土砂を取り込み自己の構造体とすることで機能を発現するロボット「土喰らい」の開発

(第一報) 土砂取り込み機構および獲得土砂による剛性変化に関する検証実験

抄録

We propose a robot that is initially lightweight and soft but can develop new functions by taking in environmental materials and using them as a structural material. As an example of such a robot, we develop“TsuchiKurai”; a robot that acquires new functions by increasing its stiffness and mass by taking in the surrounding soil and using it as its structural material. As the first step, we devised a soil collection mechanism using a robotic hand wrapped in a bag-like structure. In addition, we developed a prototype of the soil collection mechanism and the stiffness change by soil and conducted experimental verification.