Propulsion Mechanism

Propulsion mechanism of the robot is controlled by a small stepper motor that rotates a wheel where a rod is connected at 0.25 in away from its center. The rod is then connected on its other end to a see saw motion lever where on its other end a second rod is mounted. The rod's other end is moving back and forth with a cubic shaped piston that moves inside a sleeve. These combination of motions creates a back and forth motion that pulls two wires to create an undulating motion in the soft actuator. The mechanism is mounted on a circular plate that is connected to a Nema 17 stepper motor. This additional motor allows for control in the yaw direction of the robot.

The propulsion mechanism is then placed in a circular bracket to secure the subsystem and allow proper alignment.

Then, the subsystem is connected witht the soft actuator and the end cap by using 1.4" aluminum rods as shown in the assembly picture below:

The propulsion part that is numbered 32 in the exploded view below is attached directly to the soft actuator of the robot by stainless steel cables that are fastened by using two set screws in the vertical direction for each cable. In total the system uses two cables to control the movement of the tail that will be proven in the final section.

List of Parts

Below is an exploded view of the propulsion subsystem and a list of parts that are within the system.

Exploded View of Propulsion Subsystem

Exploded View of Propulsion Subsystem with Numbers

Exploded View of Soft Actuator System