Design and Experimental Research of an Elephant Trunk-Like Robot

In order to simulate the envelope-grasping action of an elephant trunk, an elephant trunk-like robot is designed based on the differential drive of rope and memory alloy springs. The rope is used to drive the joint module of the elephant trunk robot to bend, and the equivalent stiffness of the memory alloy spring between the elephant trunk modules is controlled to achieve a variety of bending and deformation effects so as to realize the envelope grasping function for different shapes of objects. The kinematics model of the elephant trunk robot is established by using the D-H method to analyze the robot's working space. The feasibility of the structure is verified through prototype experiments. It has certain application prospect in the fields of fruit and vegetable picking and grasping of complex objects.