No abstract

No abstract

Chinese mitten crab has unique limb structures composed of a hard exoskeleton and flexible muscles. They enable the crab to locomote adaptively and safely on various terrains. In this work, we investigated the limb structures, motion principle, and gaits of the crab using a high-speed camera and a press machine. Then, a novel compliant robot leg design method is proposed, inspired by the crab limb. The leg comprises six hard scleromeres and a flexible thin-wall spring steel sheet (FSSS) mimicking the exoskeleton and muscle. The scleromeres connected one by one with rotational joints are designed with slots. The front end of the FSSS is fixed on the scleromere close to the ground. The rear end crosses the slots and is mounted at the shaft of a linear actuator installed at the rear scleromere. The leg bends and stretches when the actuator pushes and pulls the FSSS, respectively. The kinematic modeling, rigid-flexible coupling dynamic simulations, and leg prototype tests are conducted, which verify the leg design approach. Thirdly, we put forward a multi-legged robot with eight compliant legs and design its gait using the gaits of the crab. Finally, the robot’s performance is evaluated, including the capabilities of walking on different terrains at adjustable speeds and body heights, traversing low channels, walking on slopes, and carrying loads. The results prove that the single-motor-actuated compliant legs and their dynamic coupling with the rigid robot body frame can enable them to have the ground clearance ability and realize the adaptive walking of the robot. The leg design methodology can be used to design multi-legged robots with the merits of compact, light, low mechanical complexity, high safety, and easy to control, for many applications, such as environmental monitoring, search and rescue.

No abstract

Calcium sulfate (CaSO4), as a promising tissue repair material, has been applied widely due to its outstanding bioabsorbability and osteoconduction. However, fast disintegration, insufficient mechanical strength and poor bioactivity have limited its further application. In the study, CaSO4 scaffolds fabricated by using selective laser sintering were improved by adding 45S5 bioglass. The 45S5 bioglass enhanced stability significantly due to the bond effect of glassy phase between the CaSO4 grains. After immersing for four days in simulated body fluid (SBF), the specimens with 45S5 bioglass could still retain its original shape compared as opposed to specimens without 45S5 bioglass who experienced disintegration. Meanwhile, its compressive strength and fracture toughness increased by 80% and 37%, respectively. Furthermore, the apatite layer was formed on the CaSO4 scaffolds with 45S5 bioglass in SBF, indicating good bioactivity of the scaffolds. In addition, the scaffolds showed good ability to support the osteoblast-like cell adhesion and proliferation.