Tech Specs | project specification

SALTO

A jumping robot that achieved 78% of the vertical jumping agility of a galago. This is achieved through the use of a specialized leg mechanism designed to enhance power modulation. The robot uses a small motor and a system of linkages and gears to jump. Because it spends so little time in contact with the ground, the robot needs to do most of its control in the air. To do that, it uses a rotating inertial tail and two little thrusters to stabilize and reorient itself in between jumps.

1 legged robots - biomimetics - search and rescue - series elastic actuation

Technical Specifications

Mass0.1000
Leg length0.15
Jump height1
Jump frequency1.74
Vertical jumping agility1.75
Power density137

Overview

This is achieved through the use of a specialized leg mechanism designed to enhance power modulation. The robot uses a small motor and a system of linkages and gears to jump. Because it spends so little time in contact with the ground, the robot needs to do most of its control in the air. To do that, it uses a rotating inertial tail and two little thrusters to stabilize and reorient itself in between jumps. This method allows more energy to be transferred from the jumping motor into the spring. 

The mass and leg extension have been fixed to that of the galago (0.25 kg and 0.15 m, respectively), and the team explored the choice of rigid, parallel-elastic, series-elastic, and SE+MA actuators for two different power densities. The rigid and parallel-elastic actuators have been idealized as constant power motors, thus including robotic designs with specialized transmissions.

Salto-1P uses a small motor and a system of linkages and gears to jump. Because it spends so little time in contact with the ground, the robot needs to do most of its control in the air. To do that, it uses a rotating inertial tail and two little thrusters to stabilize and reorient itself in between jumps.

References

Robotic vertical jumping agility via series-elastic power modulation

Provides detailed description of the Salto project; its goal, requirements, and design strategies for designing a robotic galago and shows the fabrication and operation of the prototype.

D Haldane, M Plecnik, J Yimet, al. - Science Robotic, December 2016.
Repetitive extreme-acceleration (14-g) spatial jumping with Salto-1P

Outlines the development of the robotic hardware, attitude controllers, locomotion controller and experimental procedure. Results for attitude control and jumping experiments are given, and conclusions are discussed.

D Haldane, J Yim, R Fearing - 2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), December 2017.

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