Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : March 03, 2025 - March 04, 2025
In biological systems, tails serve as auxiliary organs that assist in both locomotion balance and object manipulation. Drawing inspiration from these natural capabilities, we present a novel tail mechanism designed for integration with our quadrupedal lizard-inspired robot, SAURUS-II. The proposed mechanism requires large range of motion, high operational velocity, and substantial load-bearing capacity. To achieve these performance requirements, we developed an innovative design incorporating two interconnected parallel link mechanisms for the main load-bearing structure, driven by an active parallel link mechanism powered by dual rotary actuators. To optimize the design parameters, we conducted mechanism analyses of the workspace, statics, and velocity characteristics. Our results demonstrate that the tail mechanism can generate forces up to 200 N and achieve velocities up to 0.48 m/s at its distal end. Through this analysis, we established optimal link lengths of 180 mm, 40 mm, and 200 mm for the tail mechanism components.
