Understanding Inchworm Crawling for Soft-Robotics

Crawling is a common locomotion mechanism in soft robots and nonskeletal animals. In this work we propose modeling soft-robotic legged locomotion by approximating it with an equivalent articulated robot with elastic joints. For concreteness we study the inchworm crawling of our soft robot with two bending actuators, via an articulated three-link model. The solution of statically indeterminate systems with stick-slip contact transitions requires for a novel hybrid-quasistatic analysis. Then, we utilize our analysis to investigate the influence of phase-shifted harmonic inputs on performance of crawling gaits, including sensitivity analysis to friction uncertainties and energetic cost of transport. We achieve optimal values of gait parameters. Finally, we fabricate and test a fluid-driven soft robot. The experiments display good agreement with the theoretical analysis, proving that our simple model correctly captures and explains the fundamental principles of inchworm crawling and can be applied to other soft-robotic legged robots.