Bio-inspiration is a starting point from which to design engineering products by learning the secrets of living creatures. We present the design, analysis, and experimental results of a robotic platform inspired by th...Bio-inspiration is a starting point from which to design engineering products by learning the secrets of living creatures. We present the design, analysis, and experimental results of a robotic platform inspired by the basilisk lizard, which is well known for its ability to run on water surface. The goal is to develop a robotic platform for amphibious locomotion on ground and water using a single configuration. A tripod gait is achieved with a hexapedal configuration and four-bar-based repeated motion of the legs. The hexapedal configuration is empirically proven to have an advantage in terms of rolling stability on water. On ground, the tripod gait can satisfy the requirements of static stability to make the center of gravity and center of pressure occur at the same position. The footpad design was determined based on an empirical study of the rolling stability and lifting force. The theoretical background and experimental results are presented to validate the ability of the proposed design to run on water and on the ground.展开更多
Amphibious robots are attracting more and more attentions from researchers worldwide tbr their broad appllcanons m resource exploration, disaster rescue, and reconnaissance. Amphibious robot with transformable flipper...Amphibious robots are attracting more and more attentions from researchers worldwide tbr their broad appllcanons m resource exploration, disaster rescue, and reconnaissance. Amphibious robot with transformable flipper-leg composite propul- sion mechanisms can adapt various terrestrial and water environments. In this paper, we explored the locomotion performance of a amphibious robot with flexible flipper legs on various terrains and underwater through dynamical simulation. The influence of the stiffness of the flipper legs on the locomotion performance in various environments was investigated comprehensively. The results indicate that the locomotion with flexible flipper legs is very stable, and the stiffness of the flipper legs has a great impact on the locomotion performance. The verification experiments demonstrate the accuracy of the simulation results. The study facilitates the design of the amphibious robot and indicates that the passively transformable flipper-leg mechanisms also enable amphibious robot to conquer various complex terrestrial environments.展开更多
Bionic amphibious robots have important prospects in scientific, commercial, and military fields. Compared with traditional amphibious robots which use propellers/jets for aquatic medium and wheels/tracks for terrestr...Bionic amphibious robots have important prospects in scientific, commercial, and military fields. Compared with traditional amphibious robots which use propellers/jets for aquatic medium and wheels/tracks for terrestrial medium, bionic propulsion method has great advantages in terms of manoeuvrability, efficiency, and reliability, because there is no need to switch between different propulsion systems. To explore the integrated driving technology of amphibious robot, a novel bio-inspired soft robotic fin for amphibious use is proposed in this paper. The bionic fin can swim underwater and walk on land by the same undulating motion. To balance the conflicting demands of flexibility underwater and rigidity on land, the undulating fin adopts a special combination of a membrane fin and a bending spring. A periodic longitudinal wave in horizontal direction has been found generating passively in dynamic analysis. To find the composite wave-driven mechanics, theoretical analysis is conducted based on the walking model and swimming model. A virtual prototype is built in ADAMS software to verify the walking mechanics. The simulation result reveals that the passive longitudinal wave is also periodical and the composite wave contributes to land walking. Finally, an amphibious robot prototype actuated by a pair of undulating fins has been developed. The experiments show that the robot can achieve multiple locomotion, including walking forward/backward, turning in place, swimming underwater, and crossing medium, thus giving evidence to the feasibility of the newly designed undulating fin for amphibious robot.展开更多
Inspired by the movement of duck that is able to move on land and water utilizing its webbed feet, a novel design of an amphibious robot has been presented in this paper. In contrary, the orthodox design of amphibious...Inspired by the movement of duck that is able to move on land and water utilizing its webbed feet, a novel design of an amphibious robot has been presented in this paper. In contrary, the orthodox design of amphibious robot utilizes the tracks or wheels on land and switches to the propeller to move in water. The proposed design employs same propulsion system as webbed feet to move on land and water. After studying the movement of the duck underwater, a conclusion has been drawn that it is swimming in the water by moving its webbed feet back and forth to generate force to push its body forward. Recreating this phenomenon of duck movement, hybrid robot locomotion has been designed and developed which is able to walk, swim and climb steps using the same propulsion system. Moreover, webbed feet would be able to walk efficiently on muddy, icy or sandy terrain due to uneven distribution of robot weight on the feet. To be able to justify the feasibility of the design, simulations are being carried out using SimulationXpress of the SOLIDWORKS software.展开更多
文摘Bio-inspiration is a starting point from which to design engineering products by learning the secrets of living creatures. We present the design, analysis, and experimental results of a robotic platform inspired by the basilisk lizard, which is well known for its ability to run on water surface. The goal is to develop a robotic platform for amphibious locomotion on ground and water using a single configuration. A tripod gait is achieved with a hexapedal configuration and four-bar-based repeated motion of the legs. The hexapedal configuration is empirically proven to have an advantage in terms of rolling stability on water. On ground, the tripod gait can satisfy the requirements of static stability to make the center of gravity and center of pressure occur at the same position. The footpad design was determined based on an empirical study of the rolling stability and lifting force. The theoretical background and experimental results are presented to validate the ability of the proposed design to run on water and on the ground.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China （51375468）.
文摘Amphibious robots are attracting more and more attentions from researchers worldwide tbr their broad appllcanons m resource exploration, disaster rescue, and reconnaissance. Amphibious robot with transformable flipper-leg composite propul- sion mechanisms can adapt various terrestrial and water environments. In this paper, we explored the locomotion performance of a amphibious robot with flexible flipper legs on various terrains and underwater through dynamical simulation. The influence of the stiffness of the flipper legs on the locomotion performance in various environments was investigated comprehensively. The results indicate that the locomotion with flexible flipper legs is very stable, and the stiffness of the flipper legs has a great impact on the locomotion performance. The verification experiments demonstrate the accuracy of the simulation results. The study facilitates the design of the amphibious robot and indicates that the passively transformable flipper-leg mechanisms also enable amphibious robot to conquer various complex terrestrial environments.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.52075537 and Grant No.52105289).
文摘Bionic amphibious robots have important prospects in scientific, commercial, and military fields. Compared with traditional amphibious robots which use propellers/jets for aquatic medium and wheels/tracks for terrestrial medium, bionic propulsion method has great advantages in terms of manoeuvrability, efficiency, and reliability, because there is no need to switch between different propulsion systems. To explore the integrated driving technology of amphibious robot, a novel bio-inspired soft robotic fin for amphibious use is proposed in this paper. The bionic fin can swim underwater and walk on land by the same undulating motion. To balance the conflicting demands of flexibility underwater and rigidity on land, the undulating fin adopts a special combination of a membrane fin and a bending spring. A periodic longitudinal wave in horizontal direction has been found generating passively in dynamic analysis. To find the composite wave-driven mechanics, theoretical analysis is conducted based on the walking model and swimming model. A virtual prototype is built in ADAMS software to verify the walking mechanics. The simulation result reveals that the passive longitudinal wave is also periodical and the composite wave contributes to land walking. Finally, an amphibious robot prototype actuated by a pair of undulating fins has been developed. The experiments show that the robot can achieve multiple locomotion, including walking forward/backward, turning in place, swimming underwater, and crossing medium, thus giving evidence to the feasibility of the newly designed undulating fin for amphibious robot.
文摘Inspired by the movement of duck that is able to move on land and water utilizing its webbed feet, a novel design of an amphibious robot has been presented in this paper. In contrary, the orthodox design of amphibious robot utilizes the tracks or wheels on land and switches to the propeller to move in water. The proposed design employs same propulsion system as webbed feet to move on land and water. After studying the movement of the duck underwater, a conclusion has been drawn that it is swimming in the water by moving its webbed feet back and forth to generate force to push its body forward. Recreating this phenomenon of duck movement, hybrid robot locomotion has been designed and developed which is able to walk, swim and climb steps using the same propulsion system. Moreover, webbed feet would be able to walk efficiently on muddy, icy or sandy terrain due to uneven distribution of robot weight on the feet. To be able to justify the feasibility of the design, simulations are being carried out using SimulationXpress of the SOLIDWORKS software.
