Design and prototyping of Super ball bot

Tensegrity systems are spatial structures that are composed of only tensile and compression components in a self-equilibrated state of prestress. Our project explored the viability of building robots around the tensegrity structural concept, which allows greater shock absorbance and flexibility by using isolated components held together through continuous tension. This structure is called “Super Ball Bot”. Super Ball Bot is an all-in-one landing and mobile platform based on tensegrity structures, allowing for lower-cost, and more reliable planetary missions to launch payloads onto other planets and celestial objects. The project involved building the SOLIDWORKS model of six strut Super ball bot and three strut models and built the physical structure of the same models. This also involved providing motion to the three strut model. For both six strut and three strut model, the hollow pipe was modelled as strut, the compression component. Thin cable was modelled as a tension component. In the six strut model, two struts were placed in X, Y and Z axes, which resembled overlapping of two co-ordinate axes. Each strut end was connected to 4 cables. The pretension in the cables provides the required shape and stiffness to the structure. For three strut model, the struts were placed at a particular inclination to the plane of the base triangle and each strut end was connected to only three cables. The drop test was performed in Solid works considering the conditions (acceleration due to gravity) similar to the planet Mars. Drop test of a single strut was performed in Solid works for the sole purpose of comparing the results of that of the six strut and three strut models. Also, the drop test of the single strut was performed at different inclinations to study the effect of inclination of the strut on the drop height.