Flea-Inspired Catapult Mechanism for Miniature Jumping Robots

Noh, M.; Kim, Seung-Won; An, Seong Jin; Koh, Je‐Sung; Cho, Kyu-Jin

doi:10.1109/tro.2012.2198510

Cited by 222 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…LaMSA systems are not exclusive to biology. Engineered systems have employed similar mechanisms for over a millennium to achieve high velocities and accelerations, from catapults and Da Vinci's cam-actuated lever [33] to mousetraps and more modern examples including jumping robots [34][35][36][37] and needle-free, spring-powered injectors [38,39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Latch-based control of energy output in spring actuated systems

Divi

Ilton

et al. 2020

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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The inherent force–velocity trade-off of muscles and motors can be overcome by instead loading and releasing energy in springs to power extreme movements. A key component of this paradigm is the latch that mediates the release of spring energy to power the motion. Latches have traditionally been considered as switches; they maintain spring compression in one state and allow the spring to release energy without constraint in the other. Using a mathematical model of a simplified contact latch, we reproduce this instantaneous release behaviour and also demonstrate that changing latch parameters (latch release velocity and radius) can reduce and delay the energy released by the spring. We identify a critical threshold between instantaneous and delayed release that depends on the latch, spring, and mass of the system. Systems with stiff springs and small mass can attain a wide range of output performance, including instantaneous behaviour, by changing latch release velocity. We validate this model in both a physical experiment as well as with data from the Dracula ant, Mystrium camillae , and propose that latch release velocity can be used in both engineering and biological systems to control energy output.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Latch-based control of energy output in spring actuated systems

Divi

Ilton

et al. 2020

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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“…SMA springs have been used externally to the deforming structure to produce crawling robots using a peristaltic motion 37 , using origami-based folded structure 38 , robots capable of a bio-inspired rolling motion 39 , octopus tentacles 40 , jumping robots 41 , to cause the deformation of bistable structures 42,43 , and grippers using externally located SMA springs with free-sliding tendons to transmit their force 44 . SMA wires with torsional pre-strain have also been used to deform origami-based structures 45,46 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long Shape Memory Alloy Tendon-based Soft Robotic Actuators and Implementation as a Soft Gripper

Lee

Chung

Rodrigue

2019

Sci Rep

127

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Shape memory alloy (SMA) wire-based soft actuators have had their performance limited by the small stroke of the SMA wire embedded within the polymeric matrix. This intrinsically links the bending angle and bending force in a way that made SMA-based soft grippers have relatively poor performance versus other types of soft actuators. In this work, the use of free-sliding SMA wires as tendons for soft actuation is presented that enables large increases in the bending angle and bending force of the actuator by decoupling the length of the matrix and the length of the SMA wires while also allowing for the compact packaging of the driving SMA wires. Bending angles of 400° and tip forces of 0.89 N were achieved by the actuators in this work using a tendon length up to 350 mm. The tendons were integrated as a compact module using bearings that enables the actuator to easily be implemented in various soft gripper configurations. Three fingers were used either in an antagonistic configuration or in a triangular configuration and the gripper was shown to be capable of gripping a wide range of objects weighing up to 1.5 kg and was easily installed on a robotic arm. The maximum pulling force of the gripper was measured to be 30 N.

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“…A bio-mimetic approach suggests that jumping has a great potentiality of success [26][27][28] in rough terrains. In fact, in recent years a large amount of research has focused on the refinement of miniaturized robots inspired by jumping organisms, like, for example, froghoppers [29], locusts [30], insects [27,31,32] or even soft worms [33,34]. The final choices made in the design of a jumping robot result from a complex balance among constraints connected to take-off, air flight and landing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal leap angle of legged and legless insects in a landscape of uniformly distributed random obstacles

et al. 2021

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We investigate theoretically the ballistic motion of small legged insects and legless larvae after a jump. Notwithstanding their completely different morphologies and jumping strategies, some legged and legless animals have convergently evolved to jump with a take-off angle of 60°, which differs significantly from the leap angle of 45° that allows reaching maximum range. We show that in the presence of uniformly distributed random obstacles the probability of a successful jump is directly proportional to the area under the trajectory. In the presence of negligible air drag, the probability is maximized by a take-off angle of 60°. The numerical calculation of the trajectories shows that they are significantly affected by air drag, but the maximum probability of a successful jump still occurs for a take-off angle of 59–60° in a wide range of the dimensionless Reynolds and Froude numbers that control the process. We discuss the implications of our results for the exploration of unknown environments such as planets and disaster scenarios by using jumping robots.

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Flea-Inspired Catapult Mechanism for Miniature Jumping Robots

Cited by 222 publications

References 27 publications

Latch-based control of energy output in spring actuated systems

Latch-based control of energy output in spring actuated systems

Long Shape Memory Alloy Tendon-based Soft Robotic Actuators and Implementation as a Soft Gripper

Optimal leap angle of legged and legless insects in a landscape of uniformly distributed random obstacles

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