Design of a Bio-inspired, Dynamic Tree Climbing Robot
Author | : James Dickson |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 45 |
Release | : 2010 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:646190750 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (50 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: In recent years, researchers have developed a variety of bio-inspired robots that can climb surfaces ranging from brick and stucco to smooth glass. Instrumental in this development has been the utilization of specialized compliant foot structures. By attaching micro spines and directional dry adhesives to legs with hierarchical compliance levels, climbing on windows and walls has been made possible. In parallel with these developments in attachment mechanisms, recent work has been done to improve the speed and efficiency with which robots climb. Comparative studies of animals running up vertical surfaces have led to the development of reduced-order dynamic models of climbing. These models, or templates, give insight into how animals generate self-stabilizing force patterns, and have led to the development of a new class of dynamic climbing robots. The first and fastest of these climbers, DynoClimber, can climb at speeds up to 66 cm/s or 1.5 body lengths per second up a vertical, prepared surface. Although fast, these climbers are not yet able to scale real world surfaces such as buildings or trees. This paper describes initial work in developing a dynamic vertical climbing robot for climbing on bark.