Kinematics and Robot Design I, KaRD2018

This volume collects the papers published on the Special Issue “Kinematics and Robot Design I, KaRD2018” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/robotics/special_issues/KARD), which is the first issue of the KaRD Special Issue series, hosted by the open access journal “MDPI Robotics”. The KaRD series aims at creating an open environment where researchers can present their works and discuss all the topics focused on the many aspects that involve kinematics in the design of robotic/automatic systems. Kinematics is so intimately related to the design of robotic/automatic systems that the admitted topics of the KaRD series practically cover all the subjects normally present in well-established international conferences on “mechanisms and robotics”. KaRD2018 received 22 papers and, after the peer-review process, accepted only 14 papers. The accepted papers cover some theoretical and many design/applicative aspects

Snake Robots for Surgical Applications: A Review

Although substantial advancements have been achieved in robot-assisted surgery, the blueprint to existing snake robotics predominantly focuses on the preliminary structural design, control, and human–robot interfaces, with features which have not been particularly explored in the literature. This paper aims to conduct a review of planning and operation concepts of hyper-redundant serpentine robots for surgical use, as well as any future challenges and solutions for better manipulation. Current researchers in the field of the manufacture and navigation of snake robots have faced issues, such as a low dexterity of the end-effectors around delicate organs, state estimation and the lack of depth perception on two-dimensional screens. A wide range of robots have been analysed, such as the i2Snake robot, inspiring the use of force and position feedback, visual servoing and augmented reality (AR). We present the types of actuation methods, robot kinematics, dynamics, sensing, and prospects of AR integration in snake robots, whilst addressing their shortcomings to facilitate the surgeon’s task. For a smoother gait control, validation and optimization algorithms such as deep learning databases are examined to mitigate redundancy in module linkage backlash and accidental self-collision. In essence, we aim to provide an outlook on robot configurations during motion by enhancing their material compositions within anatomical biocompatibility standards

An Adaptable Robotic Snake using a Compliant Actuated Tensegrity Structure for Locomotion and its Motion Pattern Analysis

The thesis explores the possibilities that using a compliant actuated tensegrity structure to build an adapted robotic snake for locomotion. With the development of modern society, people are relying more and more on robots to assist in their work. The robotic snake is a type of robot that is often used in exploration and relief work on complex terrain due to its unique bionic structure. However, traditional snake-like robots have structures that focus on specific snake-like movement patterns, but cannot actually simulate how the spine and muscles of a snake can work, thus losing out on desirable features such as high energy efficiency and flexibility. In this work, a tensegrity structure is researched to enable a robotic snake to realize the structure and capabilities of a snake. A prototype has been built for experiments: three segments connected by springs and strings which forms a tension network. The prototype is actuated by the change of the tension within the network, just as the muscles in a snake contract and stretch around the spine. Experiments with the prototype show that it can carry out effective rectilinear movement and steering movement on a variety of terrain, and its overall speed is mainly limited by the friction coefficient of the ground. However, because the underside of the body module prevents the module from tilting, the prototype cannot perform serpentine movement. More improvements in the shape design of the body modules and motion control could also be studied in future work

Bio-Inspired Robotics

Modern robotic technologies have enabled robots to operate in a variety of unstructured and dynamically-changing environments, in addition to traditional structured environments. Robots have, thus, become an important element in our everyday lives. One key approach to develop such intelligent and autonomous robots is to draw inspiration from biological systems. Biological structure, mechanisms, and underlying principles have the potential to provide new ideas to support the improvement of conventional robotic designs and control. Such biological principles usually originate from animal or even plant models, for robots, which can sense, think, walk, swim, crawl, jump or even fly. Thus, it is believed that these bio-inspired methods are becoming increasingly important in the face of complex applications. Bio-inspired robotics is leading to the study of innovative structures and computing with sensory–motor coordination and learning to achieve intelligence, flexibility, stability, and adaptation for emergent robotic applications, such as manipulation, learning, and control. This Special Issue invites original papers of innovative ideas and concepts, new discoveries and improvements, and novel applications and business models relevant to the selected topics of ``Bio-Inspired Robotics''. Bio-Inspired Robotics is a broad topic and an ongoing expanding field. This Special Issue collates 30 papers that address some of the important challenges and opportunities in this broad and expanding field

A serpentine robot designed for efficient rectilinear motion

Robots that mimic the natural motions of animals have long been of interest in science and engineering. The primary engineering interest in such robots is in having them conduct tasks that require complicated locomotion and cognition. The biological creatures after which the human-made robots are designed manifest a remarkable degree of efficiency and agility when compared to what we have been able to mimic so far in human-made designs. For example, the small cross-section and low center of gravity of most biological snakes, coupled with their large repertoire of possible motion sequences, make their bodies very efficient when navigating confined spaces and rough terrains. To date, no “artificial” snake has been able to come close to duplicating these navigational characteristics.In this study we concentrate on a set of motions observed in medium size (1-4m) iological snakes. There are currently several robot designs that attempt to reproduce the movements of such snakes. Almost all of these designs require the robot to articulate segments of its body in a repetitive sequence to achieve locomotion, and some even attach passive wheels to the snake’s body in order to facilitate movement. As a result of these design decisions, the artificial snakes are generally slow and most (especially those with wheels) are not well suited for travel over rough terrain. We offer an alternative design that propels the snake using many small feet attached to disk-like body units (“ribs”). Due to the superior flexibility that this design provides, the resulting robot, which we have built and tested, can actually “walk” over obstacles and therefore will be much more maneuverable than existing prototypes.M.S., Electrical Engineering -- Drexel University, 200

Lateral undulation of a snake-like robot

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-121).Snake robots have been studied by many researchers but historically more on a theoretical basis. Recently, more and more robotic snakes have been realized in hardware. This thesis presents a design process for the electrical, sensing, and mechanical systems needed to build a functional robotic snake capable of tactile and force sensing. Implementing a simple scheme which allows this capability permits the robot to laterally undulate without the use of wheels. The design methodology and implementation is detailed with schematics and a summary of results obtained from the hardware. Through manipulation of the body shape, the robot was able to move in the horizontal plane by pushing off of obstacles to create propulsive forces. It was found that lateral undulation is highly dependent on the actuator torque output and environmental friction.by Amit Gupta.S.M

Advances in Bio-Inspired Robots

This book covers three major topics, specifically Biomimetic Robot Design, Mechanical System Design from Bio-Inspiration, and Bio-Inspired Analysis on A Mechanical System. The Biomimetic Robot Design part introduces research on flexible jumping robots, snake robots, and small flying robots, while the Mechanical System Design from Bio-Inspiration part introduces Bioinspired Divide-and-Conquer Design Methodology, Modular Cable-Driven Human-Like Robotic Arm andWall-Climbing Robot. Finally, in the Bio-Inspired Analysis on A Mechanical System part, research contents on the control strategy of Surgical Assistant Robot, modeling of Underwater Thruster, and optimization of Humanoid Robot are introduced

Intuitive Telemanipulation of Hyper-Redundant Snake Robots within Locomotion and Reorientation using Task-Priority Inverse Kinematics

Snake robots offer considerable potential for endoscopic interventions due to their ability to follow curvilinear paths. Telemanipulation is an open problem due to hyper-redundancy, as input devices only allow a specification of six degrees of freedom. Our work addresses this by presenting a unified telemanipulation strategy which enables follow-the-leader locomotion and reorientation keeping the shape change as small as possible. The basis for this is a novel shape-fitting approach for solving the inverse kinematics in only a few milliseconds. Shape fitting is performed by maximizing the similarity of two curves using Fréchet distance while simultaneously specifying the position and orientation of the end effector. Telemanipulation performance is investigated in a study in which 14 participants controlled a simulated snake robot to locomote into the target area. In a final validation, pivot reorientation within the target area is addressed.© 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works

An efficient follow-the-leader strategy for continuum robot navigation and coiling

Efficient path planning for hyper-redundant continuum and snake-like robots is a challenging task due to limited sensing capabilities, high computational loads, multiple possible solutions, and non-linear models. This paper presents a new approach to snake robot navigation and coiling, with an algorithm that enables online step-by-step position adjustment with a follow-the-leader strategy, significantly improving the performance of the robot when compared to previous methods. The proposed algorithm is demonstrated on a 16-degree-of-freedom snake-like robot for inspection and maintenance tasks in nuclear facilities

Mechanical Intelligence Simplifies Control in Terrestrial Limbless Locomotion

Limbless locomotors, from microscopic worms to macroscopic snakes, traverse complex, heterogeneous natural environments typically using undulatory body wave propagation. Theoretical and robophysical models typically emphasize body kinematics and active neural/electronic control. However, we contend that because such approaches often neglect the role of passive, mechanically controlled processes (those involving "mechanical intelligence"), they fail to reproduce the performance of even the simplest organisms. To uncover principles of how mechanical intelligence aids limbless locomotion in heterogeneous terradynamic regimes, here we conduct a comparative study of locomotion in a model of heterogeneous terrain (lattices of rigid posts). We used a model biological system, the highly studied nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, and a robophysical device whose bilateral actuator morphology models that of limbless organisms across scales. The robot's kinematics quantitatively reproduced the performance of the nematodes with purely open-loop control; mechanical intelligence simplified control of obstacle navigation and exploitation by reducing the need for active sensing and feedback. An active behavior observed in C. elegans, undulatory wave reversal upon head collisions, robustified locomotion via exploitation of the systems' mechanical intelligence. Our study provides insights into how neurally simple limbless organisms like nematodes can leverage mechanical intelligence via appropriately tuned bilateral actuation to locomote in complex environments. These principles likely apply to neurally more sophisticated organisms and also provide a design and control paradigm for limbless robots for applications like search and rescue and planetary exploration.Comment: Published in Science Robotic