Monolithic Design and Fabrication of a 2-DOF Bio-Inspired Leg Transmission

Abstract

Abstract. We present the design of a new two degree-of-freedom transmission intended for micro / meso-scale crawling robots which is compatible both with laminate manufacturing techniques and monolithic, "pop-up" assembly methods. This is enabled through a new design suite called "popupCAD", a computer-aided design tool which anticipates laminate manufacturing methods with a suite of operations which simplify the existing design workflow. The design has been prototyped at three times the anticpated scale to better understand the assembly and motion kinematics, and simulated to establish the basic relationships between the actuator and end-effector transmission ratios.

On Locomotion of a Laminated Fish-Inspired Robot in a Small-to-Size Environment

“…Similar to the previous research, in most cases, conventional robotics is unable to replicate specific features of fish locomotion, such as manufacturing a smooth and continuously flexible hull [18]. This issue can be solved using recently-developed laminate manufacturing techniques [19,20]. Throughout all these papers, the authors have identified an opportunity to address fishinspired locomotion in the tail using laminate techniques, which have the capability of being able to be rapidly prototyped and tested.…”

Design of a two degree of freedom resonant miniature robotic leg

“…2. Unlike most other miniature robot legs [14], the piezoelectric actuators are integrated into the mechanical structure. The benders are driven using the biased bipolar electrical configuration [15] which utilizes both the positive and negative electric fields for maximum deflection and force.…”

An Integrated Design and Simulation Environment for Rapid Prototyping of Laminate Robotic Mechanisms

“…The precision associated with fabrication and the assumption of pin-joint hinges permits many of these structures to be approximated as traditional mechanisms; a variety of work has been done for specific mechanisms to understand resulting kinematics of muti-bar closed-loop systems [5]. However, material selection plays a significant role in deflection of these devices, as material bending at hinges can influence the stiffness and damping of the system as a whole [6].…”