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Tensegrity Approaches for Flexible Robots: A Review

  • Conference paper
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Synergetic Cooperation between Robots and Humans (CLAWAR 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 811))

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Abstract

Tensegrity robots are an emerging class of systems that use tensegrity principles to achieve a unique combination of flexibility and strength. Tensegrity is an engineering concept that combines compression and tension elements to create lightweight and resistant structures. This approach can achieve greater adaptability and flexibility in robots’ movement and their interaction with the environment. In addition, the ability of flexible systems with tensegrity to resist and recover from impacts and deformations makes them more resistant to damage than traditional rigid systems. Also, tensegrity robots have been applied in different environments, such as planetary exploration, flexible manipulation, locomotion, and modular robotics. This review presents basic definitions of tensegrity applied to flexible robots, the leading methods for structural and dynamic analysis of tensegrity robots, and emerging applications developed in recent years and still under development.

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Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), through Programa de Excelência Acadêmica (PROEX), for the financial support on Process Number 88887.685173/2022–00 and 88887.518120/2020–00. Also, to financial support received by FAPERJ foundation through the program Bolsa de doutorado nota-10 with number 204.144/2022.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robotics Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Juan C. Guacheta-Alba, Angie J. Valencia-Casteneda & Max Suell Dutra

  2. Davinci Research Group, Mechatronics Engineering Department, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Bogota, Colombia

    Mauricio Mauledoux & Oscar F. Aviles

Authors
  1. Juan C. Guacheta-Alba
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  2. Angie J. Valencia-Casteneda
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  3. Max Suell Dutra
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  4. Mauricio Mauledoux
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  5. Oscar F. Aviles
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juan C. Guacheta-Alba .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil

    Ebrahim Samer El Youssef

  2. School of Engineering, London South Bank University, London, UK

    Mohammad Osman Tokhi

  3. School of Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Manuel F. Silva

  4. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil

    Leonardo Mejia Rincon

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© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Guacheta-Alba, J.C., Valencia-Casteneda, A.J., Dutra, M.S., Mauledoux, M., Aviles, O.F. (2024). Tensegrity Approaches for Flexible Robots: A Review. In: Youssef, E.S.E., Tokhi, M.O., Silva, M.F., Rincon, L.M. (eds) Synergetic Cooperation between Robots and Humans. CLAWAR 2023. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 811. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47272-5_5

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