Bat Bot 2.0: Bio-inspired anisotropic skin, passive wrist joints, and redesigned flapping mechanism

Jonathan Hoff, Nicole Jeon, Patrick Li, Joohyung Kim

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Bat flight has been an underdeveloped area of bio-inspired robotics because of the vast complexities of biological bat flight and the over 40 degrees of freedom present in their bodies. The robotic flapping system Bat Bot (B2) has been shown to exhibit fundamental properties of biological bat flight with its articulated wings, its deformable membrane, and its controllable hindlimbs. However, the system is limited in performance by its relatively large mass for the thrust it produces. In an effort to further pursue this important area of flapping flight, we have made several important hardware improvements to the system based on biological inspiration. These include passive wrist joints to reduce negative lift in the upstroke and a novel elastic fiber membrane to mimic the anistropic nature of bat skin for performance and durability. The redesigned flapping mechanism and structure have reduced the weight by 22%, increased the flapping amplitude, lowered mechanical slackness, and improved mass distribution. These hardware improvements are functional together in free-flight tests. This new system Bat Bot 2.0 (B2.0) provides insights into the important elements of design of bat robots, and it brings the goal of complex bat flight maneuvers closer to reality.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationIEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2021
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages8424-8430
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9781665417143
DOIs
StatePublished - 2021
Event2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2021 - Prague, Czech Republic
Duration: Sep 27 2021Oct 1 2021

Publication series

NameIEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
ISSN (Print)2153-0858
ISSN (Electronic)2153-0866

Conference

Conference2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2021
Country/TerritoryCzech Republic
CityPrague
Period9/27/2110/1/21

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Software
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Computer Science Applications

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