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A Deployable Bio-inspired Compliant Leg Design for Enhanced Leaping in Quadruped Robots

Yiyang Chen, Yuxin Liu, Jinzheng Zhou, Fanxin Wang, Qinglei Bu, Jie Sun, Yikun Cheng

Abstract

Quadruped robots are becoming increasingly essential for various applications, including industrial inspection and catastrophe search and rescue. These scenarios require robots to possess enhanced agility and obstacle-navigation skills. Nonetheless, the performance of current platforms is often constrained by insufficient peak motor power, limiting their ability to perform explosive jumps. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a bio-inspired method that emulates the energy-storage mechanism found in froghopper legs. We designed a Deployable Compliant Leg (DCL) utilizing a specialized 3D-printed elastic material, Polyether block amide (PEBA), featuring a lightweight internal lattice structure. This structure functions analogously to biological tendons, storing elastic energy during the robot's squatting phase and rapidly releasing it to augment motor output during the leap. The proposed mechanical design significantly enhances the robot's vertical jumping capability. Through finite element analysis (FEA) and experimental validation, we demonstrate a relative performance improvement of 17.1% in vertical jumping height.

A Deployable Bio-inspired Compliant Leg Design for Enhanced Leaping in Quadruped Robots

Abstract

Quadruped robots are becoming increasingly essential for various applications, including industrial inspection and catastrophe search and rescue. These scenarios require robots to possess enhanced agility and obstacle-navigation skills. Nonetheless, the performance of current platforms is often constrained by insufficient peak motor power, limiting their ability to perform explosive jumps. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a bio-inspired method that emulates the energy-storage mechanism found in froghopper legs. We designed a Deployable Compliant Leg (DCL) utilizing a specialized 3D-printed elastic material, Polyether block amide (PEBA), featuring a lightweight internal lattice structure. This structure functions analogously to biological tendons, storing elastic energy during the robot's squatting phase and rapidly releasing it to augment motor output during the leap. The proposed mechanical design significantly enhances the robot's vertical jumping capability. Through finite element analysis (FEA) and experimental validation, we demonstrate a relative performance improvement of 17.1% in vertical jumping height.
Paper Structure (17 sections, 2 equations, 10 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 17 sections, 2 equations, 10 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. INTRODUCTION
  2. DESIGN OF THE DEPLOYABLE COMPLIANT LEG
  3. Bio-inspired Concept and Overall Architecture
  4. Material Selection
  5. SSCM and Lattice Structure
  6. Deployable Flipping Mechanism
  7. FEA AND STIFFNESS CHARACTERIZATION
  8. Finite Element Formulation
  9. Constitutive Modeling and Discretization
  10. Boundary Conditions and Simulation Setup
  11. Stiffness Modeling for Control Integration
  12. Torque-Deformation Characterization
  13. Analytical Model Identification
  14. EXPERIMENT VALIDATION
  15. Experimental Setup
  16. ...and 2 more sections

Figures (10)

  • Figure 1: Illustration of the Jumping Actuation Challenge. (Left) The baseline robot, limited by motor torque saturation, fails to reach the critical height. (Right) The proposed system, augmented with DCLs, releases extra stored elastic energy and completes the task (symbolized by the coin).
  • Figure 2: (a-e) Design workflow of the bio-inspired quadruped leaping enhancement; (b) The biological prototype sutton2018insect.
  • Figure 3: Bio-inspired design concept of the robotic leg. (a) The Philaenus spumarius, serving as the biological prototype sutton2018insect. (b) Biological mechanism highlighting the interaction between the rigid hard cuticle and the energy-storing resilin sutton2018insect. (c) The proposed quadruped robot integrated with the SSCMs. (d) Mechanical design overview.
  • Figure 4: The Gyroid lattice structure designed in nTop, shown (A) as a unit cell and (B) implemented as the internal filler of the compliant structure.
  • Figure 5: Operational states of the deployable mechanism. (a) In the Stowed State, the mechanism retracts to eliminate parasitic stiffness. (b) In the Deployed State, the module rotates 90 degrees to align with the femur for ballistic energy storage.
  • ...and 5 more figures