Kim Sohyun, Cha Youngsu
School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea.
iScience. 2023 Apr 26;26(5):106726. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106726. eCollection 2023 May 19.
The soft structure of creatures without a rigid internal skeleton can easily adapt to any atypical environment. In the same context, robots with soft structures can change their shape to adapt to complex and varied surroundings. In this study, we introduce a caterpillar-inspired soft crawling robot with a fully soft body. The proposed crawling robot consists of soft modules based on an electrohydraulic actuator, a body frame, and contact pads. The modular robotic design produces deformations similar to the peristaltic crawling behavior of caterpillars. In this approach, the deformable body replicates the mechanism of the anchor movement of a caterpillar by sequentially varying the friction between the robot contact pads and the ground. The robot carries out forward movement by repeating the operation pattern. The robot has also been demonstrated to traverse slopes and narrow crevices.
没有刚性内部骨骼的生物的柔软结构能够轻松适应任何非典型环境。同样，具有柔软结构的机器人可以改变其形状以适应复杂多变的环境。在本研究中，我们介绍了一种受毛毛虫启发的全软身软体爬行机器人。所提出的爬行机器人由基于电动液压致动器的软模块、车身框架和接触垫组成。模块化机器人设计产生类似于毛毛虫蠕动爬行行为的变形。在这种方法中，可变形身体通过依次改变机器人接触垫与地面之间的摩擦力来复制毛毛虫的锚定运动机制。机器人通过重复操作模式来进行向前运动。该机器人还被证明能够穿越斜坡和狭窄的裂缝。
