Control of a 3-dimensional snake-like robot for analysis of sinus-lifting motion

Abstract

Biological snakes' diverse locomotion modes and physiology make them supremely adapted for environment. The special structure of snakes and their unique movement offer them peculiar ability of climbing and moving even in some ill-conditioned environments such as on the marshland or in narrow tubes. The aim of this study is to elucidate a 3-dimensional motion of the snake, sinus-lifting motion, which is a phenomenon observed during rapid motion of the snake. The sinus-lifting creeping motion is an adaptive function peculiar to regular creeping motion, designed to prevent slippage in the normal direction of the body and to allow application of the greatest possible motive force. In this paper, we first discuss the controllability of the snake robot for analysis of sinus-lifting creeping mode. We utilized a 3-dimensional snake robot model to show the controllability of the robot through the computer simulation.