Analysis of Creeping Locomotion of Snakes and Snake-like Robots

摘要

Snakes perform many kinds of movement that are adaptable to the environment. Utilizing the snake (its forms and motion) as a model to develop a snake-like robot that emulates a snakes' function is important for generating a new type of locomotor and expanding the possible use of robots. In this study, we first elucidate the standard creeping movement form of a snake, which is the typical locomotive motion shown by snakes. The called Serpentine curve in the constant steady-state velocity was derived for the uniform creeping locomotion of the snake, through analyzing physiologically its muscle characteristics. Then, we introduce a simulator that was developed for simulating the creeping locomotion of a snake-like robot, in which the robot dynamics is modeled and its interaction with the environment is considered through Coulomb friction. This simulator makes possible to analyze the creeping locomotion with the normal-direction slip coupled to gliding along the tangential direction.