Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

12-14-2017

Abstract

Caterpillars are the soft bodied larvae of lepidopteran insects. They have evolved to occupy an extremely diverse range of natural environments and to locomote in complex three-dimensional structures without articulated joint or hydrostatic control. These animals make excellent bio-inspiration for the field of soft robotics because of their diversity and adaptability. In this paper, we present SquMA Bot, a caterpillar-inspired soft robot. The robot's body is primarily composed of a soft viscoelastic foam, and it is actuated using a motor-tendon system. SquMA Bot is able to mimic the inching gait of a caterpillar and can use its flexible body to adapt to a range of environments. This bio-inspired prototype demonstrates the effectiveness of a soft robot as a potential tool for exploring environments too dangerous for humans.

Comments

This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in 2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS). This article may not exactly replicate the final published version. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS.2017.8202196.

Copyright

© 2017 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.

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