Chen Guangming, Qiao Long, Zhou Zhenwen, Richter Lutz, Ji Aihong
Lab of Locomotion Bioinspiration and Intelligent Robots, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China.
Large Space Structures GmbH, Hauptstr. 1e, D-85386 Eching, Germany.
Biomimetics (Basel). 2023 Jan 18;8(1):44. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics8010044.
Exploring Mars is beneficial to increasing our knowledge, understanding the possibility of ancient microbial life there, and discovering new resources beyond the Earth to prepare for future human missions to Mars. To assist ambitious uncrewed missions to Mars, specific types of planetary rovers have been developed for performing tasks on Mars' surface. Due to the fact that the surface is composed of granular soils and rocks of various sizes, contemporary rovers can have difficulties in moving on soft soils and climbing over rocks. To overcome such difficulties, this research develops a quadruped creeping robot inspired by the locomotion characteristics of the desert lizard. This biomimetic robot features a flexible spine, which allows swinging movements during locomotion. The leg structure utilizes a four-linkage mechanism, which ensures a steady lifting motion. The foot consists of an active ankle and a round pad with four flexible toes that are effective in grasping soils and rocks. To determine robot motions, kinematic models relating to foot, leg, and spine are established. Moreover, the coordinated motions between the trunk spine and leg are numerically verified. In addition, the mobility on granular soils and rocky surface are experimentally demonstrated, which can imply that this biomimetic robot is suitable for Mars surface terrains.
探索火星有助于增加我们的知识，了解那里古代微生物生命存在的可能性，并发现地球以外的新资源，为未来人类前往火星的任务做准备。为了协助雄心勃勃的无人火星任务，已经开发了特定类型的行星漫游车在火星表面执行任务。由于火星表面由各种大小的颗粒状土壤和岩石组成，现代漫游车在软土上移动和翻越岩石时可能会遇到困难。为了克服这些困难，本研究开发了一种受沙漠蜥蜴运动特性启发的四足爬行机器人。这种仿生机器人具有灵活的脊柱，使其在运动过程中能够摆动。腿部结构采用四连杆机构，确保稳定的抬起动作。足部由一个主动踝关节和一个带有四个灵活脚趾的圆形脚垫组成，这些脚趾在抓取土壤和岩石方面很有效。为了确定机器人的运动，建立了与足部、腿部和脊柱相关的运动学模型。此外，还对躯干脊柱和腿部之间的协调运动进行了数值验证。此外，还通过实验证明了该机器人在颗粒状土壤和岩石表面的移动性，这表明这种仿生机器人适用于火星表面地形。
