BIOINSPIRED DESIGN: A CASE STUDY OF RECONFIGURABLE CRAWLING-ROLLING ROBOT

Abstract

Mobile robots capable of traversing rough terrains are highly desired for numerous applications including search, reconnaissance and surveillance missions. To this end, nature offers numerous highly effective, efficient and optimal biological precedence as a result of evolution process. Developing a bio-inspired robot poses numerous challenges and requires systematic design process to mimic biological counterparts. This paper presents our efforts in developing a bio-inspired self reconfigurable miniature robot capable of producing crawling and rolling locomotion gaits to traverse in highly complex terrains. Also, the article provides a descriptive account on the use of Problem-Based Biological Design (PB-BID) process in solving a robotics problem and summarizes our key observations. Furthermore, the paper details experimental validation of the developed robotic prototype that mimics Cebrennus Rechenberg, a class of huntsman spider.