Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Analysis of Structural Robustness for Low-Cost Quadrupedal Robots
Submission Author:
Nicolas Ferreira Cruvinel Monteiro Souza , SP
Co-Authors:
Nicolas Ferreira Cruvinel Monteiro Souza, Leonardo Felipe dos Santos, Vivian Suzano Medeiros, Marcelo Becker
Presenter: Leonardo Felipe dos Santos
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-1187
Abstract
The application of quadruped robots to perform autonomous industrial inspection tasks has grown significantly in recent years. To perform such tasks, legged robots need to move safely in unstructured environments and be able to handle obstacles and external disturbances. For this reason, most of the research in this field focuses on increasing the robustness of legged robots for navigation in rough and unknown environments. In an effort to enable more access to this technology, recent research projects have presented open-source options for more compact and cheaper quadruped robots, but usually with a much less robust mechanical design, which limits its application. In this context, this article presents a study on the robustness of the mechanical structure of low-cost quadruped robots, seeking to identify weak points in its components and alternative materials for its construction, while still allowing for a reduced manufacturing cost. For this study, the open-source Solo robot will be used, a compact and low-cost quadruped robot composed mainly of parts manufactured via 3D printing or commercially available. From the mechanical design of the robot, a structural evaluation of the system will be carried out to find ways to make it more resistant to situations that may require more effort or possible impacts and external disturbances. In order to maintain the low cost of production of such robots, the study focuses mainly on polymeric materials that can also be used for 3D printing. To identify the best materials for the robot design, several simulations are carried out using SolidWorks. First, in simulation, simple geometry blocks made of different materials are subjected to compression and torsion efforts, and the results are used to produce a comparative table of the characteristics of the materials. Next, using the CAD of the robot in SolidWorks, its original structure is replaced with the materials ranked the best in the previous tests, and further simulations are performed applying efforts to the most vulnerable points of the structure, closer to the actuated joints of the robot legs. The results show a ranking list of the best materials to be used for legged robot design that still allows for a lower manufacturing cost. Furthermore, this study also provides a means of helping other projects with similar purposes by presenting a comparative table between the materials tested.
Keywords
Legged robots, Additive manufacturing, Robotics, Finite Element Analysis
