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Advances in Snake Robots of Bio-Inspired Robotics
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Advances in Snake Robots of Bio-Inspired Robotics

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Sensors and Robotics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 11328

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Shugen Ma

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Robotics, College of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga 525-8577, Japan
Interests: mechanism and control of redundant robots development of tendon-driven robots analysis of snake movement and development of environment-adapted snake-like robots autonomous control of quadruped robots; development of rescue robots
Dr. Atsushi Kakogawa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Robotics, College of Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University, Shiga 525-8577, Japan
Interests: field robotics; mechanical design; viscoelasticity
Dr. Chao Ren

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Electircal Engineering and Automation, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Interests: robot control; snake robot; underwater robot
Dr. Filippo Sanfilippo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Sciences, University of Agder (UiA), Grimstad, Norway
Interests: collaborative robots; haptics; manipulators; digital twins; educational robotics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

In general, bio-inspired robotics are often regarded as mere biomimicry. However, just as airplanes do not flap their wings like birds and automobiles do not walk like horses, it is not always best to imitate the forms and movements of living creatures in the field of engineering. In other words, Bio-inspired Robotics and Biomimetic Robotics are not the same things. Similar problems exist in snake-like robots, where the initial inspiration may come from living organisms, but the final application may differ from the biological principles.

This Special Issue aims to present not only research on understanding animal snakes for biomimetic robots, but also research on new snake-like robots that are not limited to mere biomimicry while considering the real application. This Special Issue will provide an opportunity to introduce and share state-of-the-art research on snake robots by collecting cutting-edge research results of various bio-inspired robots. We look forward to the participation of researchers who are researching this field.

Prof. Dr. Shugen Ma
Dr. Atsushi Kakogawa
Dr. Chao Ren
Dr. Filippo Sanfilippo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • snake robot
  • bio-inspired robotics
  • multi-link mobile robots
  • soft robotics

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 6063 KiB  
Article
Generalized Design, Modeling and Control Methodology for a Snake-like Aerial Robot
by Moju Zhao and Takuzumi Nishio
Sensors 2023, 23(4), 1882; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23041882 - 7 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2774
Abstract
Snake-like robots have been developing in recent decades, and various bio-inspired ideas are deployed in both the mechanical and locomotion aspects. In recent years, several studies have proposed state-of-the-art snake-like aerial robots, which are beyond bio-inspiration. The achievement of snake-like aerial robots benefits [...] Read more.
Snake-like robots have been developing in recent decades, and various bio-inspired ideas are deployed in both the mechanical and locomotion aspects. In recent years, several studies have proposed state-of-the-art snake-like aerial robots, which are beyond bio-inspiration. The achievement of snake-like aerial robots benefits both aerial maneuvering and manipulation, thereby having importance in various fields, such as industry surveillance and disaster rescue. In this work, we introduce our development of the modular aerial robot which can be considered a snake-like robot with high maneuverability in flight. To achieve such flight, we first proposed a unique thrust vectoring apparatus equipped with dual rotors to enable three-dimensional thrust force. Then, a generalized modeling method based on dynamics approximation is proposed to allocate the wrench in the center-of-gravity (CoG) frame to thrust forces and vectoring angles. We further developed a generalized control framework that can handle both under-actuated and fully actuated models. Finally, we show the experimental results with two different platforms to evaluate the flight stability of the proposed snake-like aerial robot. We believe that the proposed generalized methods can provide a solid foundation for the snake-like aerial robot and its applications regarding maneuvering and manipulation in midair. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Snake Robots of Bio-Inspired Robotics)
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13 pages, 1240 KiB  
Article
Realization of Crowded Pipes Climbing Locomotion of Snake Robot Using Hybrid Force–Position Control Method
by Yongdong Wang and Tetsushi Kamegawa
Sensors 2022, 22(22), 9016; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22229016 - 21 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2792
Abstract
The movement capabilities of snake robots allow them to be applied in a variety of applications. We realized a snake robot climbing in crowded pipes. In this paper, we implement a sinusoidal curve control method that allows the snake robot to move faster. [...] Read more.
The movement capabilities of snake robots allow them to be applied in a variety of applications. We realized a snake robot climbing in crowded pipes. In this paper, we implement a sinusoidal curve control method that allows the snake robot to move faster. The control method is composed of a hybrid force–position controller that allows the snake robot to move more stably. We conducted experiments to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the proposed method is stable and effective compared to the previous control method that we had implemented in the snake robot. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Snake Robots of Bio-Inspired Robotics)
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17 pages, 3142 KiB  
Article
Tapered, Twisted Bundled-Tube Locomotive Devices for Stepped Pipe Inspection
by Daisuke Shiomi and Toshio Takayama
Sensors 2022, 22(13), 4997; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22134997 - 2 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2072
Abstract
The twisted bundled-tube locomotive device is an elongated soft robot that moves inside a pipe in a helical bending motion. This motion mimics the behavior of microorganisms called spirochetes. This device is inexpensive and easy to miniaturize because of its simple structure, which [...] Read more.
The twisted bundled-tube locomotive device is an elongated soft robot that moves inside a pipe in a helical bending motion. This motion mimics the behavior of microorganisms called spirochetes. This device is inexpensive and easy to miniaturize because of its simple structure, which consists of three inflatable tubes twisted together. It can move in pipes of various diameters without a change in design. Therefore, it has a high capacity for water pipe inspection. However, it has not yet been shown to pass through step parts wherein the diameter of the pipes decreases. In this study, we developed a device that was deformed into a tapered shape by changing the pitch of the spirals at each location. The prototype device was able to move from a pipe with an inside diameter of 52.9 mm to a pipe with an inside diameter of 21.6 mm for horizontally fixed pipes, and from a pipe with an inside diameter of 41.6 mm to a pipe with an inside diameter of 21.6 mm for vertically fixed pipes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Snake Robots of Bio-Inspired Robotics)
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14 pages, 1838 KiB  
Article
Step Climbing Control of Snake Robot with Prismatic Joints
by Yuta Iguchi, Mizuki Nakajima, Ryo Ariizumi and Motoyasu Tanaka
Sensors 2022, 22(13), 4920; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22134920 - 29 Jun 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2292
Abstract
The ultimate goal of this research study is to perform continuous rather than sequential movements of prismatic joints for effective motion of a snake robot with prismatic joints in a complex terrain. We present herein a control method for robotic step climbing. This [...] Read more.
The ultimate goal of this research study is to perform continuous rather than sequential movements of prismatic joints for effective motion of a snake robot with prismatic joints in a complex terrain. We present herein a control method for robotic step climbing. This method is composed of two parts: the first involves the shift reference generator that generates the joint motion for climbing a step, and the other is use of the trajectory tracking controller, which generates the joint motion for the head to track the target trajectory. In this method, prismatic joints are divided into those that are directly controlled for climbing a step and those that are represented as redundancies. By directly controlling the link length, it is possible to prevent the trailing part from back motion when climbing a step, and to avoid a singular configuration in the parts represented as redundancies. A snake robot that has rotational and prismatic joints and can move in three-dimensions was developed, and the effectiveness of the proposed method was demonstrated by experiments using this robot. In the experiment, it was confirmed that the proposed method realizes the step climbing, and the link length limitation using the sigmoid function works effectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Snake Robots of Bio-Inspired Robotics)
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