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Bio-inspired design and movement generation of dung beetle-like legs

Ignasov, J. ; Kapilavai, A. ; Filonenko, K. ; Larsen, J. C. ; Baird, E. LU ; Hallam, J. ; Büsse, S. ; Kovalev, A. ; Gorb, S. N. and Duggen, L. , et al. (2018) In Artificial Life and Robotics 23(4). p.555-563
Abstract

African ball-rolling dung beetles can use their front legs for multiple purposes that include walking, manipulating or forming a dung ball, and also transporting it. Their multifunctional legs can be used as inspiration for the design of a multifunctional robot leg. Thus, in this paper, we present the development of real robot legs based on the study of the front legs of the beetle. The leg movements of the beetle, during walking as well as manipulating and transporting a dung ball, were observed and reproduced on the robot leg. Each robot leg consists of three main segments which were built using 3D printing. The segments were combined with four active joints in total (i.e., 4 degrees of freedom) to mimic the leg movements of the... (More)

African ball-rolling dung beetles can use their front legs for multiple purposes that include walking, manipulating or forming a dung ball, and also transporting it. Their multifunctional legs can be used as inspiration for the design of a multifunctional robot leg. Thus, in this paper, we present the development of real robot legs based on the study of the front legs of the beetle. The leg movements of the beetle, during walking as well as manipulating and transporting a dung ball, were observed and reproduced on the robot leg. Each robot leg consists of three main segments which were built using 3D printing. The segments were combined with four active joints in total (i.e., 4 degrees of freedom) to mimic the leg movements of the beetle for locomotion as well as object manipulation and transportation. Kinematics analysis of the leg was also performed to identify its workspace. The results show that the robot leg is able to perform all the movements with trajectories comparable to the beetle leg. To this end, the study contributes not only to the design of novel multifunctional robot legs but also to the methodology for bio-inspired leg design.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Hexapod, Insect legs, Locomotion, Motion analysis, Object manipulation
in
Artificial Life and Robotics
volume
23
issue
4
pages
555 - 563
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85055086506
ISSN
1433-5298
DOI
10.1007/s10015-018-0475-5
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
24384c5c-16d9-4d52-80f0-e9df347239ac
date added to LUP
2018-12-07 12:52:02
date last changed
2022-03-09 23:02:05
@article{24384c5c-16d9-4d52-80f0-e9df347239ac,
  abstract     = {{<p>African ball-rolling dung beetles can use their front legs for multiple purposes that include walking, manipulating or forming a dung ball, and also transporting it. Their multifunctional legs can be used as inspiration for the design of a multifunctional robot leg. Thus, in this paper, we present the development of real robot legs based on the study of the front legs of the beetle. The leg movements of the beetle, during walking as well as manipulating and transporting a dung ball, were observed and reproduced on the robot leg. Each robot leg consists of three main segments which were built using 3D printing. The segments were combined with four active joints in total (i.e., 4 degrees of freedom) to mimic the leg movements of the beetle for locomotion as well as object manipulation and transportation. Kinematics analysis of the leg was also performed to identify its workspace. The results show that the robot leg is able to perform all the movements with trajectories comparable to the beetle leg. To this end, the study contributes not only to the design of novel multifunctional robot legs but also to the methodology for bio-inspired leg design.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ignasov, J. and Kapilavai, A. and Filonenko, K. and Larsen, J. C. and Baird, E. and Hallam, J. and Büsse, S. and Kovalev, A. and Gorb, S. N. and Duggen, L. and Manoonpong, P.}},
  issn         = {{1433-5298}},
  keywords     = {{Hexapod; Insect legs; Locomotion; Motion analysis; Object manipulation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{555--563}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Artificial Life and Robotics}},
  title        = {{Bio-inspired design and movement generation of dung beetle-like legs}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10015-018-0475-5}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10015-018-0475-5}},
  volume       = {{23}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}