Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dynamic Walking with a Soft Limb Robot

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems (Living Machines 2015)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 9222))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

We present a novel soft limb quadruped robot “FASTT,” with a simple and cheap design of its legs for dynamic locomotion aimed to expand the applications of soft robotics in mobile robots. The pneumatically actuated soft legs are self-stabilizing, adaptive to ground, and have variable stiffness, all of which are essential properties of locomotion that are also found in biological systems. We tested the soft legs for the pace, trot, and gallop gait and found them to move with a forward velocity for each gait with robustness. The legs were able to produce a flight and stance phase as a result of the body-environment interaction and also support the weight of the body while two legs were in flight phase and two in stance phase. The soft robot also exhibited two different postures i.e. sprawl and semi-erect which can also be found in some biological species as the crocodile. Moreover, the robot is safe to interact with. The results highlight the effectiveness of the soft limbs to produce dynamic locomotion which provides potential for application in uncertain environments.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Raibert, M.H.: Legged robots. Commun. ACM 29(6), 499–514 (1986)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. Charig, A.J.: The evolution of the archosaur pelvis and hind-limb: an explanation in functional terms. In: Joysey, K.A., Kemp, T.S. (eds.) Studies in Vertebrate Evolution, pp. 121–125. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Kuo, A.D.: Choosing Your Steps Carefully. Robotics & Automation Magazine, IEEE 14(2), 18–29 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Hildebrand, M.: The quadrupedal gaits of vertebrates. BioScience 39(11), 766–775 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. McGhee, R.B., Frank, A.A.: On the stability properties of quadruped creeping gaits. Mathematical Biosciences 3, 331–351 (1968)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. Kang, D.-O., Lee, Y.-J., Lee, S.-H., Hong, Y.S., Bien, Z.: A study on an adaptive gait for a quadruped walking robot under external forces. In: Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, vol. 4, pp. 2777–2782 , April 20-25, 1997

    Google Scholar 

  7. Yoneda, K., Hirose, S.: Three-dimensional stability criterion of integrated locomotion and manipulation. Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics 9(4), 267–274 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Arikawa, K., Hirose, S.: Development of quadruped walking robot titan-viii. In: Proceedings of the 1996 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems 1996, IROS 1996, vol. 1, pp. 208– 214, November 4-8, 1996

    Google Scholar 

  9. Kimura, H., Fukuoka, Y., Biologically inspired adaptive dynamic walking in outdoor environment using a self-contained quadruped robot: ’tekken2’. In: Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, (IROS 2004), vol. 1, pp. 986–991, September 28-October 2, 2004

    Google Scholar 

  10. Raibert, M., Blankespoor, K., Nelson, G., Playter, R.: BigDog, the rough–terrain quadruped robot. In: Proceedings of the 17th IFAC World Congress. COEX, South Korea, pp. 10823–10825 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Iida, F., Gomez, G., Pfeifer, R.: Exploiting body dynamics for controlling a running quadruped robot. In: Proceedings of the 12th Int. Conf. on Advanced Robotics (ICAR05), pp. 229–235 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Sprowitz, A.,Tuleu, A., Vespignani, M., Ajallooeian, M., Badri, E., Ijspeert, A.:Towards Dynamic Trot Gait Locomotion—Design, Control, and Experiments with Cheetah-cub, a Compliant Quadruped Robot. International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR) (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Zambrano, D., Cianchetti, M., Laschi, C.: The morphological computation principles as a new paradigm for robotic design. In: Hauser, H., Füchslin, R.M., Pfeifer, R. (eds.) Opinions and Outlooks on Morphological Computation, pp. 214-225 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Sitti, M., Menciassi, A., Ijspeert, A.J., Low, K.H., Kim, S.: Survey and Introduction to the Focused Section on Bio-Inspired Mechatronics. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics 18(2), 409–418 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Pfeifer, R., Marques, H.G., Iida, F.: Soft Robotics: The Next Generation of Intelligent Machines. IJCAI (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Kim, S., Laschi, C., Trimmer, B.: Soft robotics: a bioinspired evolution in robotics. Trends in Biotechnology 31(5), 287–294 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Cianchetti, M., Ranzani, T., Gerboni, G., De Falco, I., Laschi, C., Menciassi, A.: Stiff-flop surgical manipulator: mechanical design and experimental characterization of the single module. In: 2013 IEEE/RSJ on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pp. 3576–3581. IEEE (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Cianchetti, M., Calisti, M., Margheri, L., Kuba, M., Laschi, C.: Bioinspired locomotion and grasping in water: the soft eight-arm OCTOPUS robot. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics (Special Issue on Octopus-inspired robotics), accepted for publication

    Google Scholar 

  19. Moritz, C.T., Farley, C.T.: Passive dynamics change leg mechanics for an unexpected surface during human hopping. Journal of Applied Physiology 97(4), 1313–1322 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Godage, I.S., Nanayakkara, T., Caldwell, D.G.: Locomotion with continuum limbs. In: Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robot Systems (IROS 2012), pp. 293–298, Vilamoura, Portugal (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Tolley, M.T., Shepherd, R.F., Mosadegh, B., Galloway, K.C., Wehner, M., Karpelson, M., Wood, R.J., Whitesides, G.M.: A resilient, untethered soft robot. Soft. Robotics 1(3), 213–223 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. De Greef, A., Lambert, P., Delchambre, A.: Towards flexible medical instruments: Review of flexible fluidic actuators. Precision Engineering 33(4), 311–321 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Deimel, R., Brock, O.: A compliant hand based on a novel pneumatic actuator. In: 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 2047–2053. IEEE (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Biknevicius, A.R., Reilly, S.M.: Correlation of symmetrical gaits and whole body mechanics: debunking myths in locomotor biodynamics. J. Exp. Zool. 305A, 923–934 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Kar, D.C., Issac, K.K., Jayarajan, K.: Gaits and energetics in terrestrial legged locomotion. Mechanism and Machine Theory 38(4), 355–366 (2003)

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  26. Khoramshahi, M., Spröwitz, A., Tuleu, A., Ahmadabadi, M.N., Ijspeert, A.J.: Benefits of an active spine supported bounding locomotion with a small compliant quadruped robot. In: ICRA, pp. 3329-3334 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Reilly, S.M., Elias, J.A.: Locomotion in alligator mississippiensis: kinematic effects of speed and posture and their relevance to the sprawling-to-erect paradigm. J. exp. Biol. 201, 2559–2574 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Polo Sant’Anna Valdera, Via Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025, Pontedera, Pisa, Italy

    Yasmin Ansari, Ali Leylavi Shoushtari, Vito Cacucciolo, Matteo Cianchetti & Cecilia Laschi

  2. Laboratory of Rehabilitation Bioengineering, Auxilium Vitae Rehabilitation Center, Volterra, Pisa, Italy

    Ali Leylavi Shoushtari

Authors
  1. Yasmin Ansari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ali Leylavi Shoushtari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vito Cacucciolo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Matteo Cianchetti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Cecilia Laschi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yasmin Ansari .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Stuart P. Wilson

  2. Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

    Paul F.M.J. Verschure

  3. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

    Anna Mura

  4. University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Tony J. Prescott

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Ansari, Y., Shoushtari, A.L., Cacucciolo, V., Cianchetti, M., Laschi, C. (2015). Dynamic Walking with a Soft Limb Robot. In: Wilson, S., Verschure, P., Mura, A., Prescott, T. (eds) Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems. Living Machines 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9222. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22979-9_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22979-9_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-22978-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-22979-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation