Form Estimation of Tensegrity based on Struts’ Posture Information

Abstract

Tensegrity is attracting attention as a robot structure due to its lightness, strength, flexibility, and ability to introduce many actuators. However, it is difficult to measure their shape using conventional angle sensors such as encoders or potentiometers due to the lack of clear joint structures. This study proposes a method for estimating the form of the entire tensegrity structure’s shape from the posture information of the struts. To confirm the validity of the proposed method, a verification experiment was conducted to compare the actual shape of the tensegrity structure measured by motion capture with the shape estimated by the proposed method. The experimental results confirmed that the proposed method could estimate the shape with an error of less than 9mm, demonstrating the method’s validity. This is considered a fundamental technology for controlling the shape of tensegrity.