Bio-inspired Robotics
"3D Walking of a Bio-inspired Musculoskeletal Soft Quadruped Robot Using Pneumatic Artificial Muscles"
Role: Graduate Research Assistant
In my master's research, I worked on adaptive walking of a bio-inspired musculoskeletal soft quadruped robot driven by pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs). I controlled the robot's walking with soft actuators, which are McKibben-type artificial muscles that are light, flexible, and compliant. I designed and fabricated 30 McKibben-type artificial muscles made of a rubber tube covered with a plastic knit sleeve for the robot's forelimbs and hindlimbs to mimic the musculoskeletal system of a greyhound.
I determined the lengths of the artificial muscles by selecting the greyhound's antagonist muscles based on their anatomical functions. I designed the length of each bone of the forelimbs and hindlimbs as the same size as a real greyhound. I also designed the artificial muscles to imitate the structure of the greyhound, their start and end points, width, and length. I assembled a solenoid valve system to manage the pressurized air supply to the robot's artificial muscles. Expansion and contraction lengths of artificial muscles were determined by internal pressure.
When air was supplied to the artificial muscles, the radial force pushed the sleeve and translated the force into contraction, causing the artificial muscle to generate force. When compressed air was supplied to the rubber tube, a maximum of 20% contraction was observed in the artificial muscles. I realized adaptive walking based on the control pattern of the soft actuators. In transition conditions of the robot's gait cycle, I increased the robot's speed by 81% from 0.11 m/s to 0.2 m/s, by shortening the stance and swing phase duration.
Research Outputs:
Invited Talks:
1. You Wear It Well Podcast: Design of a bio-inspired musculoskeletal soft quadruped robot, Nov. 2023
Research Support:
Scholarship:
This research is supported by the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarship that is funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.