The JPL Serpentine Robot: a 12-DOF system for inspection

Paljug, E.; Ohm, Timothy R.; Hayati, S.

doi:10.1109/robot.1995.525732

Cited by 79 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Most approaches in hyper-redundant robotics have involved employing distributed and rigid pneumatic or electromagnetic actuators. Much of the effort in this area has been in developing snake robots, as they often require many controlled DOFs [10]. While these traditional snake robots have impressive capabilities and are useful in many applications such as search-and-rescue, they can be complex, fragile, and expensive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Analysis of a Robust, Low-cost, Highly Articulated manipulator enabled by jamming of granular media

Cheng

Lobovsky

Keating

et al. 2012

2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation

262

161

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Abstract-Hyper-redundant manipulators can be fragile, expensive, and limited in their flexibility due to the distributed and bulky actuators that are typically used to achieve the precision and degrees of freedom (DOFs) required. Here, a manipulator is proposed that is robust, high-force, low-cost, and highly articulated without employing traditional actuators mounted at the manipulator joints. Rather, local tunable stiffness is coupled with off-board spooler motors and tension cables to achieve complex manipulator configurations. Tunable stiffness is achieved by reversible jamming of granular media, which-by applying a vacuum to enclosed grainscauses the grains to transition between solid-like states and liquid-like ones. Experimental studies were conducted to identify grains with high strength-to-weight performance. A prototype of the manipulator is presented with performance analysis, with emphasis on speed, strength, and articulation. This novel design for a manipulator-and use of jamming for robotic applications in general-could greatly benefit applications such as human-safe robotics and systems in which robots need to exhibit high flexibility to conform to their environments. [6], and to create a variable stiffness endoscopic tube [7]. The combination of these projects highlights the primary benefits of utilizing jamming for robotics:it allows robots to be more human-safe, inexpensive, and robust compared to most technologies that have traditionally been used for such applications.The goal of this paper is to further the use and understanding of jamming for engineering applications. Specifically, we present the design and analysis of a robotic manipulator composed of 1) serial modules that can transition between rigid and flexible states via jamming and 2) tension cables running along the length of the manipulator and whose lengths are controlled by spooler motors. We previously demonstrated this robotic architecture of coupling locally tunable stiffness with global actuation as a thrust toward soft robotics [8] [9]. One of the main benefits of this type of system is that by eliminating the need for distributed-and often rigid and bulky-actuators throughout the robot, the system can be more robust and flexible, enabling it to conform to its environment better. In addition, the cost of the robot can be drastically reduced.In this paper we also begin to explore how grain properties affect the performance of jammed systems. Specifically, we seek to maximize the strength-to-weight ratio of jammed systems. This is an important figure of merit for manipulators, where the robot must be able to support its own weight in addition to any payloads.Because granular systems inherently lack mechanical structure in their unjammed states, their flexibility and high DOFs can be beneficial for hyper-redundant robotic systems such as a manipulator. Most approaches in hyper-redundant robotics have involved employing distributed and rigid pneumatic or electromagnetic actuators. Much of the effort in this area has been in dev...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Analysis of a Robust, Low-cost, Highly Articulated manipulator enabled by jamming of granular media

Cheng

Lobovsky

Keating

et al. 2012

2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation

262

161

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The semantic and geometric models drive the computational analysis of the dynamics, behaviors and capabilities of the robot. Recent work in the area of biologically inspired robots includes [13], [14], [15], [16]. Many roboticists tend not to use elaborate and general simulations for prototyping.…”

Section: Background Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a multi-disciplinary model for bio-robotic systems

Primerano

Wilkie

Regli

2008

2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation

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The design of robotic systems involves contributions from several areas of science and engineering. Electrical, mechanical and software components must be integrated to form the final system. Increasingly, simulation tools are being introduced into the design flow as a means to verify the performance of particular subsystems. In order to accurately simulate the complete robotic system we propose a framework that allows designers to describe the robotic system as an interconnection of mechanical, electrical, and software components, with well defined mechanisms for communicating with each other. Through this, we form a multi-disciplinary model that captures both the dynamics of the individual subsystems, and the dynamics resulting from the interconnection of the above subsystems. As a case-study, we will apply the framework to a biologically inspired robotic snake.

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“…More recent designs of snake-like robots include the JPL Serpentine Robot [2], the ACM-R5 and the Perambulator-II [3]. Research has been aimed at mathematical formulation of snake motion, both kinematically [4] and dynamically [5], using robotic snakes with wheels [3], crawler tracks [6] or only the snake body itself [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Motion Planning of a Snake-Like Robot Using an Optimized Harmonic Potential Field

Charifa

Bikdash

2010

Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics

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Snake-like robots have gained popularity in the last three decades for their ability to utilize several gaits in order to navigate through di erent terrains. They are analogous in morphology to snakes, tentacles, and elephant trunks. We propose a novel method of navigating a snake-like robot based on the Harmonic Field with Optimized Boundary Conditions (HFOBC) and a boundary following algorithm. We apply the HFOBC navigation function using a number of fictitious charges equally spaced on each link. These charges actively follow the potential field towards the target. Futhermore, a generalized mathematical model for an n-link snake-like robot based on Lagrange formulation has also been proposed in this paper.

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The JPL Serpentine Robot: a 12-DOF system for inspection

Cited by 79 publications

References 5 publications

Design and Analysis of a Robust, Low-cost, Highly Articulated manipulator enabled by jamming of granular media

Design and Analysis of a Robust, Low-cost, Highly Articulated manipulator enabled by jamming of granular media

Toward a multi-disciplinary model for bio-robotic systems

Motion Planning of a Snake-Like Robot Using an Optimized Harmonic Potential Field

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