Dynamics of a Tensegrity Robot Strut

Tensegrity robotics is an emerging field within soft robotics with a lot of potential. The word tensegrity is a combination of the words “tensile” and “integrity”. The structures are composed of rigid compressive elements held together in equilibrium by tensile elements, such as springs. Tensegrity structures are highly deformable, resilient, and modular. VVValtr, the name of our tensegrity robot, stands for Wireless Vibrationally Actuated Limbless Tensegrity Robot. VVValtr is unique in the world of tensegrity robotics because of the way it moves. Custom vibration motors are attached to the struts to utilize the theory that actuating the struts at their resonant frequencies produces the most effective locomotion. My research has primarily been focused on analyzing a single strut within a six-bar tensegrity. I have utilized three separate approaches to examine the behavior of one strut: a Matlab simulation, accelerometer testing, and 3D motion capture testing. I am comparing the results against one another for accuracy and to better understand the dynamics of the tensegrity strut.