Development of self-deformation-robot with regular icosahedron structure using bending-type-pneumatic-artificial-muscle and drive experiment

Abstract

Robots are becoming more familiar to humans, and soft robot that light and flexible and safety are attracting attention. We designed self-deformation-robot(SDR) for exploration and watching using bending-type-pneumatic-artificial-muscle (BPAM) which capable bending. This robot has a frame composed of BPAM and can move by deforming itself. Since the whole body of this robot consists of actuators, it can move from any posture. Furthermore, it has excellent shock absorption and can act in unknown environments without advanced sensing. First, we developed a robot with a regular icosahedron structure to solve the problems of the conventional regular hexahedron structure. Next, we installed a system on the robot and built a control method so that the robot could move wirelessly. After that, we conducted a running experiment of the robot and investigated whether it could move with the system installed. As a result, we achieved to drive the robot with developed system and controller. However, due to the strength problem of the connection part of BPAM, the output of BPAM cannot be maximized. In addition, the center of gravity of the robot shifted by the mass of the installed system, which making it hard to move. These will be resolved in the future.

Keywords

• soft robot
• artificial muscle
• pneumatic
• regular icosahedron
• flame structure