A robotic crawler exploiting directional frictional interactions: experiments, numerics, and derivation of a reduced model

Giovanni Noselli; Antonio DeSimone

doi:10.1098/rspa.2014.0333

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arXiv · 1408.6470

A robotic crawler exploiting directional frictional interactions: experiments, numerics, and derivation of a reduced model

Giovanni Noselli·Antonio DeSimone

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Abstract

We present experimental and numerical results for a model crawler which is able to extract net positional changes from reciprocal shape changes, i.e. 'breathing-like' deformations, thanks to directional, frictional interactions with a textured solid substrate, mediated by flexible inclined feet. We also present a simple reduced model that captures the essential features of the kinematics and energetics of the gait, and compare its predictions with the results from experiments and from numerical simulations.

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Giovanni Noselli, Antonio DeSimone. 2014-08-26. A robotic crawler exploiting directional frictional interactions: experiments, numerics, and derivation of a reduced model. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2014.0333

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