Micro Rubber Structures for Passive Walking

Koichi Suzumori; Fumitaka Saito

doi:10.20965/jrm.2010.p0167

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JRM Vol.22 No.2 pp. 167-172

doi: 10.20965/jrm.2010.p0167

(2010)

Paper:

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Micro Rubber Structures for Passive Walking

Koichi Suzumori and Fumitaka Saito

Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan

Received:

September 28, 2009

Accepted:

January 17, 2010

Published:

April 20, 2010

Keywords:

soft mechanism, micro machine, passive walking

Abstract

The final goal of this work is the development of functional rubber sheets with micro rubber structures such as friction free, adhesion, and impact adsorption rubbers, etc. We report a micro rubber structure that can successfully perform flexible passive walking with 3 V-shaped units consisting of 4 legs to achieve very low friction. We show how to miniaturize and integrate this structure to produce, by means of a micro rubber molding process using the stereo lithography method, a rubber sheet with 64 legs. The prototype is designed, fabricated, and tested. Under certain conditions, the 64-legged rubber sheet successfully realizes flexible passive walking down an incline.

Cite this article as:

K. Suzumori and F. Saito, “Micro Rubber Structures for Passive Walking,” J. Robot. Mechatron., Vol.22 No.2, pp. 167-172, 2010.

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References

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[7] M. Schargott, V. L. Popov, and S. Gor, “Spring Model of Biological Attachment Pads,” J. of Theoretical Biology Vol.243 pp. 48-53 2006.
[8] K. Suzumori and F. Saito, “Micro Rubber Structures for Passive Walking,” Proc. of the 2008 JSME Conf. on Robotics and Mechatronics, Nagano, 1P1-B01.
[9] K. Suzumori and F. Saito, “Micro Rubber Structure Realizing Multi-Legged Passive Walking,” 2008 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Nice, France, September 22-26, 2008.
[10] T. McGeer, “Passive Dynamic Walking,” The Int. J. of Robotics Research, Vol.9, No.2, pp. 62-82, 1990.
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[12] F. Asano and Z. E. Luo, “Underactuated Virtual Passive Dynamic Walking using Rolling Effect of Semicircular Feet –(I) On Driving Mechanisms of Compass-like Models–,” J. of the Robotics Society of Japan, Vol.25, No.4, pp. 578-588, 2007.
[13] K. Osuka, “Passive Dynamic Walking as Base of Walking Mechanics,” The Institute of Systems, Control and Information Engineers, Vol.49, No.10.

This article is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationa License.

[1] [1] P. Forbes, “The Gecko’s Foot – Bio-inspiration: Engineered from Nature –,” HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 2005.

[2] [2] T. Shimozawa and T. Hariyama, “Insect Mimetics,” NTS, pp. 372-381, 2008.

[3] [3] K. Takahashi, J. O. L. Berengueres, K. J. Obata, and S. Saito, “Geckos’ Foot Hair Structure and Their Ability to Hang from Rough Surfaces and Move Quickly,” Int. J. of Adhesion & Adhesives, Vol.26, 2006, pp. 639-643.

[4] [4] M. Lanzetta and M. R. Cutkosky, “Shape Deposition Manufacturing of Biologically Inspired Hierarchical Microstructures,” CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology, 2008.

[5] [5] D. Santos, S. Kim, M. Spenko, A. Parness, and M. Cutkosky, “Directional Adhesive Structures for Controlled Climbing on Smooth Vertical Surfaces,” 2007 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1262-1267, April 2007.

[6] [6] S. Kim, M. Spenko, S. Trujillo, B. H. V. Mattoli, and M. R. Cutkosky, “Whole Body Adhesion: Hierarchical, Directional and Distributed Control of Adhesive Forces for a Climbing Robot,” Proc. of IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1268-1273, April 2007.

[7] [7] M. Schargott, V. L. Popov, and S. Gor, “Spring Model of Biological Attachment Pads,” J. of Theoretical Biology Vol.243 pp. 48-53 2006.

[8] [8] K. Suzumori and F. Saito, “Micro Rubber Structures for Passive Walking,” Proc. of the 2008 JSME Conf. on Robotics and Mechatronics, Nagano, 1P1-B01.

[9] [9] K. Suzumori and F. Saito, “Micro Rubber Structure Realizing Multi-Legged Passive Walking,” 2008 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Nice, France, September 22-26, 2008.

[10] [10] T. McGeer, “Passive Dynamic Walking,” The Int. J. of Robotics Research, Vol.9, No.2, pp. 62-82, 1990.

[11] [11] Y. Ikemata, A. Sano, and H. Fujimoto, “A Stability Mechanism of the Fixed Point in Passive Walking,” J. of the Robotics Society of Japan, Vol.23, No.7, pp. 73-80.

[12] [12] F. Asano and Z. E. Luo, “Underactuated Virtual Passive Dynamic Walking using Rolling Effect of Semicircular Feet –(I) On Driving Mechanisms of Compass-like Models–,” J. of the Robotics Society of Japan, Vol.25, No.4, pp. 578-588, 2007.

[13] [13] K. Osuka, “Passive Dynamic Walking as Base of Walking Mechanics,” The Institute of Systems, Control and Information Engineers, Vol.49, No.10.