A Geometric Kinematic Model for Flexible Voxel-Based Robots

Voxel-based structures provide a modular, mechanically flexible periodic lattice, which can be used as a soft robot through internal deformations. To engage these structures for robotic tasks, we use a finite element method to characterize the motion caused by deforming single degrees of freedom and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSoft robotics Vol. 10; no. 3; p. 517
Main Authors Tebyani, Maryam, Spaeth, Alex, Cramer, Nicholas, Teodorescu, Mircea
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.06.2023
Subjects
Biomechanical Phenomena
Motion
Physical Examination
Robotics - methods
flexible locomotion
modular robots
kinematic modeling
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Summary:Voxel-based structures provide a modular, mechanically flexible periodic lattice, which can be used as a soft robot through internal deformations. To engage these structures for robotic tasks, we use a finite element method to characterize the motion caused by deforming single degrees of freedom and develop a reduced kinematic model. We find that nodes of the periodic lattice move in patterns along geometric planes, primarily along translational degrees of freedom. The resulting kinematic model frames the structural deformations in terms of user-defined control and end-effector nodes, which further reduces the model size. The derived Planes of Motion model can be equivalently used for forward and inverse kinematics, as demonstrated by the design of a voxel-based robotic gripper, and an in-depth design of a voxel-based robotic locomotor. The locomotive robot follows a tripod stable gait and the quasi-static model is validated with physical experiments.
ISSN:2169-5180
DOI:10.1089/soro.2021.0139