Bilkent University, Mechanical Engineering Department, Ankara, Turkey.
Bioinspir Biomim. 2021 Sep 28;16(6). doi: 10.1088/1748-3190/ac245e.
The locomotion performance of the current legged miniature robots remains inferior compared to even the most simple insects. The inferiority has led researchers to utilize biological principles and control in their designs, often resulting in improved performance and robot capabilities. Additionally, optimizing the locomotion patterns compatible with the robot's limitations (such as the gaits achievable by the robot) improves the performance significantly and results in a robot operating with its maximum capabilities. This paper studies the locomotion characteristics of running/walking-legged modular miniature robots with soft or rigid module connections. The locomotion study is done using the presented dynamic model, and the results are verified using a legged modular miniature robot with soft and rigid backbones (SMoLBot). The optimum foot contact sequences for an-legged robot with different compliance values between the modules are derived using the locomotion analyses and the dynamic and kinematic formulations. Our investigations determine unique optimum foot contact sequences for multi-legged robots with different body compliances and module numbers. Locomotion analyses of a multi-legged robot with different backbones operating with optimum gaits show two main motion characteristics; the rigid robots minimize the number of leg-ground contacts to increase velocity, whereas soft-backbone robots use a lift-jump-fall motion sequence to maximize the translational speeds. These two behaviors are similar between different soft-backbone and rigid-backbone robots; however, the optimal foot contact sequences are different and unpredictable.
当前的腿式微型机器人的运动性能仍然不如即使是最简单的昆虫。这种劣势促使研究人员在设计中利用生物原理和控制，这通常会导致性能和机器人能力的提高。此外，优化与机器人限制兼容的运动模式（例如机器人能够实现的步态）可以显著提高性能，并使机器人以最大能力运行。本文研究了具有软连接或硬连接的腿式模块化微型机器人的运动特性。使用所提出的动态模型进行运动学研究，并使用具有软、硬骨架的腿式模块化微型机器人（SMoLBot）对结果进行验证。使用运动学分析和动态、运动学公式推导了具有不同模块之间柔顺值的腿式机器人的最佳足接触序列。我们的研究为具有不同身体柔顺度和模块数量的多腿机器人确定了独特的最佳足接触序列。具有不同骨架的多腿机器人在最优步态下的运动学分析显示了两个主要运动特性；刚性机器人通过减少腿与地面的接触次数来提高速度，而软骨架机器人则使用提升-跳跃-下降的运动序列来最大化平移速度。不同软骨架和刚性骨架机器人之间存在这两种行为相似性；然而，最佳足接触序列是不同的，也是不可预测的。
