Design and Experimental Study of Whole-body Obstacle Avoidance Strategy for Snake Robots

doi:10.3901/JME.2024.21.004

Abstract

Abstract: To solve the problems of low obstacle avoidance efficiency and collision of some joints with obstacles in micro snake robots, a new whole-body obstacle avoidance strategy for snake robots is proposed based on model predictive control. A guidance strategy is also proposed that is applicable to the unique structure of snake robots. The proposed obstacle avoidance strategy can both accurately follow the target path when there is no obstacle and efficiently avoid obstacles when there is an obstacle and quickly return to the original path. Different from the existing strategies that can only guarantee that the head or center of mass of the snake robot does not collide with obstacles, our proposed strategy can guarantee that all joints do not collide with obstacles, and the efficiency of obstacle avoidance is improved without considering the maximum collision volume or assuming that the snake’s tail moves strictly according to the trajectory of the snake’s head. In addition, by analyzing the effect of the changing drive structure of the snake robot on the turning efficiency under the fixed gait, a guidance strategy applicable to this type of robot with changing turning efficiency is proposed to avoid the oscillation phenomenon of the robot repeatedly shuttling through the desired path. The effectiveness of the proposed strategies is verified by extensive simulations and experiments.

Key words: snake robot, whole-body obstacle avoidance, model predictive control

CLC Number:

TP242

LI Peng, WANG Liuyin, WANG Gang, MA Shugen. Design and Experimental Study of Whole-body Obstacle Avoidance Strategy for Snake Robots[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2024, 60(21): 4-13.

References

[1] 王国彪，陈殿生，陈科位，等. 仿生机器人研究现状与发展趋势[J]. 机械工程学报，2015，51(13)：27-44. WANG Guobiao，CHEN Diansheng，CHEN Kewei，et al. The current research status and development strategy on biomimetic robot[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering， 2015，51(13)：27-44.
[2] 张军豪，陈英龙，杨双喜，等. 蛇形机器人：仿生机理、结构驱动和建模控制[J]. 机械工程学报，2022，58(7)：75-92. ZHANG Junhao，CHEN Yinglong，YANG Shuangxi，et al. Snake robotics：Bionic mechanism，structure，actuation，modeling and control[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering，2022，58(7)：75-92.
[3] GRAVDAHL J L I，VARAGNOLO D，STAVDAHL Ø. Form closure for fully actuated and robust obstacle-aided locomotion in snake robots[J]. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters，2023，8(11)：7360-7367.
[4] TAKANASHI T，NAKAJIMA M，TAKEMORI T，et al. Obstacle-aided locomotion of a snake robot using piecewise helixes[J]. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters，2022，7(4)：10542-10549.
[5] HITAKA Y，YOKOMICHI M. Obstacle avoidance of a snake robot in narrow hallway[C]// 2012 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation，Chengdu，China：IEEE，2012：214-219.
[6] NOR N M，MA S. CPG-based locomotion control of a snake-like robot for obstacle avoidance[C]// 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation，Hong Kong，China：IEEE，2014：347-352.
[7] HAGHSHENAS J M，SEVIL H E. Autonomous navigation and obstacle avoidance of a snake robot with combined velocity-heading control[C]// 2020 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems，Las Vegas，NV，USA：IEEE，2020：7507-7512.
[8] KOHL A M，MOE S，KELASIDI E，et al. Set-based path following and obstacle avoidance for underwater snake robots[C]// 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics，Macau，China：IEEE，2017：1206-1213.
[9] 张丹凤. 基于路径边沿引导策略的蛇形机器人路径跟踪方法[J]. 机器人，2021，43(1)：36-43. ZHANG Danfeng. A path tracking method for the snake robot based on the path edge guidance strategy[J]. Robot，2021，43(1)：36-43.
[10] 刘旭鹏，郜志英，臧勇，等. 蛇形机器人蜿蜒运动的摩擦机理及推进条件[J]. 机械工程学报，2021，57(21)：189-201. LIU Xupeng，GAO Zhiying，ZANG Yong，et al. Tribological mechanism and propulsion conditions for creeping locomotion of the snake-like robot[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering，2021，57(21)：189-201.
[11] JIA Y，MA S. A decentralized Bayesian approach for snake robot control[J]. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters，2021，6(4)：6955-6960.
[12] WU X，MA S. Head-navigated locomotion of a snake-like robot for its autonomous obstacle avoidance[C]// 2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems，Taipei，Taiwan，China：IEEE，2010：401-406.
[13] MENON M S，RAVI V C，GHOSAL A. Trajectory planning and obstacle avoidance for hyper-redundant serial robots[J]. Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics，2017，9(4)：041010.
[14] WANG G，YANG W，SHEN Y，et al. Adaptive path following of underactuated snake robot on unknown and varied frictions ground：Theory and validations[J]. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters，2018，3(4)：4273-4280.
[15] YANG W，WANG G，SHAO H，et al. Spline based curve path following of underactuated snake robots[C]// 2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation，Montreal，QC，Canada：IEEE，2019：5352-5358.
[16] WANG L，WANG G，LI Y，et al. Real-time whole-body collision avoidance and path following of a snake robot through MPC-based optimization strategies[C]// 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems，Detroit，MI，USA：IEEE，2023：2362-2367.
[17] YANG K，TANG X，QIN Y，et al. Comparative study of trajectory tracking control for automated vehicles via model predictive control and robust H-infinity state feedback control[J]. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering，2021，34：1-14.
[18] CHEN Y，YU H，ZHANG J，et al. Lane-exchanging driving strategy for autonomous vehicle via trajectory prediction and model predictive control[J]. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering，2022，35(1)：71.
[19] FUKUSHIMA H，YANAGIYA T，OTA Y，et al. Model predictive path-following control of snake robots using an averaged model[J]. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology，2020，29(6)：2444-2456.
[20] LILJEBÄCK P，PETTERSEN K Y，STAVDAHL Ø，et al. Snake robots：Modelling，mechatronics，and control[M]. London：Springer，2013.