Snake robots are biomimetic robots highly suitedfor traversing challenging terrain where traditional robots havedifficulty moving. A key aspect is obstacle-aided locomotion,where the snake pushes against the environment to achieve thedesired propulsion. The main focus of this work is to optimallydetermine how to use the motor torque inputs that result inobstacle forces suitable to achieve some user-defined desiredpath for the snake. To this end, we present a new dynamicalsnake model, an explicit algebraic relationship between inputand obstacle forces, and formulate an optimization problemthat seeks to minimize energy consumption while achievingpropulsion along the desired path.
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