Avian‐Inspired Perching Mechanism for Jumping Robots

Abstract

The integration of multiple motion strategies in robots has been actively studied to expand the working environment through the addition of new locomotion modes, such as aquatic (swimming), terrestrial (walking and rolling), and aerial (flying and perching). The focus has been on the development of the mechanisms necessary to integrate multimodal locomotion capability. For example, four leg mechanisms connected with a membrane allow for the integration of gliding and walking; [1] a transformable wing mechanism integrates flying and walking [2] ; single-actuated leg mechanisms integrate amphibious walking motions on the water surface and solid terrain; [3] a bio-inspired, [4,5] wheel-like propeller, [6] and leg-flipper [7] mechanisms integrate swimming and walking. These adaptations allow the robot to interact with the environment in new ways, creating the new locomotion modes.Furthermore, from varying the working environment, roboticists have also studied strategic interactions between integrated locomotion modes. Each mode can cooperate to complement each other, maximizing performance of the integrated modes. In the case of integrated jumping and gliding modes, jumping mode provides the potential energy for gliding. The integrated gliding transforms the potential energy into propulsion using aerodynamics and generates longer jumping distances than a single jump. [8][9][10][11][12] Integrated walking and flying modes can also be very complimentary as orientation control is one of the challenging points for the bipedal walking robots. The actuators for flight control can assist in orientation control for the walking mode. [13] In addition, during near surface flight, intermittent surface contact can be used to stabilize the robot under external disturbances, such as air flows.The integration of perching into jumping robots can both expand the working environment and provide a complimentary behavior to enhance the jumping locomotion itself, allowing for greater jump height, longer jump distance, or more variability in jumping direction in general. Furthermore, jumping-gliding robots can maximize the gliding distance by integrating a perching motion to allow for gliding from the greater height and velocity achievable by jumping from a perch. In addition to locomotion-specific performance gains, perching provides task-specific benefits, such as exploring a wider area from an elevated position without power usage, [14,15] and charging batteries on the perched surface. [16] However, both perching and jumping from the perch have yet to be explored.This work develops an avian-inspired perching mechanism to integrate perching with a jumping robot, as seen in Figure 1A. The perching mechanism is designed to absorb the perching impact and establish an engagement with the surface while minimizing weight, as this is a key parameter in determining the jumping performance. Various works have developed shock-absorbing mechanisms: hydraulic compression [17] and viscoelastic material [18][19][20] and engagement types: grasping, [2...

Design of a Quadruped Robot with Morphological Adaptation through Reconfigurable Sprawling Structure and Method

“…[ 15–17 ] Some robots exhibit multiple‐motion modes, enabling movements across different terrains, including the ground, walls, air, and underwater. [ 18–23 ] In addition, effective morphological adaptation for stability improvement involves lowering the centre of mass (COM) or increasing the stabilising support domain. Lateral limb extension reptiles, such as geckos and lizards, have excellent motion stability, inspiring the design of creeping robotic mechanisms.…”