Design and Analysis of the Bionic Mechanical Foot with High Trafficability on Sand

Abstract

The ostrich foot has excellent travelling performance on sand and plays a vital role in efficient locomotion. The tendon-bone assembly characteristics of an ostrich foot were studied by gross anatomy, and the 3D model of ostrich foot was reconstructed and analyzed using reverse engineering techniques. Further, the bionic mechanical foot, suitable for locomotion on loose sand, was designed based on the structural characteristics of ostrich foot and its rigid-flexible coupling mechanism of tendon-bone synergies. The travelling performance on sand of the bionic mechanical foot was tested on a test platform by using Simi Motion. After analyzing the angle changes of the ankle joint and the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint, the displacement changes of the knee joint, the ankle joint, the MTP joint, and each phalanx along the z-axis, the plantar pressure distribution, and the footprints, we drew the conclusion that the bionic mechanical foot is helpful to reduce the sinkage and improve the trafficability on sand ground. This study provides a new research method for the walking mechanism of a robot and deep space exploration platform walking on soft ground.

Biomimetic lizard robot for adapting to Martian surface terrain

“…To enhance transversal ability of the rovers on granular terrain, Jilin University developed two biomimetic feet by studying the structures and movement mechanism of ostrich foot. The first one utilizes ropes to drive primary toe bend inward to embed into the sand whilst the secondary toes expand outward to increase the contact area [17]. The second one employs a linkage and a screw to mimic the adaptive characteristics of ostrich foot during attachment and detachment from sand [18].…”

Bionic Design of Multi-Toe Quadruped Robot for Planetary Surface Exploration

“…The bionic design of mobile robots provides an effective approach to improve the mobility with respect to various mobility environments [10,17]. For instance, to improve the adaptability to granular and uneven surface terrains, many successful bionic feet have been studied, e.g., the bionic ostrich foot [18,19], bionic goat foot [20], and bionic hook claw foot [21]. By adopting the structures and mechanisms of mobile animals, the robot mobility for similar movement conditions can be significantly improved.…”