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research article

Variable-stiffness tensegrity spine

Zappetti, Davide  
•
Arandes Vilagrasa, Roc  
•
Ajanic, Enrico  
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April 9, 2020
Smart Materials and Structures

Vertebrates, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, with their ability to change the stiffness of the spine to increase load-bearing capability or flexibility, have inspired roboticists to develop artificial variable-stiffness spines. However, unlike their natural counterparts, current robotic spine systems do not display robustness or cannot adjust their stiffness according to their task. In this paper, we describe a novel variable-stiffness tensegrity spine, which uses an active mechanism to add or remove a ball-joint constrain among the vertebrae, allowing transition among different stiffness modes: soft mode, global stiff mode, and directional stiff mode. We validate the variable-stiffness properties of the tensegrity spine in experimental bending tests and compare results to a model. Finally, we demonstrate the tensegrity spine system as a continuous variable-stiffness manipulator and highlight its advantages over current systems.

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Variable-stiffness tensegrity spine.pdf

Type

Postprint

Version

http://purl.org/coar/version/c_ab4af688f83e57aa

Access type

embargo

Embargo End Date

2021-04-09

License Condition

CC BY-NC-ND

Size

1.14 MB

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Adobe PDF

Checksum (MD5)

334ce85122bd1196dc291b88686639ef

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