Toroidal skin drive for snake robot locomotion

McKenna, J.C.; Anhalt, David J.; Bronson, F.M.; Brown, H.B.; Schwerin, Michael J.; Shammas, Elie; Choset, Howie

doi:10.1109/robot.2008.4543359

Cited by 58 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…There are also works that consider active propulsion along the body of a snake robot, for example by equipping each link with motorized wheels [84,85,86], or by installing tracks along the body of the snake robot [87,88,89,90,91], or by employing a screw drive mechanism [92]. The robots presented in [89] and [91] are shown in Fig.…”

Section: Snake Robots With Contact Force Sensorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The friction forces opposing the motion of a snake robot can also be limited by introducing active propulsion along the body. This approach is employed by the snake robot with active tracks presented in [89] and by the skin drive mechanism described in [91]. Whether active propulsion or simply a smooth body surface is the best solution for future applications of snake robots, is still an open question.…”

Section: Research Challenges Related To Development Of Physical Snakementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A review on modelling, implementation, and control of snake robots

Liljebäck

Pettersen

Stavdahl

et al. 2012

Robotics and Autonomous Systems

228

118

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This paper provides an overview of previous literature on snake robot locomotion. In particular, the paper considers previous research efforts related to modelling of snake robots, physical development of these mechanisms, and finally control design efforts for snake locomotion. The review shows that the majority of literature on snake robots so far has focused on locomotion over flat surfaces, but that there is a growing trend towards locomotion in environments that are more challenging, i.e. environments that are more in line with realistic applications of these mechanisms.

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Section: Snake Robots With Contact Force Sensorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Challenges Related To Development Of Physical Snakementioning

confidence: 99%

A review on modelling, implementation, and control of snake robots

Liljebäck

Pettersen

Stavdahl

et al. 2012

Robotics and Autonomous Systems

228

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…• locomotion on flat or slightly rough surfaces, such as the ACM III snake robot [10], which was the world's first snake robot, or the toroidal skin drive (TSD) snake robot [11], which is equipped with a skin drive propulsion system; • climbing slopes, pipes, or trees, such as the Creeping snake Robot [12], which is capable of obtaining an environmentally-adaptable body shape to climb slopes, or the PIKo snake robot [13], which is equipped with a mechanism for navigating complex pipe structures, or the Uncle Sam snake robot [14], which is provided with a strong and compact joint mechanism for climbing trees; • locomoting in the presence of obstacles, such as the Aiko snake robot [3], which is capable of pushing against external obstacles apart from a flat ground, or the Kulko snake robot [15], which is provided with a contact force measurement system for obstacle-aided locomotion. To better assess the different working environments in which these robotic systems operate, we may consider various metrics.…”

Section: Classification Of Snake Robots As Unmanned Vehicle Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception-Driven Obstacle-Aided Locomotion for Snake Robots: The State of the Art, Challenges and Possibilities †

et al. 2017

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In nature, snakes can gracefully traverse a wide range of different and complex environments. Snake robots that can mimic this behaviour could be fitted with sensors and transport tools to hazardous or confined areas that other robots and humans are unable to access. In order to carry out such tasks, snake robots must have a high degree of awareness of their surroundings (i.e., perception-driven locomotion) and be capable of efficient obstacle exploitation (i.e., obstacle-aided locomotion) to gain propulsion. These aspects are pivotal in order to realise the large variety of possible snake robot applications in real-life operations such as fire-fighting, industrial inspection, search-and-rescue, and more. In this paper, we survey and discuss the state of the art, challenges, and possibilities of perception-driven obstacle-aided locomotion for snake robots. To this end, different levels of autonomy are identified for snake robots and categorised into environmental complexity, mission complexity, and external system independence. From this perspective, we present a step-wise approach on how to increment snake robot abilities within guidance, navigation, and control in order to target the different levels of autonomy. Pertinent to snake robots, we focus on current strategies for snake robot locomotion in the presence of obstacles. Moreover, we put obstacle-aided locomotion into the context of perception and mapping. Finally, we present an overview of relevant key technologies and methods within environment perception, mapping, and representation that constitute important aspects of perception-driven obstacle-aided locomotion.

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“…The robot does not have environment sensing capabilities. A similar, but yet quite di erent snake robot based on skin drive is presented in [27], where the entire skin surface covering the robot is propelled backwards from head to tail in order to provide propulsion at any point where the robot contacts the environment. The skin is wrapped inside itself at the tail and propelled forward to the head in a channel inside the robot.…”

Section: Hardware Design For Adaptive Snake Robot Locomotionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two new design concepts for snake robot locomotion in unstructured environments

Liljebäck

Stavdahl

Pettersen

et al. 2010

Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics

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This communication presents and justifies ideas related to motion control of snake robots that are currently the subject of ongoing investigations by the authors. In particular, we highlight requirements for intelligent and e cient snake robot locomotion in unstructured environments, and subsequently we present two new design concepts for snake robots that comply with these requirements. The first design concept is an approach for sensing environment contact forces, which is based on measuring the joint constraint forces at the connection between the links of the snake robot. The second design concept involves allowing the cylindrical surface of each link of a snake robot to rotate by a motor inside the link in order to induce propulsive forces on the robot from its environments. The paper details the advantages of the proposed design concepts over previous snake robot designs.

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Toroidal skin drive for snake robot locomotion

Cited by 58 publications

References 12 publications

A review on modelling, implementation, and control of snake robots

A review on modelling, implementation, and control of snake robots

Perception-Driven Obstacle-Aided Locomotion for Snake Robots: The State of the Art, Challenges and Possibilities †

Two new design concepts for snake robot locomotion in unstructured environments

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