Design and Analysis of the Bionic Mechanical Foot with High Trafficability on Sand

Rui Zhang,Lige Wen,Dianlei Han,Guoyu Li,Haijin Wan,Hao Pang

doi:10.1155/2020/3489142

Abstract

The ostrich foot has excellent travelling performance on sand and plays a vital role in efficient locomotion. The tendon-bone assembly characteristics of an ostrich foot were studied by gross anatomy, and the 3D model of ostrich foot was reconstructed and analyzed using reverse engineering techniques. Further, the bionic mechanical foot, suitable for locomotion on loose sand, was designed based on the structural characteristics of ostrich foot and its rigid-flexible coupling mechanism of tendon-bone synergies. The travelling performance on sand of the bionic mechanical foot was tested on a test platform by using Simi Motion. After analyzing the angle changes of the ankle joint and the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint, the displacement changes of the knee joint, the ankle joint, the MTP joint, and each phalanx along the z-axis, the plantar pressure distribution, and the footprints, we drew the conclusion that the bionic mechanical foot is helpful to reduce the sinkage and improve the trafficability on sand ground. This study provides a new research method for the walking mechanism of a robot and deep space exploration platform walking on soft ground.

Highlights

Bionic walking robot has been widely applied in many fields due to its strong adaptability in complex environments, such as desert, mud, and ruins [1,2,3]
When the bionic mechanical foot moved on the loose sand, the angle fluctuation of the ankle joint was larger at high speed than at low and medium speed, indicating that the bionic mechanical foot may be more suitable for moving at low speed and medium speed
When the bionic mechanical foot moved at medium and low speeds, its movement speed on the loose sand was higher than that on the solid ground, while the situation was just the opposite when moving at high speed

Summary

Introduction

Bionic walking robot has been widely applied in many fields due to its strong adaptability in complex environments, such as desert, mud, and ruins [1,2,3]. Osaka University designed the “Asterisk” hexapod robot with spider as a bionic prototype [19], and NASA designed the “LEMUR” hexapod bionic robot with crab as a bionic prototype [20] These robots are typical representatives of bionic hexapod robots. The feet of ASIMO2011 are approximately elliptic, while the feet of Atlas are rectangular These foot structures allow robots to walk steadily on the regular ground, but there have been few studies of mechanical foot suitable for soft terrains such as deserts, the surface of the moon, and Mars. Most robots adapt to a complex terrain by adjusting the postures of their feet, which remain in rigid contact with the ground Under this background, the walking effect of robots on the soft ground is poor

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion