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Design, analysis, and neural control of a bionic parallel mechanism

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Abstract

Although the torso plays an important role in the movement coordination and versatile locomotion of mammals, the structural design and neuromechanical control of a bionic torso have not been fully addressed. In this paper, a parallel mechanism is designed as a bionic torso to improve the agility, coordination, and diversity of robot locomotion. The mechanism consists of 6-degree of freedom actuated parallel joints and can perfectly simulate the bending and stretching of an animal’s torso during walking and running. The overall spatial motion performance of the parallel mechanism is improved by optimizing the structural parameters. Based on this structure, the rhythmic motion of the parallel mechanism is obtained by supporting state analysis. The neural control of the parallel mechanism is realized by constructing a neuromechanical network, which merges the rhythmic signals of the legs and generates the locomotion of the bionic parallel mechanism for different motion patterns. Experimental results show that the complete integrated system can be controlled in real time to achieve proper limb-torso coordination. This coordination enables several different motions with effectiveness and good performance.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51605039), in part by the Shaanxi International Science and Technology Cooperation Project (Grant No. 2020KW-064), in part by the Open Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power Transmission and Control (Grant No. GZKF-201923), in part by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2018T111005), in part by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant Nos. 300102259308 and 300102259401), and in part by the China Scholarship Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory of Road Construction Technology and Equipment of MOE, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710064, China

    Yaguang Zhu, Shuangjie Zhou & Ruyue Li

  2. State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Yaguang Zhu

  3. Embodied Artificial Intelligence & Neurorobotics Laboratory, SDU Biorobotics, The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Institute, The University of Southern Denmark, Odense, 5230, Denmark

    Yaguang Zhu & Manoonpong Poramate

  4. The College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China

    Manoonpong Poramate

  5. The School of Information Science & Technology, Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science & Technology, Rayong, 21210, Thailand

    Manoonpong Poramate

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  1. Yaguang Zhu
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  2. Shuangjie Zhou
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  3. Manoonpong Poramate
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  4. Ruyue Li
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Correspondence to Yaguang Zhu.

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Zhu, Y., Zhou, S., Poramate, M. et al. Design, analysis, and neural control of a bionic parallel mechanism. Front. Mech. Eng. 16, 468–486 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-021-0640-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-021-0640-8

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