Analysis of locomotion performance affected by flexible materials for a bionic cockroach robot

A bionic cockroach robot model is built with its coxa link made of flexible material. Locomotion performance affected by flexible material is analyzed via statics. Analysis of strain energy about flexible links is also presented through linear elastic deflections and pseudo-rigid-body models. The virtual cockroach robot model is built and the kinematic simulation is carried out by finite element and multi-body dynamics software. The results of analysis and simulation indicate that the application of flexible materials reduce the disturbance to the robot body. The stability and agility of cockroach robot are developed with flexible materials while the joint driving torque is increased, and the release of strain energy will also produce a slight disturbance on robot. The flexible robots still need to be improved.