- 1College of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Zhejiang University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Hangzhou, China
- 2Institute of Mathematical Physics, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
The algebraic structure and Poisson's integral of snake-like robot systems are studied. The generalized momentum, Hamiltonian function, generalized Hamilton canonical equations, and their contravariant algebraic forms are obtained for snake-like robot systems. The Lie-admissible algebra structures of the snake-like robot systems are proved and partial Poisson integral methods are applied to the snake-like robot systems. The first integral methods of the snake-like robot systems are given. An example is given to illustrate the results.
Introduction
The snake-like robot, which is based on the biological characteristics of snakes, constitutes an important branch of bionic robots [1]. Hirose developed the first snake robot in 1972 [2]. The snake robot is significantly different from a tracked robot, wheeled robot, and legged robot, being a mobile robot with high redundancy. Because of the multi-joint flexible structure design, a snake robot has the advantage of multi-gait motion and the ability to adapt to a complex unknown environment, and can be widely used in disaster rescue, underwater surveys, industrial testing, and other special environments that traditional robots or humans cannot enter; as a result, increasing attention is being paid to snake robots [3–6].
In 1946, Gray divided movement gaits into serpentine movement, rectilinear movement, concertina movement, and sidewinding movement in the study of the biological nature of snakes [7]. According to this study, there are two starting points to study the motion of the snake-like robot: One is to observe the movement rule of biological snakes from the perspective of bionics, and then apply the rule to the snake-like robot to verify its effectiveness and controllability; on the other hand, the physical models are established according to the actual physical systems, and based on the physical model a control law is proposed to make snake-like robots move in a serpentine motion. For example, Tang et al. [8] studied the control methods of snake-like robots in different environments. Hirose established a serpentine gait kinematics model with linkage structures based on the observation of biological snake movement processes and bone anatomy [2], Lilijeback et al. analyzed the position relationship between a snake robot and obstacles, proposed an obstacle assistant movement gait in planar motion, and built the kinematics and dynamics model for the snake robot [9, 10]. At present, the serpentine motion of many snake-like robots are realized on the passive wheel, while the passive wheel provides a non-holonomic constraint for the system of snake-like robots in dynamics, so it is necessary to analyze and discuss the constraint systems of snake-like robots. Ostrowski and Burdick [11] and Guo et al. [12] developed the kinematic model considering the constraint systems of snake-like robots.
It is well-known that algebraic structure and Poisson's theory for constrained mechanical systems have been developed to seek invariants of mechanical and physical systems [13, 14]. Mei and Shi [15] have extended this method to non-holonomic constrained mechanical systems. Fu et al. have studied the algebraic structure and Poisson's theory of the relativistic Birkhoffian system, rotational relativistic dynamical system, mechanico-electrical coupling system, and f (R) cosmology system [16–18]. In this paper, we make an effort in this direction and demonstrate the applications of the algebraic structure and Poisson's theory of dynamical systems to snake-like robot system. This paper gives the algebraic structure and the first integral methods of snake-like robots. Firstly, the kinematics of the snake-like robot is analyzed, and then the generalized Lagrange equations and generalized Hamilton canonical equations of the snake-like robot systems are given. Secondly, contravariant algebraic forms of snake-like robot systems are obtained. Thirdly the Lie-admissible algebraic structure of the snake-like robot is researched. Fourthly, the Poisson integral methods are applied to the snake-like robot systems. Finally, an example is studied for a snake-like robot.
Lagrangian of Snake-Like Robot Systems
In order to facilitate the analysis, the snake-like robot systems are simplified as a link mechanism, each link rod represents a joint of the snake-like robot (mechanical structure of snake-like robot systems are depicted in Figure 1). Then, according to Figure 1, we can get the analysis as follows: let (xi, yi) denote the center of gravity of each joint (each coordinate is set in the middle of each link), φi is the angle between the link and the horizontal direction, (xh, yh) and the θh denote the position of the snake-like robot and the absolute angle of snake-head, respectively, and mh denotes the weight of the head of the robot. Length 2l and weight m are the same for each link.
We choose qi = φi, qn+1 = xh, qn+2 = yh, qn+3 = θh, (i = 1, 2, ⋯ , n) as the generalized coordinates.
From Figure 1, the relationship between the center of gravity of each joint (xi, yi) and the position of the snake head (xh, yh) can be given by
so, the generalized velocities of snake-like systems can be given by
We give a simplified model of one unit of the snake-like robot system as shown in Figure 2.
The constraint equations of the snake-like robot system are given by
where qn+3+i = γi denotes the rotating angle of each unit's sideslip, R denotes the turning radius of the unit;
submitting constraints (2) into (3), we can derive
The symbols cos and sin are written as C and S respectively, then the kinetic energy of the snake-like robot system is given by
The potential energy of the snake-like robot system is assumed to be
The dissipative functions of the snake-like robot system are assumed to be given by
The Routh equation of the snake-like robot system can be given by
After derivation of the constraints of the snake-like robot system (4), we have
From Equation (8) and (9), the Lagrange multiply λ can be calculated as
Submitting (10) into (8), we can derive
where
The motion equation (12) of the complete system corresponding to the snake-like robot system (4, 11) can be given as
where are the non-potential force, the generalized nonholonomic constraint anti-forces, L = T − U the Lagrangian of the snake-like robot system.
Generalized Hamilton Canonical Equations of Snake-Like Robot Systems
Assume that the generalized momentums of snake-like robot systems are
And introduce the Hamiltonian of the snake-like robot system as
where p = {p1, p2, ⋯ , p2n+3} denotes generalized momentums, equation (16) can be partially regularized as
which is called the generalized Hamilton canonical equation of snake-like robot systems.
Contravariant Algebraic Forms of Snake-Like Robot Systems
For snake-like robot systems, we can introduce contravariant vectors
then the Hamiltonian of snake-like robot systems will be written in the form
For generalized Hamilton canonical equation (15) of snake-like robot systems, we let
where
then Equation (15) can be expressed in the contravariant algebraic form
where
It is obvious that the tensor Sμν is composed of anti-symmetrical tensor ωμν and symmetrical tensor Tμν.
Algebraic Structure of Snake-Like Robot Systems
Firstly, we study the algebraic structure of snake-like robot systems.
Performing the full derivative of function A(a) along Equation (27), and this derivative is defined as a product:
this product satisfies the right-hand assignment law, left-hand assignment law, and scalar law, so we can derive that the snake-like robot system possesses a compatible algebraic structure.
If the snake-like robot system in Equation (27) possesses the Lie algebraic structure, then Equation (31) satisfies the anti-symmetrical property
and Jacobi identical equation
When considering Equations (28)-(30), Equations (32) and (33) lead to a condition with respect to Tμν
Further, we have Ωkk = 0, Qs = 0,(s, k = 1, ⋯ , 2n + 3). Then Equation (27) has no Lie algebraic structure, and we have
Conclusion 1: The snake like-robot systems do not have Lie algebraic structure.
For Equation (31), we define a new product
we can prove that Equation (36) has anti-symmetrical property, and satisfies the Jacobi identical equation, namely, a new product with Lie algebraic structure, then Equation (27) has
Conclusion 2: The snake like-robot systems have Lie-admissible algebraic structure.
The Poisson's Integral Method of Snake-Like Robot Systems
The classical Poisson integral method includes setting up the Poisson condition of the first integral for the Hamilton system, the Poisson theorem of third integrals is generated from two known integrals by Poisson brackets. The theoretical foundation of this method includes equations of motion of systems with Lie algebraic structure. Because the snake-like robot system has no Lie algebraic structure, it possesses Lie-admissible algebraic structure. Therefore, part of the Poisson integral methods can be applied to snake-like robot systems. Then we have the following conclusions:
Proposition 1: The necessary and sufficient condition on which I(aμ, t) = c is the first integral of snake-like robot systems (27) in that the I(aμ, t) satisfies
Proposition 2: H = c is a first integral of snake-like robot systems (27), if the Hamiltonian of the system does not depend explicitly on time t, and for.
Proposition 3: For snake-like robot systems (27), which possess a first integral I(aμ, t) that contains t, but H and do not depend explicitly on t, then
i.e.,
Namely, is the first integral of the snake-like robot system (27), and are also first integrals of the snake-like robot system.
Proposition 4: For snake-like robot systems (27), which possess a first integral I(aμ, t) containing aρ, but H and do not depend explicitly on aρ, are also first integrals of the snake-like robot system.
Example
We set up a simple snake-like robot which only has one joint, and choose q1 = φ1, q2 = xh, q3 = yh, q4 = θh, q5 = γ1 as generalized coordinates.
The relationship between the center of gravity of the first joint (x1, y1) and the position of the snake head (xh, yh) can be given by
so, the velocities of snake-like systems can be given by
The constraints of the snake-like robot system are given by
We obtain the kinetic energy of the snake-like robot system
potential energy
and dissipative function
The Lagrange function of the system is written in the form
Taking the generalized momenta of snake-like robot systems
using Equation (47), we can obtain the generalized velocities in the form
The Hamiltonian of the snake-like robot system can be expressed as
Using Equations (47)–(49), we can obtain
We call Equations (48) and (50) the generalized Hamilton canonical equations of the snake-like robot system.
In which
Let
then Equation (50) can be expressed in the contravariant algebraic form
where
using Equations (25) and (51), we have
Substituting Equations (53) and (54) into Equation (27) leads to the contravariant algebraic form of snake-like robot systems
From Proposition (2), the Hamiltonian of the system is written in the form
and is the first integral.
Using Proposition (1), we can obtain the following integrals:
The first integral I2 includes a5. Using Proposition (4), from I2 we obtain a new integral.
Conclusion
In this paper, we have studied the algebraic structure and Poisson integral theory of snake-like robot systems. This method reduces the expression variables of the snake-like robot and makes the expression more concise. We can also obtain the algebraic structure and Poisson integral theory of other soft robots.
Data Availability Statement
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author/s.
Author Contributions
FJ-L is responsible for the topic selection and research work of the paper. ML is responsible for the research work of the paper. XC participates in the research of the topic selection and the establishment of motion equation.
Funding
This work was Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China: 11872335 750000RMB, 11472247 900000RMB.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
The authors of this manuscript acknowledge support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11872335, 11472247).
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Keywords: snake-like robot, algebraic structure, poisson integral, lagrange equation, hamiltonian function
Citation: Jing-Li F, Chun X and Lei M (2021) Algebraic Structure and Poisson Integral Method of Snake-Like Robot Systems. Front. Phys. 9:643016. doi: 10.3389/fphy.2021.643016
Received: 18 December 2020; Accepted: 12 April 2021;
Published: 10 June 2021.
Edited by:
Yang-Hui He, City University of London, United KingdomReviewed by:
Alberto Molgado, Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí, MexicoQ. H. Liu, Hunan University, China
Copyright © 2021 Jing-Li, Chun and Lei. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Fu Jing-Li, c3FmdWppbmdsaSYjeDAwMDQwOzE2My5jb20=