Abstract:

Bioinspiration can be considered one of the keys for future smart and versatile robotic systems. Plants could be an im-portant source of ideas despite the fact that they have not yet been deeply observed and considered. In this paper, climbing tendril-bearer plants that, by means of irritable ?liform organs called tendrils, search for a support, grasp it and climb to gain height, have been used to study and develop an effective climbing robot. The study aimed ?rst to evaluate the main movements and behaviors of the tendril from a biomimetic point of view. The tendril complexity was then simpli?ed, a robotic model was developed and a kinematic simulator was designed and implemented to visualize and evaluate the chosen system. Finally, based
on the biological, technical and numerical evaluations, the main tendril behaviors were replicated by proof of concept devices made of smart materials to move towards a practical realization and to replicate the simulated results.  The designed proof of concept prototypes showed good repeatability and feasibility.

Key words: climbing plants, robotic tendril, kinematic model, Shape-Memory-Alloy (SMA), grasping