To better understand the role of tensegrity structures in biological systems and their application to robotics, the Dynamic Tensegrity Robotics Lab at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA, has developed and validated two software environments for the analysis, simulation and design of tensegrity robots. These tools, along with new control methodologies and the modular hardware components developed to validate them, are presented as a system for the design of actuated tensegrity structures. As evidenced from their appearance in many biological systems, tensegrity (‘tensile–integrity’) structures have unique physical properties that make them ideal for interaction with uncertain environments. Yet, these characteristics make design and control of bioinspired tensegrity robots extremely challenging. This work presents the progress our tools have made in tackling the design and control challenges of spherical tensegrity structures. We focus on this shape since it lends itself to rolling locomotion. The results of our analyses include multiple novel control approaches for mobility and terrain interaction of spherical tensegrity structures that have been tested in simulation. A hardware prototype of a spherical six-bar tensegrity, the Reservoir Compliant Tensegrity Robot, is used to empirically validate the accuracy of simulation.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsif.2014.0520

Design and control of compliant tensegrity robots through simulation and hardware validation.

Review: A review of active structural control: challenges for engineering informatics

For any given animal, the sources of mechanical disturbances inducing tissue deformation define environment from the perspective of the animal's haptic perceptual system. The system's achievements include perceiving the body, attachments to the body, and the surfaces and substances adjacent to the body. Among the perceptual systems, it stands alone in having no defined medium. There is no articulated functional equivalent to air and water, the media that make possible the energy transmissions and diffusions underpinning the other perceptual systems. To identify the haptic system's medium the authors focus on connective tissue and the conjunction of muscular, connective tissue net, and skeletal (MCS) as the body's proper characterization. The challenge is a biophysical formulation of MCS as a continuum that, similar to air and water, is homogeneous and isotropic. The authors hypothesized a multifractal tensegrity (MFT) with the shape and stability of the constituents of each scale, from individual...

The medium of haptic perception: a tensegrity hypothesis.

The Spherical Underactuated Planetary Exploration Robot ball (SUPERball) is an ongoing project within NASA Ames Research Center's Intelligent Robotics Group and the Dynamic Tensegrity Robotics Lab (DTRL) The current SUPERball is the first full prototype of this tensegrity robot platform, eventually destined for space exploration missions This work, building on prior published discussions of individual components, presents the fully-constructed robot Various design improvements are discussed, as well as testing results of the sensors and actuators that illustrate system performance Basic low-level motor position controls are implemented and validated against sensor data, which show SUPERball to be uniquely suited for highly dynamic state trajectory tracking Finally, SUPERball is shown in a simple example of locomotion This implementation of a basic motion primitive shows SUPERball in untethered control

/pdf/system-design-and-locomotion-of-superball-an-untethered-13adq30edt.pdf

System design and locomotion of SUPERball, an untethered tensegrity robot

Analysis of clustered tensegrity structures using a modified dynamic relaxation algorithm

A tensegrity is a lightweight space structure consisting of compression members surrounded by a network of tension members. They can be easily dismantled and therefore provide innovative possibilities for reusable and modular structures. Tensegrities can adapt their shape by changing their self stress, and when equipped with sensors and actuators, they can adapt to changing environments. A full-scale prototype of an adjustable tensegrity has been built and tested at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). This paper begins with a description of important aspects of the design, assembly, and static testing. Tests show that the structure behaves linearly when subjected to vertical loads applied to a single joint. Nonlinearities are detected for small displacements, for loads applied to several joints and for adjusting combinations of telescoping compression members. To predict behavior, dynamic relaxation - a nonlinear method - has been found to be reliable. Appropriate strut adjustments found by a stochastic search algorithm are identified for the control goal of constant roof slope and for the load conditions studied. When adjusting struts, an excessive number of adjustable members does not necessarily lead to improved performance.

Adjustable Tensegrity Structures

Developing intelligent tensegrity structures with stochastic search

A ce jour, bien que le nombre de prototypes construits de structure de tensegrite soit croissant, peu d'entre eux ont ete testes en grandeur nature. Cet article presente une description de deux structures, de taille differente, construites a l'Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne et compare leur comportement structural. Il souligne l'importance de la conception des assemblages pour une structure reutilisable et modulaire. L'article souligne aussi pour les deux structures la linearite locale du comportement sous charge simple d'une part, et les non-linearites geometriques d'autre part. Dans ce cadre, l'application de l'hypothese de superposition permettant la simplification de l'analyse structurale, n'est pas valable meme pour les petits deplacements. Un concept etendu de structures actives, s'appuyant sur des algorithmes de recherche stochastique definissant les commandes de controle, combines a d'autres techniques avancees d'intelligence artificielle, est propose.

Deux Structures Actives de Type Tensegrité

Towards Intelligent Tensegrity Structures

Until now, only few tensegrity full-scale structures have been built and tested. This paper presents the tensegrity structure that was built and tested at EPFL. It describes a geometric and modulary assembly method. The paper highlights the importance of the design of joints in order to obtain a reusable and modular structure and predictable behaviour. A new concept of active structure using advance computational control algorithms is shown. Through testing of the prototype, it has been observed that the structure behaves linearly when subjected to vertical loads on single joints. However, even for small displacements, elastic superposition of displacements does not predict accurately the behaviour for multiply loaded joints.

Construction et caractérisation d'une structure active de type tensegrité

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