Tensegrity Continuum Robots Enable Task-Adaptive Morphologies for Cooperative Behaviors

2026-08-27

AI Summary

研究通过结合张拉整体柔顺体和爪式连接机制，解决了机器人适应不同任务和环境的问题，实现了多功能协作行为。

Abstract

Robots that can change their morphologies and behaviors for different tasks and environments hold great promise for adaptable, multifunctional systems. Modular reconfigurable robots (MRRs) can achieve such functionalities by docking and rearranging individual units, but most rely on rigid modules that lack structural compliance, resulting in limited capabilities. Continuum robots offer compliance through flexible backbones, yet they cannot self-reconfigure into task-adaptive multi-robot configurations. Here, we introduce an MRR that unifies the advantages of both architectures by combining a tensegrity-based compliant body with claw-based connection mechanisms. Each robot can manipulate and locomote independently, and multiple robots can self-reconfigure into different morphologies (e.g., chains, loops, branches) for cooperative manipulation and locomotion. We demonstrate the robots' capability across diverse tasks and environments, including coordinated object manipulation and transport, multimodal locomotion, and loco-manipulation in real-world scenarios. These results lay a foundation for adaptable and multifunctional robotic collectives, with broad potential applications in manufacturing, space exploration, and search-and-rescue operations.

Problem

• modular reconfigurable robots
• continuum robots
• task-adaptive morphologies
• cooperative behaviors
• structural compliance

Innovation

• Tensegrity-based compliant body
• Claw-based connection mechanisms
• Self-reconfigurable morphologies
• Cooperative manipulation and locomotion