A mechanical model for a system of coupled elastic filaments for terrestrial robot locomotion

Multi-legged robots are a class of devices offering potential solutions in several operational scenarios that involve the deployment in unstructured and uncertain environments, in which trade-offs between specialization and robustness need to be considered. Several aquatic and terrestrial organisms evolutionarily converged to robust locomotion solutions. An important example is the emergence of collective beating dynamics in coupled arrays of flexible protrusions, which is at the core of the locomotion mechanics of small swimmers, and of terrestrial walkers with flexible, elongated bodies. Here, we formulate the dynamics of a system of flexible elastic filaments coupled through a solid medium, intended to be a simplified model for the locomotion mechanism for a legged terrestrial robot. The legs’ coupling is modeled via linear elastic lumped elements, and metachronal wave patterns are enforced via ad hoc leg actuation. Simulation results show that this model predicts the persistence of wave patterns that result in locomotion across a flat terrain.