TRoBS — a biological inspired robot

This contribution presents a biological inspired robot, called Trunk Robot Braunschweig (TRoBS). The structural shape of the robot is motivated by a trunk mechanism, where the robot is actuated by NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA) wires, placed according to the agonist-antagonist principle of muscles. The robot has a modular structure, the single segments are connected by compliant joints, whose arrangement permit a variable degree of freedom (DoF) depending on the number of segments. The joints have a similar working principle as revolute joints. In order to show the functionality of the robot, the mechanical structure, the benefits of compliant joints as well as a method of kinematic modelling are presented. Another focus is placed on the actuation principle. The robot is actuated by SMA wires formed like springs, which provide advantages in design as well as in control aspects. Due to the high modularity of the mechanism, the robot is arbitrarily extendable and so adoptable for several applications.