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Peristaltic Waves as Optimal Gaits in Metameric Bio-Inspired Robots

TitlePeristaltic Waves as Optimal Gaits in Metameric Bio-Inspired Robots
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2018
AuthorsAgostinelli, D, Alouges, F, DeSimone, A
JournalFrontiers in Robotics and AI
Volume5
Date Published09/2018
ISSN2296-9144
KeywordsBiomimetic robots; Crawling motility; Lumbricus terrestris; Metameric robots; Optimization; Peristalsis; Self-propulsion; Soft robotics
Abstract

Peristalsis, i.e., a motion pattern arising from the propagation of muscle contraction and expansion waves along the body, is a common locomotion strategy for limbless animals. Mimicking peristalsis in bio-inspired robots has attracted considerable attention in the literature. It has recently been observed that maximal velocity in a metameric earthworm-like robot is achieved by actuating the segments using a “phase coordination” principle. This paper shows that, in fact, peristalsis (which requires not only phase coordination, but also that all segments oscillate at same frequency and amplitude) emerges from optimization principles. More precisely, basing our analysis on the assumption of small deformations, we show that peristaltic waves provide the optimal actuation solution in the ideal case of a periodic infinite system, and that this is approximately true, modulo edge effects, for the real, finite length system. Therefore, this paper confirms the effectiveness of mimicking peristalsis in bio-inspired robots, at least in the small-deformation regime. Further research will be required to test the effectiveness of this strategy if large deformations are allowed.

URLhttps://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2018.00099
DOI10.3389/frobt.2018.00099
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