6412 / Traversing Abilities Simulation Of A Biomimetic Robot On Granular Soil Terrain

Authors

Zhenwen Zhou, Xiang Lei, Dehai Guan, Yan Zhang, Gabriel Lodewijks, and Guangming Chen

Paper presented at ISTVS 2024 | 21st International and 12th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference of the ISTVS Keywords: biomimetic robot; dynamics; discrete element method; foot/soil interaction; co-simulation https://doi.org/10.56884/2OT1ETM6

Abstract

Biomimetic robots that adopt structure properties of desert animals have shown improved traversing abilities on granular soils over wheeled vehicles. To conveniently assess traversing abilities of these biomimetic robots, simulations for predicting robot behaviors on soil terrains can be used. Nonetheless, available simulation methods have not yet capable of predicting interactions of between robot foot and soil subjected to arbitrary motions. This work develops EDEM-Recurdyn-Simulink co-simulation method to simulate robot behaviors when traversing granular soil terrain. Using soil simulation parameters determined by experiment tests with a type of Mars soil analog, the traversing behaviors for robot to move forward and turn are simulated. Meanwhile, dynamic forces of robot foots are numerically estimated. The simulated robot behaviors and dynamics are in agreement with experimental tests. Therefore, this paper introduces an effective simulation method to assess traversing abilities of biomimetic robots on granular soil terrains.

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