, which is more biologically relevant and stable than the canonical energy conserving SLIP model. The analytical approximations offered here for SLIP and the hip actuated-SLIP solutions compare well with the numerical simulations of each. The analytical solutions presented here are simpler in form than those resulting from existing analytical approximations. The analytical solutions of SLIP and the hip actuated-SLIP can be used as tools for robot design or for generating biological hypotheses.

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