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Effects of Tarsal Morphology on Load Feedback During Stepping of a Robotic Stick Insect (Carausius Morosus) Limb

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Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems (Living Machines 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 14157))

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Abstract

Sensory feedback from sense organs during animal locomotion can be heavily influenced by an organism’s mechanical structure. In insects, the interplay between sensing and mechanics can be demonstrated in the campaniform sensilla (CS) strain sensors located across the exoskeleton. Leg CS are highly sensitive to the loading state of the limb. In walking, loading is primarily influenced by ground reaction forces (GRF) mediated by the foot, or tarsus. The complex morphology of the tarsus provides compliance, passive and active substrate grip, and an increased moment arm for the GRF, all of which impact leg loading and the resulting CS discharge. To increase the biomimicry of robots we use to study strain feedback during insect walking, we have developed a series of tarsi for our robotic model of a Carausius morosus middle leg. We seek the simplest design that mimics tarsus functionality. Tarsi were designed with varying degrees of compliance, passive grip, and biomimetic structure. We created elastic silicone tarsal joints for several of these models and found that they produced linear stiffness within joint limits across different joint morphologies. Strain gauges positioned in CS locations on the trochanterofemur and tibia recorded strain while the leg stepped on a treadmill. Most, but not all, designs increased axial strain magnitude compared to previous data with no tarsus. Every tarsus design produced positive transversal strain in the tibia, indicating axial torsion in addition to bending. Sudden increases in tibial strain reflected leg slipping during stance. This data show how different aspects of the tarsus may mediate leg loading, allowing us to improve the mechanical biomimicry of future robotic test platforms.

Supported by NSF/DBI NeuroNex 2015317 to NSS, DFG Bu857/125-1 to AB, NSF CRCNS 2113028 to NSS and SNZ, and DFG DI 2907/1-1 (Project number 500615768, grant no. 233886668/GRK1960) to GFD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

    Clarus A. Goldsmith, William P. Zyhowski, Gesa F. Dinges & Nicholas S. Szczecinski

  2. Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne, Köln, NRW, Germany

    Ansgar Büschges

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Marshall University, Huntington, WV, USA

    Sasha N. Zill

Authors
  1. Clarus A. Goldsmith
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  2. William P. Zyhowski
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  3. Ansgar Büschges
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  4. Sasha N. Zill
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  5. Gesa F. Dinges
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  6. Nicholas S. Szczecinski
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Correspondence to Clarus A. Goldsmith .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy

    Fabian Meder

  2. Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA

    Alexander Hunt

  3. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy

    Laura Margheri

  4. Radboud University Nijmegen, Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Anna Mura

  5. Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy

    Barbara Mazzolai

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Goldsmith, C.A., Zyhowski, W.P., Büschges, A., Zill, S.N., Dinges, G.F., Szczecinski, N.S. (2023). Effects of Tarsal Morphology on Load Feedback During Stepping of a Robotic Stick Insect (Carausius Morosus) Limb. In: Meder, F., Hunt, A., Margheri, L., Mura, A., Mazzolai, B. (eds) Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems. Living Machines 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14157. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38857-6_32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38857-6_32

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