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Title: Energy-Efficient Locomotion Strategies and Performance Benchmarks using Point Mass Tensegrity Dynamics
This work introduces a novel 12-motor paired-cable actuation scheme to achieve rolling locomotion with a spherical tensegrity structure. Using a new point mass tensegrity dynamic formulation which we present, we utilize Model Predictive Control to generate optimal state-action trajectories for benchmark evaluation. In particular, locomotive performance is assessed based on the practical criteria of rolling speed, energy efficiency, and directional trajectory-tracking accuracy. Through simulation of 6-motor, 12-motor paired cable, and 24-motor fully-actuated policies, we demonstrate that the 12-motor schema is superior to the 6-motor policy in all benchmark categories, comparable to the 24-motor policy in rolling speed, and is over five times more energy efficient than the fully-actuated 24-motor configuration.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1927010
PAR ID:
10170532
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
2019 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
Page Range / eLocation ID:
4678 to 4683
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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