仿生工程学报 ›› 2018, Vol. 15 ›› Issue (2): 368-378.

• 论文 • 上一篇    下一篇

A Bio-inspired Climbing Robot with Flexible Pads and Claws

Aihong Ji1*, Zhihui Zhao1, Poramate Manoonpong1,2, Wei Wang1, Guangming Chen1, Zhendong Dai1   

  1. 1. Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
    2. CBR Embodied AI & Neurorobotics Lab, The MærskMc-Kinney Møller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M, Denmark
  • 收稿日期:2016-09-21 修回日期:2017-03-17 出版日期:2018-03-10 发布日期:2018-02-02
  • 通讯作者: Aihong Ji E-mail:meeahji@nuaa.edu.cn
  • 作者简介:Aihong Ji1*, Zhihui Zhao1, Poramate Manoonpong1,2, Wei Wang1, Guangming Chen1, Zhendong Dai1

A Bio-inspired Climbing Robot with Flexible Pads and Claws

Aihong Ji1*, Zhihui Zhao1, Poramate Manoonpong1,2, Wei Wang1, Guangming Chen1, Zhendong Dai1   

  1. 1. Institute of Bio-inspired Structure and Surface Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
    2. CBR Embodied AI & Neurorobotics Lab, The MærskMc-Kinney Møller Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M, Denmark
  • Received:2016-09-21 Revised:2017-03-17 Online:2018-03-10 Published:2018-02-02
  • Contact: Aihong Ji E-mail:meeahji@nuaa.edu.cn
  • About author:Aihong Ji1*, Zhihui Zhao1, Poramate Manoonpong1,2, Wei Wang1, Guangming Chen1, Zhendong Dai1

摘要: Many animals exhibit strong mechanical interlocking in order to achieve efficient climbing against rough surfaces by using their claws in the pads. To maximally use the mechanical interlocking, an innovative robot which utilizes flexible pad with claws is designed. The mechanism for attachments of the claws against rough surfaces is further revealed according to the theoretical analysis. Moreover, the effects of the key parameters on the performances of the climbing robots are obtained. It indicates that decreasing the size of the tip of the claws while maintaining its stiffness unchanged can effectively improve the attachment ability. Furthermore, the structure of robot body and two foot trajectories are proposed and the new robot is presented. Using experimental tests, it demonstrates that this robot has high stability and adaptability while climbing on vertical rough surfaces up to a speed of 4.6 cm•s−1.

关键词: rough surface, claw, mechanical interlocking, bionic climbing robot

Abstract: Many animals exhibit strong mechanical interlocking in order to achieve efficient climbing against rough surfaces by using their claws in the pads. To maximally use the mechanical interlocking, an innovative robot which utilizes flexible pad with claws is designed. The mechanism for attachments of the claws against rough surfaces is further revealed according to the theoretical analysis. Moreover, the effects of the key parameters on the performances of the climbing robots are obtained. It indicates that decreasing the size of the tip of the claws while maintaining its stiffness unchanged can effectively improve the attachment ability. Furthermore, the structure of robot body and two foot trajectories are proposed and the new robot is presented. Using experimental tests, it demonstrates that this robot has high stability and adaptability while climbing on vertical rough surfaces up to a speed of 4.6 cm•s−1.

Key words: mechanical interlocking, rough surface, bionic climbing robot, claw