Dynamic Investigation of a Rolling Locomotion System Based on a Tensegrity Structure with Spatially Curved Compressed Members

In this paper a compliant tensegrity structure based on spatially curved compressed members is presented. Due to an internal variation of the prestress state the shape of the structure can be controlled. In particular, a modification of a cylindrical outer shape to a conical form is achieved. Regarding to the applications in mobile robotics this approach enables a steerable two-dimensional rolling locomotion system. Beside the consideration of the underlying non-holonomic constraints a simplified mechanical model an the corresponding equations of motion are derived for a predefined actuation principle. Various numerical simulations are evaluated focusing on the corresponding locomotion behavior. Based on these results a reliable actuation strategy to navigate in two dimensions is proposed.