Abstract
This paper describes the design and control of a suspension based on electroactive polymers for controlling the landing dynamics of a jumping robot. Tunable suspension elements can electrically change their stiffness up to a factor of 10 in less than 0.01 seconds. We discuss design parameters and performance relevant to bio-inspired systems and demonstrate the ability to operate in positive (actuator), neutral (spring-like), or negative (damping or braking) workloops. When applied to a single-legged robot, positive workloops allow sustained periodic hopping while negative workloops can be used to rapidly achieve equilibrium during a landing event, acting in a similar manner to muscle in jumping animals. Extended bio-inspired applications are discussed.
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Dastoor, S., Weiss, S., Stuart, H., Cutkosky, M. (2012). Jumping Robot with a Tunable Suspension Based on Artificial Muscles. In: Prescott, T.J., Lepora, N.F., Mura, A., Verschure, P.F.M.J. (eds) Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems. Living Machines 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 7375. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31525-1_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31525-1_9
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