Snake-Like Robot with Fusion Gait for High Environmental Adaptability: Design, Modeling, and Experiment

Kundong Wang,Wencan Gao,Shugen Ma

doi:10.3390/app7111133

Kundong Wang, Wencan Gao + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/app7111133

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Abstract

A snake changes its gait to adapt to different environments. A snake-like robot that is able to perform as many or more gaits than a real-life snake has the potential to successfully adapt to a range of environments, similar to a real-life snake. However, only a few mechanisms in the current snake-like framework can perform common gaits. In this paper, a novel snake-like robot is developed to resolve this problem. A multi-gait is established and used as a reference for the articulation design. A non-snake-like mechanism with linear articulation is combined with the classical swing joint. A prototype is designed and constructed for verification and analysis. Two basic main gaits, namely, serpentine and rectilinear locomotion, are fused, and a novel obstacle-aided locomotion based on rectilinear motion is developed. The experiment demonstrates that the robot can generate all of the expected gaits with high movement efficiency.

Highlights

IntroductionSnakes have good motion adaptability and powerful attack capability on land and in water despite their simple string-like bodies
A snake is a reptile that has been evolving for more than 130 million years
Researchers have explored and applied smart mechanisms that are based on snakes, including active cord mechanism (ACM) and Crawler robots, to emulate the unique motion of snakes, such as serpentine and rectilinear locomotion

Summary

Introduction

Snakes have good motion adaptability and powerful attack capability on land and in water despite their simple string-like bodies. Researchers have explored and applied smart mechanisms that are based on snakes, including active cord mechanism (ACM) and Crawler robots, to emulate the unique motion of snakes, such as serpentine and rectilinear locomotion. A snake-like robot is often equipped with terrain adaptability by means of wheel or foot locomotion. A slender body acts like a string and can enter narrow spaces. The unique motion of snake-like robots can generate the action of a hand and a leg [1]. Snake-like robots can be successfully applied in nonstructural environments, such as disaster rescue, human body cavity examination, and industrial pipe inspection [2,3]

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