Xu Qiping, Zhang Kehang, Ying Chenhang, Xie Huiyu, Chen Jinxin, E Shiju
Key Laboratory of Urban Rail Transit Intelligent Operation and Maintenance Technology & Equipment of Zhejiang Province, Department of Robotics Engineering, College of Engineering, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China.
Biomimetics (Basel). 2024 Sep 6;9(9):541. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics9090541.
The development of a soft crawling robot (SCR) capable of quick folding and recovery has important application value in the field of biomimetic engineering. This article proposes an origami-inspired vacuum-actuated foldable soft crawling robot (OVFSCR), which is composed of entirely soft foldable mirrored origami actuators with a Kresling crease pattern, and possesses capabilities of realizing multimodal locomotion incorporating crawling, climbing, and turning movements. The OVFSCR is characterized by producing periodically foldable and restorable body deformation, and its asymmetric structural design of low front and high rear hexahedral feet creates a friction difference between the two feet and contact surface to enable unidirectional movement. Combining an actuation control sequence with an asymmetrical structural design, the body deformation and feet in contact with ground can be coordinated to realize quick continuous forward crawling locomotion. Furthermore, an efficient dynamic model is developed to characterize the OVFSCR's motion capability. The robot demonstrates multifunctional characteristics, including crawling on a flat surface at an average speed of 11.9 mm/s, climbing a slope of 3°, carrying a certain payload, navigating inside straight and curved round tubes, removing obstacles, and traversing different media. It is revealed that the OVFSCR can imitate contractile deformation and crawling mode exhibited by soft biological worms. Our study contributes to paving avenues for practical applications in adaptive navigation, exploration, and inspection of soft robots in some uncharted territory.
一种能够快速折叠和恢复的软爬行机器人（SCR）的研发在仿生工程领域具有重要的应用价值。本文提出了一种受折纸启发的真空驱动可折叠软爬行机器人（OVFSCR），它由具有克雷斯林褶皱图案的全软可折叠镜面折纸致动器组成，并具备实现包括爬行、攀爬和转向运动的多模态运动的能力。OVFSCR的特点是能产生周期性可折叠和可恢复的身体变形，其低前高后六面体脚的不对称结构设计在两脚与接触面之间产生摩擦差，以实现单向运动。将驱动控制序列与不对称结构设计相结合，可协调身体变形和与地面接触的脚，以实现快速连续的向前爬行运动。此外，还开发了一个有效的动力学模型来表征OVFSCR的运动能力。该机器人展示了多功能特性，包括在平面上以平均11.9毫米/秒的速度爬行、攀爬3°的斜坡、承载一定载荷、在直管和弯管内导航、清除障碍物以及穿越不同介质。研究表明，OVFSCR可以模仿柔软生物蠕虫表现出的收缩变形和爬行模式。我们的研究为软机器人在一些未知领域的自适应导航、探索和检测的实际应用铺平了道路。
