The Multimodal Bionic Robot Integrating Kangaroo-Like Jumping and Tortoise-Like Crawling

In this study, we present a small, integrated jumping-crawling robot capable of intermittent jumping and self-resetting. Compared to robots with a single mode of locomotion, this multi-modal robot exhibits enhanced obstacle-surmounting capabilities. To achieve this, the robot employs a novel combination of a jumping module and a crawling module. The jumping module features improved energy storage capacity and an active clutch. Within the constraints of structural robustness, the jumping module maximizes the explosive power of the linear spring by utilizing the mechanical advantage of a closed-loop mechanism and controls the energy flow of the jumping module through an active clutch mechanism. Furthermore, inspired by the limb movements of tortoises during crawling and self-righting, a single-degree-of-freedom spatial four-bar crawling mechanism was designed to enable crawling, steering, and resetting functions. To demonstrate its practicality, the integrated jumping-crawling robot was tested in a laboratory environment for functions such as jumping, crawling, self-resetting, and steering. Experimental results confirmed the feasibility of the proposed integrated jumping-crawling robot.