A space crawling robotic bio-paw (SCRBP) enabled by triboelectric sensors for surface identification

With the rapid development of space crawling robotics technology, tactile perception, a significant source for the robot to sense the external environment, has become the preferred solution to gather information in space. Sensors embedded in the robotic end-effector unit can collect and encode the large tactile data, allowing the robot to feel and perceive the real surroundings. Therefore, a space crawling robotic bio-paw (SCRBP) inspired by a cat paw, which performs as a compliant device and can flat the impulse force during the robot’s contact process to the target surface, is proposed in this paper. Meanwhile, a touch-sensing system embedded on SCRBP with self-powered sensors based on the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) technology is proposed which can provide the multi-dimensional sensation information in real time. By combining with machine learning (ML), the sensory system can be used for surface identification from the footfall process to the robot’s controller hub. In conclusion, SCRBP device proposed in this paper has obvious advantages in surface information acquisition, space adaptability, power consumption, cost, reliable signal and minimized data. Accordingly, SCRBP system shows fabulous potential in space robotics.