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Energy efficiency in friction-based locomotion mechanisms for soft and hard robots: slower can be faster

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Abstract

Many recent designs of soft robots and nano-robots feature locomotion mechanisms that cleverly exploit slipping and sticking phenomena. These mechanisms have many features in common with peristaltic locomotion found in the animal world. The purpose of the present paper is to examine the energy efficiency of a locomotion mechanism that exploits friction. With the help of a model that captures most of the salient features of locomotion, we show how locomotion featuring stick-slip friction is more efficient than a counterpart that only features slipping. Our analysis also provides a framework to establish how optimal locomotion mechanisms can be selected.

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Notes

  1. While the energy \(e_5\) dissipated for \(\omega =0.95\omega _{n_1}\) does decrease after a certain amplitude \(a\) is reached, this region in parameter space is not feasible because when the two mass are too close to each other there is a possibility that the normal force on one of them will vanish and that mass would then loose contact with the ground.

  2. According to Eq. (11) and Fig. 12a, the minimum \(\omega _{n_1}\) is 10 with \(m_1=m_2\).

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Acknowledgments

Support from a Defense Advanced Research Projects (DARPA) 2012 Young Faculty Award to Carmel Majidi is gratefully acknowledged. Xuance Zhou is grateful for the support of a Anselmo Macchi Fellowship for Engineering Graduate Students and a J. K. Zee Fellowship. The authors also take this opportunity to thank an anonymous reviewer for their constructive criticisms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720-1740, USA

    Xuance Zhou & Oliver M. O’Reilly

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburg, PA, 15213, USA

    Carmel Majidi

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  1. Xuance Zhou
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  2. Carmel Majidi
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  3. Oliver M. O’Reilly
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Correspondence to Oliver M. O’Reilly.

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Zhou, X., Majidi, C. & O’Reilly, O.M. Energy efficiency in friction-based locomotion mechanisms for soft and hard robots: slower can be faster. Nonlinear Dyn 78, 2811–2821 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11071-014-1627-3

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