文档介绍：Mechanism and Machine Theory 44 (2009) 580–590
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Mechanism and Machine Theory
journal homepage: ate/mechmt
The use pliant joints and elastic energy storage in bio-inspired
legged robots
Umberto Scarfogliero a,*, Cesare Stefanini a,b, Paolo Dario a,b
a CRIM Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa, Pontedera 56025, Italy
b IIT, Italian Institute of Technology, Genova 16125, Italy
article info abstract
Article history: From an engineering point of view, bio-inspiration can suggest mechanisms, design and
Received 12 October 2007 functions essfully improving the state of the art in robotics. Engineers can study scal-
Received in revised form 24 July 2008 ing effects in animal otion in order to determine the optimal gait for a given-size
Accepted 26 August 2008
robot. In this paper the design of a miniature jumping robot is presented. Inspired by small
Available online 5 October 2008
jumping animals, the robot performs catapult jumps, using an elastic energy storage and a
release mechanism. Compliant forelegs pletely passive, and cushion the landing re-
Keywords:
using part of the impact energy. The influence pliance and elastic energy storage on
Legged otion
performances is discussed. Spring stiffness and elongation are dimensioned according to
Elasticity
Compliancy design limitations and energy constraints, avoiding early loss of ground contact, . take-
Passive joints off plete leg extension.
Scale effects on otion Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
How scale effects influence otion is one of the most interesting insights that roboticists can learn from nature. Sev-
eral allometric relations have been formulated that relate gaits of different animals to their body sizes [1–3]. As it can be
observed in the natural world, different animals have very different gaits, and scale effects should be taken into account
when designing legged robots. The choice of the optimal gai