Kinematics Analysis and Gait Study of Bionic Turtle Crawling Mechanism

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Bionics
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Water delivery culverts face obstructions like silt, stones, and debris, hindering inspection and maintenance.
• Existing inspection methods are often inefficient or inadequate for navigating complex culvert environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and analyze a bionic crawling robot inspired by turtle joint structures for effective culvert navigation.
• To investigate and compare the energy efficiency of different foot trajectory planning methods for the robot's gait.

Main Methods:

• Utilized bionic design principles to create a robot mimicking turtle joint structures.
• Established kinematics and dynamics models using the D-H method, analytical approach, and Lagrange's method.
• Planned compound cycloid and cubic polynomial motion trajectories for the robot's foot, simulating a turtle-like crawling gait.

Main Results:

• Simulation and prototype experiments validated the robot's design and crawling gait.
• Cubic polynomial foot trajectories demonstrated lower energy consumption than compound cycloid trajectories under identical gait parameters.
• Energy consumption ratio was found to decrease with increased step length and increase with increased step height.

Conclusions:

• The bionic crawling robot design is effective for navigating culvert environments.
• Cubic polynomial foot trajectory planning is more energy-efficient for this robot compared to compound cycloid trajectories.
• Optimizing step length and height is crucial for minimizing energy consumption during robot locomotion in culverts.