Design and analysis of a locomotive module for snake-mimetic robots using mini-LIPCAs

Abstract

In this paper, a simple design of locomotive module for snake-mimetic robots has been proposed. The proposal relies solely on the concept of modular design which states a multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) snake-mimetic robot can be constituted basing upon a basic module that has only two or three DOF. It is clear that, a series of linked locomotive modules can sufficiently make up an articulated device which can perform snake-like motions. Therefore, the whole design process can be divided into two steps. The first step is to design a locomotive module by using a pair of mini-LIPCA (Lightweight Piezo-composite Curved Actuator). Each module is supposed to have two active and a passive DOFs. The second step is to realize a full articulated device composed of several locomotive modules. Up to this stage, most problems associated with the first step have been successfully resolved. However, there are still a lot of things one has to deal with for the second step. Those need intensive effort and collaboration among interested individuals and communities.