NOODLE: DESIGN OF A MODULAR, CONFIGURABLE SERPENTINE ROBOT WITH SERIES ELASTIC ACTUATORS AND MODULAR SEGMENT PANELS

This paper outlines and describes the design of Noodle; a modular, reconfigurable, and low-cost serpentine robot. The design is inspired by the diverse set of gaits exhibited by biological snakes, and seeks to provide a universal solution to achieving all of them. However, organic snakes possess varying microscopic ventral scale structures depending on their habitat and gait, which impacts the frictional forward- transverse anisotropy of the ventral scales. To provide a design that will best perform all serpentine gaits, the design proposes modular ventral panels on the sides of the robot's segments. This acquires the capacity to configure the robot's ventral contact surface prior to deployment onto a given substrate, and the ability to select its ventral side by rolling and changing orientation. By modularising the ventral contact surface, access to varying degrees of frictional anisotropy is granted, which provides the benefit of selecting the optimal ventral surface for a given gait and/or substrate. Through the inclusion of Series Elastic Actuators, compliance and torque sensory are achieved. Noodle has been designed to accept two types of Series Elastic Elements (SEE): coil-spring and polyurethane. The design, benefits and shortcomings of each SEE type are investigated. Due to these modes of configurability, Noodle can be either configured or be adapted for a given substrate, and provides a basis for implementing active gait adaptation behaviour.