A new soft bionic starfish robot with multi-gaits

Abstract

Nowadays, research on soft robots has attracted attention and participation of many scholars. In this paper, we describe a new starfish robot with multi-gaits and soft bionic design inspired by live starfishes which possess hydraulic water-vascular systems and different movements. The driving system of the robot is composed of Ti-Ni SMA spring actuators which are known for large energy density per cycle and deformation. By the application of simple sequential controllers, the five-limbed starfish robot can fulfill multiple gaits freely, such as standing, crawling and navigating through obstacles. A test of the SMA spring actuator was performed to analyze the basic operating characteristics of the artificial actuator. Experimental results show that it is effective to produce multi-gaits of soft starfish robot via simple structural design and control strategy.