Motion Rectification for an Homeostasis-Enabling Wheel
This addresses a mechanical design challenge for bio-inspired vehicles, but it appears incremental as it builds on existing concepts of motion rectification and artificial muscles.
The paper tackles the problem of enabling continuous wheel rotation without tearing the surrounding tegument in a vehicle, achieving this through motion rectification of oscillatory inputs to maintain internal integrity.
A wheel that is capable of producing thrust and maintaining vehicle internal integrity is presented. The wheel can be seen as an organic extension to the central unit (eg the vehicle) it is attached to, that is, the system and the wheel can be completely surrounded by the same tegument while enabling continuous wheel rotation without tearing the tegument. Furthermore, a skeleton linking the central unit of the system to the wheel's center can be made through the use of joints and linear links, while allowing the apparatus to rotate continuously in the same direction with bounded twisting and no tegument tear. For that reason, artificial muscles can also be used to actuate the entire system. The underlying enabling mechanism is the rectification of a small number of oscillatory inputs. Another contribution of the proposed setup is to offer a plausible, yet untested, evolutionary path from today's living animals towards animals capable of wheeled locomotion.