title: Locomotion of inchworm-inspired robot made of smart soft composite (SSC).
abstract: A soft-bodied robot made of smart soft composite with inchworm-inspired locomotion capable of both two-way linear and turning movement has been proposed, developed, and tested. The robot was divided into three functional parts based on the different functions of the inchworm: the body, the back foot, and the front foot. Shape memory alloy wires were embedded longitudinally in a soft polymer to imitate the longitudinal muscle fibers that control the abdominal contractions of the inchworm during locomotion. Each foot of the robot has three segments with different friction coefficients to implement the anchor and sliding movement. Then, utilizing actuation patterns between the body and feet based on the looping gait, the robot achieves a biomimetic inchworm gait. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the robot's locomotive performance for both linear locomotion and turning movement. Results show that the proposed robot's stride length was nearly one third of its body length, with a maximum linear speed of 3.6 mm s(-1), a linear locomotion efficiency of 96.4%, a maximum turning capability of 4.3 degrees per stride, and a turning locomotion efficiency of 39.7%.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Gwanak-Ro 566, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Korea, 151-742.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jang-Yeob
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rodrigue
authors.forename: Sung-Hyuk
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Won-Shik
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Sung-Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ahn
mesh_terms: D000497:Alloys / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D032701:Biomimetics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005121:Extremities / Q000502:physiology*; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006244:Hardness; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008420:Manufactured Materials / Q000032:analysis; D008954:Models, Biological; D009036:Moths / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000497:Alloys