Aerospace Engineering Department, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA, USA.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 4800 Oak Grove Drive, M/S 82-105, Pasadena, CA, USA.
Nat Commun. 2023 Jun 27;14(1):3323. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-39018-y.
Robot designs can take many inspirations from nature, where there are many examples of highly resilient and fault-tolerant locomotion strategies to navigate complex terrains by recruiting multi-functional appendages. For example, birds such as Chukars and Hoatzins can repurpose wings for quadrupedal walking and wing-assisted incline running. These animals showcase impressive dexterity in employing the same appendages in different ways and generating multiple modes of locomotion, resulting in highly plastic locomotion traits which enable them to interact and navigate various environments and expand their habitat range. The robotic biomimicry of animals' appendage repurposing can yield mobile robots with unparalleled capabilities. Taking inspiration from animals, we have designed a robot capable of negotiating unstructured, multi-substrate environments, including land and air, by employing its components in different ways as wheels, thrusters, and legs. This robot is called the Multi-Modal Mobility Morphobot, or M4 in short. M4 can employ its multi-functional components composed of several actuator types to (1) fly, (2) roll, (3) crawl, (4) crouch, (5) balance, (6) tumble, (7) scout, and (8) loco-manipulate. M4 can traverse steep slopes of up to 45 deg. and rough terrains with large obstacles when in balancing mode. M4 possesses onboard computers and sensors and can autonomously employ its modes to negotiate an unstructured environment. We present the design of M4 and several experiments showcasing its multi-modal capabilities.
机器人的设计可以从自然界中汲取许多灵感，自然界中有许多具有高度弹性和容错性的运动策略，这些策略通过利用多功能的附肢来在复杂的地形中导航。例如，鹧鸪和霍氏树鴷等鸟类可以将翅膀重新用于四足行走和翅膀辅助的倾斜奔跑。这些动物在以不同的方式使用相同的附肢并产生多种运动模式方面表现出令人印象深刻的灵巧性，从而产生高度灵活的运动特征，使它们能够与各种环境相互作用并扩展其栖息地范围。对动物附肢重新利用的机器人仿生学可以产生具有无与伦比能力的移动机器人。受动物启发，我们设计了一种机器人，它可以通过以不同的方式使用其组件作为轮子、推进器和腿，在陆地和空中等多种非结构化多基质环境中进行导航。这种机器人被称为多模态移动变形机器人，简称 M4。M4 可以利用其由多种执行器类型组成的多功能组件来（1）飞行，（2）滚动，（3）爬行，（4）蹲伏，（5）平衡，（6）翻滚，（7）侦察，以及（8）locomote 操纵。M4 可以在平衡模式下在高达 45 度的陡坡和有大障碍物的粗糙地形上行驶。M4 拥有机载计算机和传感器，可以自主地使用其模式来穿越非结构化环境。我们介绍了 M4 的设计和几个展示其多模态能力的实验。
