A Case Study in Optimization of Gait and Physical Parameters for a Snake-Inspired Robot Based on a Rectilinear Gait

Abstract

Physical parameters of the constituent modules and gait parameters affect the overall performance of snake-inspired robots. Hence, a system-level optimization model needs to concurrently optimize the module parameters and the gait. Incorporating a physics-based model of rectilinear gaits in the system-level optimization model is a computationally challenging problem. This paper presents a case study to illustrate how metamodels of the precomputed optimal rectilinear gaits can be utilized to reduce the complexity of the system-level optimization model. An example is presented to illustrate the importance of concurrently optimizing the module parameters and the gait to obtain the optimal performance for a given mission.

Experimental and Novel Analytical Trajectory Optimization of a 7-DOF Baxter Robot: Global Design Sensitivity and Step Size Analyses

“…Therefore, the issue of energy consumed by robots has become a major challenge for researchers and robot manufacturers [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. The total mechanical energy consumed by the robot is expectedly affected by the required torque of each joint in addition to the joints' angular velocities.…”

Design and Modeling of a New Drive System and Exaggerated Rectilinear-Gait for a Snake-Inspired Robot

“…The concept of a traveling wave has also been addressed in gait models by others, such as Poi et al [29][30][31][32][33][34]. In 2011, we modified the gait introduced by Merino et al and developed a complete kinematics and dynamics-based model for simultaneous optimization of gait and robot parameters [35].…”

Dynamics and Control of a Planar Multibody Mobile Robot for Confined Environment Inspection

“…By substituting into (16) and by projecting on the global basis the following set of four scalar constraints is obtained The connection of two modules M i−1 and M i by a revolute joint is expressed by constraints formalizing the contact at point P i , see Figure 1 r…”

“…For instance, they are conveniently deployed inside pipelines [2], in narrow spaces, and on the rubble of an earthquake or a major fire, and find applications in fields as diverse as rescue operations, military/defense, and confined environment exploration as, for example, inspection of bridges [3], inspection of natural gas pipelines, industrial pipes and sewer pipelines [4][5][6][7][8][9], to name a few. Snake-like robots proposed in the literature are typically locomoted either with passive caster wheels supporting their frames [10][11][12] or with no wheels at all [13][14][15][16]. …”