The Flatworm-like Mesh Robot WORMESH-II: Steering Control of Pedal Wave Locomotion
G.V.C. Rasanga, K. Hirashi, R. Hodoshima, S. Kotosaka
Abstract
WORMESH is a unique robot concept inspired by flatworm locomotion and its key feature is the use of multiple traveling waves for locomotion. This paper presents the steering method for anisotropic module configuration (AMC) of WORMESH-II based on the kinematics of skid steering of mobile robots. AMC of WORMESH-II used two parallel pedal waves to generate locomotion. The kinematic model of WORMESH-II shows its longitudinal and angular velocities depend on the summation and the difference of two synchronous left and right pedal waves amplitudes A_{l}A_{l} and A_{r}A_{r} respectively. When both pedal waves have the same amplitude, the robot moves on a straight line, whereas the trajectory becomes a curve for different wave amplitudes. The radius of curve trajectory is inversely proportional to \vert A_{l}-A_{r}\vert\vert A_{l}-A_{r}\vert. The proposed method was ineffective when A_{i}\approx 0(i=l,\ r)A_{i}\approx 0(i=l,\ r). The proposed method was confirmed by the dynamic simulation of WORMESH-II using a physics engine. Moreover, the recommended skid steering method was tested using the prototype and verified.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{iros2022_theflatwormlikem,
title = {The Flatworm-like Mesh Robot WORMESH-II: Steering Control of Pedal Wave Locomotion},
author = {G.V.C. Rasanga and K. Hirashi and R. Hodoshima and S. Kotosaka},
booktitle = {IROS 2022},
year = {2022}
}