New Pneumatic Rubber Leg Mechanism for Omnidirectional Locomotion

Abstract

This paper describes a new pneumatic rubber leg mechanism for omnidirectional locomotion. The new mechanism was adopted from a pneumatic balloon actuator where translation and bending motions are produced as a result of balloon deformation. It was constructed using five chambers: one on the top and centered over four bottom chambers arranged in a square. Several possible designs were simulated to achieve the optimal design using a non-linear finite element analysis that considered the design parameters and the geometrical and material non-linearity of the elements. Prototyping was then performed using a rapid and efficient silicone rubber molding fabrication process based on computer-aided design and manufacturing. The experimental results were in good agreement with the analytical results. In conclusion, we have established a new rubber leg mechanism with a high degree of freedom to realize omnidirectional locomotion for a soft robot base, delicate object conveyance, and / or microscope stage applications.

Actionneurs non conventionnels pour la robotique

“…En termes de locomotion, [51] a montré qu'il était possible d'utiliser le mouvement elliptique de l'onde progressive pour faire avancer dans un intestin artificiel 6 un colonoscope autour duquel est enroulé un tube à 3 poches. Le mouvement d'onde progressive a été étendu à deux degrés de liberté par Ribuan, afin de démontrer la faisabilité de surfaces actives « omnidirectionnelles » (x, y, z) par actionnement pneumatique [52].…”

Locomotion characteristics of soft mobile robot platform for upper gastrointestinal (UGI) fluoroscopic examination

“…Therefore, we propose a soft mobile robot able to carry an inflatable pillow to the specific area replacing radiologist intervention, by means of omnidirectional locomotion under UGI fluoroscopic examination. The operation of the robot can be seen from The ability of the robot to perform an omnidirectional locomotion is based on our single leg as presented in previous work [8]- [9]. In order to maintain the analysis and characteristics of the single leg, the robot is designed in square-shaped which in fact the combination of eight legs arranged in square except no leg in the center of the body.…”

“…The legs are also square in shape with 6 mm × 6 mm × 4 mm in dimension. The prototype is in fact a combination of our single leg obtained from optimization results based on finite element analysis (FEM) reported in [8]. However, there is no leg located at the center of the robot as it will results unnecessary locomotion analysis especially during rotational motion.…”