Rolling Soft Membrane-Driven Tensegrity Robots

Abstract

We present a methodology for designing, fabricating, and controlling rolling membrane-driven tensegrity robots. This methodology is enabled by pneumatic membrane actuators and a generalized path planning algorithm for rolling polyhedra. Membrane actuators are planar, assembled in a scalable fashion, and amenable to arbitrary geometries. Their deformation trajectories can be tuned by varying the stacking sequence and orientation of layers of unidirectional lamina placed on their surfaces. We demonstrate the application of the same set of membrane actuators consisting of polygonal faces of Platonic Solids to create polyhedral tensegrity variants. Three specific tensegrities in the forms of cube, dodecahedron, and rhombicuboctahedron are chosen to demonstrate the path planning algorithm, though the algorithm is generalizable to any uniform or non-uniform n-sided polyhedra. The membrane-driven tensegrities are able to roll in unique trajectories and circumvent obstacles contingent on the distribution and types of polygons which constitute their faces.