Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

21 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

Bidirectional Locomotion of Soft Inchworm Crawler Using Dynamic Gaits.

ABSTRACT: Inchworm-styled locomotion is one of the simplest gaits for mobile robots, which enables easy actuation, effective movement, and strong adaptation in nature. However, an agile inchworm-like robot that realizes versatile locomotion usually requires effective friction force manipulation with a complicated actuation structure and control algorithm. In this study, we embody a friction force controller based on the deformation of the robot body, to realize bidirectional locomotion. Two kinds of differential friction forces are integrated into a beam-like soft robot body, and along with the cyclical actuation of the robot body, two locomotion gaits with opposite locomotion directions can be generated and controlled by the deformation process of the robot body, that is, the dynamic gaits. Based on these dynamic gaits, two kinds of locomotion control schemes, the amplitude-based control and the frequency-based control, are proposed, analyzed, and validated with both theoretical simulations and prototype experiments. The soft inchworm crawler achieves the versatile locomotion result via a simple system configuration and minimalist actuation input. This work is an example of using soft structure vibrations for challenging robotic tasks.

SUBMITTER: Du L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9243582 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

Soft robotic origami crawler.

Project description:Biomimetic soft robotic crawlers have attracted extensive attention in various engineering fields, owing to their adaptivity to different terrains. Earthworm-like crawlers realize locomotion through in-plane contraction, while inchworm-like crawlers exhibit out-of-plane bending-based motions. Although in-plane contraction crawlers demonstrate effective motion in confined spaces, miniaturization is challenging because of limited actuation methods and complex structures. Here, we report a magnetically actuated small-scale origami crawler with in-plane contraction. The contraction mechanism is achieved through a four-unit Kresling origami assembly consisting of two Kresling dipoles with two-level symmetry. Magnetic actuation is used to provide appropriate torque distribution, enabling a small-scale and untethered robot with both crawling and steering capabilities. The crawler can overcome large resistances from severely confined spaces by its anisotropic and magnetically tunable structural stiffness. The multifunctionality of the crawler is explored by using the internal cavity of the crawler for drug storage and release. The magnetic origami crawler can potentially serve as a minimally invasive device for biomedical applications.

| S-EPMC8967224 | biostudies-literature

Electromagnetic Feet With Soft Toes for Adaptive, Versatile, and Stable Locomotion of an Inchworm-Inspired Pipe Crawling Robot.

Project description:Feet play an important role in the adaptive, versatile, and stable locomotion of legged creatures. Accordingly, several robotic research studies have used biological feet as the inspiration for the design of robot feet in traversing complex terrains. However, so far, no robot feet can allow legged robots to adaptively, versatilely, and robustly crawl on various curved metal pipes, including flat surfaces for pipe inspection. To address this issue, we propose here a novel hybrid rigid-soft robot-foot design inspired by the leg morphology of an inchworm. The foot consists of a rigid section with an electromagnet and a soft toe covering for enhanced adhesion to a metal pipe. Finite element analysis , performed under different loading conditions, reveals that due to its compliance, the soft toe can undergo recoverable deformation with adaptability to various curved metal pipes and plain metal surfaces. We have successfully implemented electromagnetic feet with soft toes (EROFT) on an inchworm-inspired pipe crawling robot for adaptive, versatile, and stable locomotion. Foot-to-surface adaptability is provided by the inherent elasticity of the soft toe, making the robot a versatile and stable metal pipe crawler. Experiments show that the robot crawling success rate reaches 100% on large diameter metal pipes. The proposed hybrid rigid-soft feet (i.e., electromagnetic feet with soft toes) can solve the problem of continuous surface adaptation for the robot in a stable and efficient manner, irrespective of the surface curvature, without the need to manually change the robot feet for specific surfaces. To this end, the foot development enables the robot to meet a set of deployment requirements on large oil and gas pipelines for potential use in inspecting various faults and leakages.

| S-EPMC8895823 | biostudies-literature

Mixed gaits in small avian terrestrial locomotion.

Project description:Scientists have historically categorized gaits discretely (e.g. regular gaits such as walking, running). However, previous results suggest that animals such as birds might mix or regularly or stochastically switch between gaits while maintaining a steady locomotor speed. Here, we combined a novel and completely automated large-scale study (over one million frames) on motions of the center of mass in several bird species (quail, oystercatcher, northern lapwing, pigeon, and avocet) with numerical simulations. The birds studied do not strictly prefer walking mechanics at lower speeds or running mechanics at higher speeds. Moreover, our results clearly display that the birds in our study employ mixed gaits (such as one step walking followed by one step using running mechanics) more often than walking and, surprisingly, maybe as often as grounded running. Using a bio-inspired model based on parameters obtained from real quails, we found two types of stable mixed gaits. In the first, both legs exhibit different gait mechanics, whereas in the second, legs gradually alternate from one gait mechanics into the other. Interestingly, mixed gaits parameters mostly overlap those of grounded running. Thus, perturbations or changes in the state induce a switch from grounded running to mixed gaits or vice versa.

| S-EPMC4558583 | biostudies-literature

A Soft Pneumatic Inchworm Double balloon (SPID) for colonoscopy.

Project description:The design of a smart robot for colonoscopy is challenging because of the limited available space, slippery internal surfaces, and tortuous 3D shape of the human colon. Locomotion forces applied by an endoscopic robot may damage the colonic wall and/or cause pain and discomfort to patients. This study reports a Soft Pneumatic Inchworm Double balloon (SPID) mini-robot for colonoscopy consisting of two balloons connected by a 3 degrees of freedom soft pneumatic actuator. SPID has an external diameter of 18 mm, a total length of 60 mm, and weighs 10 g. The balloons provide anchorage into the colonic wall for a bio-inspired inchworm locomotion. The proposed design reduces the pressure applied to the colonic wall and consequently pain and discomfort during the procedure. The mini-robot has been tested in a deformable plastic colon phantom of similar shape and dimensions to the human anatomy, exhibiting efficient locomotion by its ability to deform and negotiate flexures and bends. The mini-robot is made of elastomer and constructed from 3D printed components, hence with low production costs essential for a disposable device.

| S-EPMC6668406 | biostudies-literature

Inchworm-like Soft Robot with Multi-Responsive Bilayer Films.

Project description:As an important branch of robotics, soft robots have the advantages of strong flexibility, a simple structure, and high safety. These characteristics enable soft robots to be widely used in various fields such as biomedicine, military reconnaissance, and micro space exploration. However, contemporary soft crawling robots still face problems such as the single drive mode and complex external equipment. In this study, we propose an innovative design of an inchworm-like soft crawling robot utilizing the synergistic interaction of electricity and moisture for its hybrid dual-drive locomotion. The legs of the soft robot are mainly made of GO-CNT/PE composite film, which can convert its own volume expansion into a corresponding bending motion after being stimulated by electricity or moisture. Unlike other drive methods, it requires less power and precision from external devices. The combination of the two driving methods greatly improves the environmental adaptability of the soft robot, and we developed visible light as the driving method on the basis of the dual drive. Finally, we also verified the robot's excellent load capacity, climbing ability, and optical drive effect, which laid the foundation for the application of soft robots in the future.

| S-EPMC10526967 | biostudies-literature

Wireless Inchworm-like Compact Soft Robot by Induction Heating of Magnetic Composite.

Project description:Microrobots and nanorobots have been produced with various nature-inspired soft materials and operating mechanisms. However, freely operating a wirelessly miniaturized soft robot remains a challenge. In this study, a wireless crawling compact soft robot using induction heating was developed. The magnetic composite heater built into the robot was heated wirelessly via induction heating, causing a phase change in the working fluid surrounding the heater. The pressure generated from the evaporated fluid induces the bending of the robot, which is composed of elastomers. During one cycle of bending by heating and shrinking by cooling, the difference in the frictional force between the two legs of the robot causes it to move forward. This robot moved 7240 μm, representing 103% of its body length, over nine repetitions. Because the robot's surface is made of biocompatible materials, it offers new possibilities for a soft exploratory microrobot that can be used inside a living body or in a narrow pipe.

| S-EPMC9865691 | biostudies-literature

Simultaneous bidirectional hindlimb locomotion in decerebrate cats.

Project description:We show that epidural spinal cord stimulation can elicit stable bidirectional locomotion of decerebrate cats on a split-belt treadmill. The stepping pattern of one limb was similar to unidirectional forward walking and, the other-was similar to unidirectional backward walking. This confirms that spinal and brainstem circuitry are sufficient to control such complex and extraordinary motor tasks driven by somatosensory input. Interlimb coordination during forward and backward walking was preserved in 2 out of 4 animals during 'extreme' conditions when one of the treadmill belts was stopped. Bidirectional locomotion worsened but was still possible after temporary spinalization by cooling the spinal cord on a low thoracic level. These present evidence for the great degree of the automatism for this stepping mode defined by the spinal neuronal networks.

| S-EPMC7865075 | biostudies-literature

Design of a Magnetic Soft Inchworm Millirobot Based on Pre-Strained Elastomer with Micropillars.

Project description:Rather than using longitudinal "muscle" as in biological inchworm, the existing magnetic active elastomer (MAE)-based inchworm robots utilize magnetic torque to pull and push the soft body, which hinders its locomotion mobility. In this paper, a new pre-strained MAE inchworm millirobot with micropillars is proposed. The pre-strained elastomer serves as a pre-load muscle to contract the soft body, and the micropillars act as tiny feet to anchor the body during the locomotion. The proposed magnetic inchworm robot features a simple fabrication process that does not require special magnetization equipment. For the first time, the pre-load muscle is introduced in the design of magnetic inchworm robots, making it more like a real inchworm in terms of locomotion mechanism. The locomotion principle and parametric design for the desired locomotion performance have been investigated. Experimental results show that the fabricated magnetic inchworm robot (size: 10 mm × 5 mm, micropillars length: 200 µm, and mass: 262 g) can locomote on a smooth acrylic surface (roughness of 0.3 µm) at the speed of 0.125 body lengths per second, which is comparable with the existing magnetic inchworm robots. Moreover, the locomotion capabilities of the inchworm robot on wet surfaces and inclined planes have been verified via experimental studies.

| S-EPMC9844365 | biostudies-literature

3D printing of liquid crystal elastomers-based actuator for an inchworm-inspired crawling soft robot.

Project description:Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) have shown great potential as soft actuating materials in soft robots, with large actuation strain and fast response speed. However, to achieve the unique features of actuation, the liquid crystal mesogens should be well aligned and permanently fixed by polymer networks, limiting their practical applications. The recent progress in the 3D printing technologies of LCEs overcame the shortcomings in conventional processing techniques. In this study, the relationship between the 3D printing parameters and the actuation performance of LCEs is studied in detail. Furthermore, a type of inchworm-inspired crawling soft robot based on a liquid crystal elastomeric actuator is demonstrated, coupled with tilted fish-scale-like microstructures with anisotropic friction as the foot for moving forwards. In addition, the anisotropic friction of inclined scales with different angles is measured to demonstrate the performance of anisotropic friction. Lastly, the kinematic performance of the inchworm-inspired robot is tested on different surfaces.

| S-EPMC9399622 | biostudies-literature

Magnetically tunable bidirectional locomotion of a self-assembled nanorod-sphere propeller.

Project description:Field-driven direct assembly of nanoscale matter has impact in disparate fields of science. In microscale systems, such concept has been recently exploited to optimize propulsion in viscous fluids. Despite the great potential offered by miniaturization, using self-assembly to achieve transport at the nanoscale remains an elusive task. Here we show that a hybrid propeller, composed by a ferromagnetic nanorod and a paramagnetic microsphere, can be steered in a fluid in a variety of modes, from pusher to puller, when the pair is dynamically actuated by a simple oscillating magnetic field. We exploit this unique design to build more complex structures capable of carrying several colloidal cargos as microscopic trains that quickly disassemble at will under magnetic command. In addition, our prototype can be extended to smaller nanorods below the diffraction limit, but still dynamically reconfigurable by the applied magnetic field.

| S-EPMC5916950 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

Tweets

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data