Tensegrity robots comprising solid rods connected by tensile cables are of interest due to their flexible and robust nature, which potentially makes them suitable for uneven and unpredictable environments where traditional robots often struggle. Much progress has been made toward attaining locomotion with tensegrity robots. However, measuring the shape of a dynamic tensegrity without the use of external hardware remains a challenge. Here we show how robotic skins may be attached around the exterior of a tensegrity structure, to both control and measure its shape from its surface. The robotic skins are planar, skin-like membranes with integrated actuators and sensors, which we use to transform a passive tensegrity structure into an active tensegrity robot that performs tasks such as locomotion. In addition, sensors placed on the ends of the tensegrity rods are used to directly measure orientation relative to the ground. The hardware and algorithms presented herein thus provide a platform for surface-driven actuation and intrinsic state estimation of tensegrity structures, which we hope will enable future tensegrity robots to execute precise closed-loop motions in real-world environments.

中文翻译：

---

使用机器人皮肤的张拉整体结构的表面驱动和传感

由拉伸电缆连接的实心杆组成的张拉整体机器人因其灵活和坚固的特性而受到关注，这可能使它们适用于传统机器人经常挣扎的不平坦和不可预测的环境。在使用张拉整体机器人实现运动方面取得了很大进展。然而，在不使用外部硬件的情况下测量动态张拉整体的形状仍然是一个挑战。在这里，我们展示了如何将机器人皮肤附着在张拉整体结构的外部，以从其表面控制和测量其形状。机器人皮肤是平面的、类似皮肤的膜，带有集成的执行器和传感器，我们用它来将被动张拉整体结构转变为执行诸如运动等任务的主动张拉整体机器人。此外，放置在张拉整体杆末端的传感器用于直接测量相对于地面的方向。因此，本文介绍的硬件和算法为张拉整体结构的表面驱动驱动和内在状态估计提供了一个平台，我们希望这将使未来的张拉整体机器人能够在现实世界环境中执行精确的闭环运动。