A robotic crawler exploiting directional frictional interactions: experiments, numerics, and derivation of a reduced model

TL;DR

This paper investigates a robotic crawler that uses directional frictional interactions and flexible feet to achieve net movement from reciprocal shape changes, supported by experiments, simulations, and a simplified theoretical model.

Contribution

It introduces a reduced model that accurately captures the kinematics and energetics of the crawler's gait, validated through experiments and numerical simulations.

Findings

The crawler achieves net displacement using reciprocal motions.

The reduced model effectively predicts the crawler's behavior.

Experimental and numerical results agree with the model's predictions.

Abstract

We present experimental and numerical results for a model crawler which is able to extract net positional changes from reciprocal shape changes, i.e. 'breathing-like' deformations, thanks to directional, frictional interactions with a textured solid substrate, mediated by flexible inclined feet. We also present a simple reduced model that captures the essential features of the kinematics and energetics of the gait, and compare its predictions with the results from experiments and from numerical simulations.