%0 Journal Article
%T From the Human Spine to Hyperredundant Robots: The ERMIS Mechanism
%A Ioannis Georgilas
%A Vassilios Tourassis
%J ISRN Robotics
%D 2013
%R 10.5402/2013/890609
%X Mechatronics are occasionally inspired by nature for joint designs in order to exploit the advantages of the biological ones in terms of mobility and articulation. Within this context and based upon the human spine for structure and actuation, the authors will present a novel hyperredundant mechanism, named ERMIS. The muscle-skeletal system of the human trunk will be described and modelled, and the elements that are being replicated by the mechanical analog will be analysed. It will be shown that the vertebrae-intervertebral disk arrangement can be emulated by a spherical-type configuration, the proposed Disk-Ball-Disk joint. Furthermore, the muscle actuation system is being recreated by a system of wires and pulleys. The relevant kinematic models will be developed, and both simulation and experimental data to evaluate its operation will be demonstrated. 1. Introduction Humans have always looked to nature for inspiration. In engineering and robotics research many mechanisms are imitations or reapplications of biological systems. This application in engineering design of natural processes and models is known as biomimicry or biomimetics. These mechanisms mimic the behaviour of biological organisms and offer many advantages over traditional designs. There are, of course, practical limits to biomimicry. When looking to nature for instruction, one must remember that biological designs are built with unique materials, operate in distinct environments, and possess intricate cost functions to optimise their objectives. And nature is not always perfect. A better design is by necessity an evolutionary derivative of an existing design, and it is only measured against other designs that have already been built. Human invention is only limited by our own vision and can be optimised relative to all potential designs. Given these caveats, nature does remain an admirable teacher [1, 2]. Within this general context, a large number of biologically inspired concepts revolve around the issue of articulation and mechanical mobility. Most, if not all, mechanical joints used in engineering today are imitations or reapplications of biological ones. The simplest example is the revolute joint which is based on the structure of the joints of the upper and lower extremities of most vertebrate animals. Similar arguments can be made for the spherical and prismatic joints. A remarkable paradigm of biologically inspired joint and articulation design example is the field of hyperredundant continuum robots [3, 4]. Within this field of robotic research, novel ideas for continuum
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.robotics/2013/890609/