International Conference on Recent Advances in Mechanical Engineering and Interdisciplinary Developments [ICRAMID - 2014]

Control of a Snake Robot with Two Sets of

Three Revolute Joint Mechanism
V.S.Rajashekhar

PG Student,
Advanced Manufacturing,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
SASTRA University, India
vsrajashekhar@gmail.com

K.Thiruppathi

R.Senthil

Professor,
Senior Assistant Professor,
Dept.
of
Mechanical
Engineering,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Adhiparasakthi
Engineering
College,
SASTRA University, India
India
kth@mech.sastra.edu
senradarjun@yahoo.co.in

Abstract The control of a snake robot on the flat and inclined

surfaces is difficult due to different sequences of actuation of
actuators. This paper explains the control of two sets of three
revolute joint mechanism in the snake robot with the help of
servo motors. It is possible for the snake robot to exhibit
concertina motion and side winding motion. There are seven
servo motors which play an important role in performing
concertina motion. Side winding motion is performed with the
help of two DC motors. In this paper, controlling the seven
servo motors and two DC motors are discussed which enables
the snake robot to exhibit the two motions. The simulation
results validate the working of the snake robot and the
implemented snake robot is shown.
Keywords 2[3R] joint mechanism, concertina motion, side
winding motion, linear control, snake robot, pulse width
modulation wave

I. INTRODUCTION
The control of snake robots locomotion of flat surfaces
with and without sideslip constraints were done in the past
[1]. The steady state error is minimized and a faster response
is obtained in the lag-lead compensator which uses
frequency domain approach [2]. A non model-based control
methodology was outlined to control a five joint HR robot
which traverse in a channel with unknown curvature [3]. The
control methods of the snake robot are classified into three
main categories (1) sine-based approaches (2) model based
approaches (3) central pattern generator (CPG) based
approaches [4]. In planar snake robot locomotion,
development of a partially feedback linearized model of a
planar snake robot was done which is influenced by the
viscous ground friction [5]. A method based on the central
pattern generator was proposed to control a snake like robot
that has high degrees of freedom [6]. A prototype of eight
link hyper redundant robot with controller and PC interface
software was done [7]. The one-link trident snake robot was
made and periodic control algorithm based on Lie bracket
motion was done. Rotation and translation control algorithm
for the same were explained [8]. A hybrid control strategy
was employed to maintain propulsion and at the same time
prevent jamming of the snake robot between obstacles on its
path [9]. In Screw-Drive Mechanism, the user is required to

command only one unit in the front and the commands for
the rest of the units are calculated automatically in order to
track the path of the preceding units [10]. There are
classical methods for linear systems like PD control or the
proportional-derivative control [11]. A control method for
the trajectory tracking of a head raising snake robot on a
plane was proposed and experimentally verified for
effectiveness [12]. A hybrid controller having leaderfollower scheme, a jam resolution scheme, the jam detection
scheme and the joint angle controller were presented [13].
The control of a snake robot with Lead-Lag Compensator
which is designed by frequency domain approach was
proposed [14]. Controlling the snake robot using remote
with OFDMA Based Approach in a Mobile Ad hoc Network
was proposed [15],[16].
The mechanical design of snake like robots can be
classified as (1) active bending joint type (2) active bending
and elongating joint type (3) active bending joint and active
wheel type (4) passive bending joint and active wheel type
(5) active bending joint and active crawler type [17]. The
conceptual design of a lateral undulation and side winding
motion mechanism in a snake robot was done and presented
earlier [18]. In the initial case, there were two revolute joints
and one spring for propulsion. But now, the spring is
replaced by another revolute joint which makes the
controlling easier. By replacing the spring by a revolute
joint, the snake robot can exhibit concertina motion and side
winding motion. In this paper, the control method is
proposed for the new 2[3R] joint mechanism.
II. THE 3R JOINT MECHANISM
There is a joint mechanism in between the segments in
order for the snake robot to be flexible. It consists of three
revolute joint which makes the snake robot bendy. The 3R
joint mechanism is as shown in Fig 1.

Fig 1. One set of [3R] joint mechanism

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A. Parts
a. Segment
The segments are cuboid in shape and are connected
together by the joint mechanism. It consists of the rotary
actuators that are needed for forward motion and braking
mechanism. In one segment (link 1), the cranks (link 2) of
the 2[3R] joint mechanism are attached at offset distances by
means of the revolute joint (R1). In the segment in front of
it, there is a projection for the connector to be attached by
means of revolute (R3). The segments move forward due to
the rotation of the cranks.
b. Crank
There are two ends for the crank. One end is connected to
the segment (link 1) through revolute joint (R1) and the
other end is connected to the connector (link2) through
revolute joint (R2). The crank is connected to the rotary
actuator in the segment through a revolute joint (R1).The
crank rotates when an angular momentum is given to it. The
linear distance moved forward is based on the length of the
crank.
c. Connector
The connector (link 3) connects the crank with the
segment (link 4) in front of it. The force from the crank is
transferred to the segment (link 4) through the connector.
d. Rotation disk with projection
The rotation disk with projection is used to exhibit side
winding motion by the snake robot. The projection lifts and
places the snake robot sidewise. It is as shown in Fig 2.

Fig 3. Force transfer in one set of [3R] joint mechanism

IV. MOTIONS EXHIBITED BY THE SNAKE ROBOT

The snake robot with the 2[3R] joint mechanism is
capable of exhibiting concertina motion and side winding
motion. It is done by the rotation of the rotary actuators in
different sequence.
A. Concertina motion
It is a motion by which the snake compresses and expands
its skin so that it moves forward linearly. This type of
motion is seen when the snake moves in a restricted path. It
is as shown [19] in Fig 4. During this motion, the seven
servo motors are actuated at different sequences. The two
DC motors are stable. While performing concertina motion,
the segment 2 is stable due to the brakes in ON position. The
segment two pushes the segment 1 forward by rotating the
cranks of the 2[3R] joint mechanism. Here all the cranks
rotate simultaneously. Then the segment 1 becomes stable
and cranks rotate which brings the segment 2 forward. Thus
by repeating this action, the concertina motion is exhibited
by the 3 segments of the snake robot.

Fig 2. Rotation disk with projection

B. Joints
a. Revolute joint
There are three revolute joints in the mechanism. All of
them are fixed in such a way that they rotate about the global
Z axis. Each joint has one degree of freedom.
III. ORIENTATION AND FORCE TRANSFER
The 3R mechanism consists of links and joints. Here the
segment (link 1) contains the rotary actuator that rotates the
crank. From the crank the motion is transferred to the
connector through a revolute joint (R2). Then the motion is
transferred to the projection in the segment (link 4) through
the revolute joint (R3), which makes it move forward. All
the three revolute joints are about the global Z axis. It is as
represented in the Fig 3. The angular momentum from the
rotary actuator rotates the crank. The crank transfers the
force (F1) to the connector through the revolute joint (R2).
From the connector, the force (F2) is transferred to the
segment (link 4). Therefore the segment (link 4) moves
forward.

Fig 4. Concertina motion exhibited by the snake

B. Side winding motion

This motion is used when the snake robot moves on the
loose soil. Here there are only two contact patches which
make the snake robot make continuous and alternating
waves of lateral bending. By this, the snake exhibits side
winding motion. It is as shown [19] in Fig 5. To exhibit this
motion, the seven servo motors are stable and the brakes are
in OFF position. The two DC motors rotate in the clockwise
or anti-clockwise direction thereby rotating the rotation disk
with projection. The projection makes the snake robot to lift
itself and move sidewise.

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Fig 5. Side winding motion exhibited by the snake

V. MODELING OF THE SNAKE ROBOT

The modeling of the snake robot is as done earlier [20]. It
consists of segments where there is a friction inducing
mechanism in the center of each segment. It provides
stability while the segment has to be stable and push the
segment in front of it forward. The 2[3R] joint mechanism is
in between the two segments. It is as shown in Fig 6.

Fig 8. Position of the servo motors and DC motors in the snake robot (Top
View)

VIII. CHOOSING THE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC

COMPONENTS

The snake robot is actuated by the servo and DC motors.

There is an ultrasonic sensor that is used to measure the
distance between the robot and the obstacle. The ultrasonic
sensor is controlled by Arduino UNO. The servo and the DC
motors are controlled by the Atmega 1284P microcontroller.
Fig 6. The model of the snake robot with brake pads

VI. SIMULATION OF THE SNAKE ROBOT

The snake robot along with the parts and joints were
modeled using MSC ADAMSTM. Then the motions were
given to the joints of the snake robot which made it exhibit
concertina motion and side winding motion. It is as shown in
Fig 7.

A. Servo Motor
The value of the torque required to drive the crank was
obtained from MSC ADAMSTM. The graph is as shown in
Fig 9. Based on the value of torque obtained, a high torque
metal gear servo with dual ball bearings was selected (NRS995). It gives a torque of 1.7 Nm at 6V.

Fig 9. Torque Vs time for the rotation of the crank

Fig 7. MSC ADAMSTM model of the snake robot

VII. POSITION OF ACTUATORS IN THE SNAKE ROBOT

There are servo motors that are present at the center of
each segment which are used to actuate the friction inducing
mechanism. More over there are two servo motors at one
end of the segments except the first segment which are used
to actuate the 2[3R] joint mechanism to exhibit concertina
motion. Then there are two DC motors at two ends of the
snake robot that enables side winding motion. The orange
patches in the Fig 8 are the rotating disks with a projection.

B. DC Motor
The torque required to drive the rotating disk with
projection was obtained from MSC ADAMSTM. It is as
shown in Fig 10. Based on the results of simulation, a DC
motor which gives a torque of 12 Nm at 12V was chosen.

Fig 10. Torque Vs Time for the rotation of the rotating disk with projection

C. DC motor driver
A DC motor driver board (L298 46V) that is able to drive
two DC motors was chosen. Each of them has two Hbridges. Each H-Bridge can supply 2A current. It has a heat
sink for better heat dissipation during operation and flyback

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diodes for protection from back EMF. It is as shown in Fig

11.

Fig 11. The DC motor drive for actuating the DC motors

D. Ultrasonic Sensor
An ultrasonic sensor (HC SR04) is interfaced with
Arduino UNO and is used to measure the distance between
the snake robot and the obstacle. It helps the user to decide
what input has to be given in order to exhibit the required
motion.
E. Arduino UNO
The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the
ATmega328. It has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6
can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz
crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP
header, and a reset button.
F. Atmega 1284P
The high-performance Atmel 8-bit AVR RISC-based
microcontroller combines 128KB ISP flash memory with
read-while-write capabilities, 4KB EEPROM, 16KB SRAM,
32 general purpose I/O lines, 32 general purpose working
registers, a real time counter, three flexible timer/counters
with compare modes and PWM, two USARTs, a byte
oriented 2-wire serial interface, an 8-channel 10-bit A/D
converter with optional differential input stage with
programmable gain, programmable watchdog timer with
internal oscillator, SPI serial port, a JTAG (IEEE 1149.1
compliant) test interface for on-chip debugging and
programming, and six software selectable power saving
modes. The device operates between 1.8-5.5 volts [21].

Fig 12. The block diagram of the microcontroller unit of the snake robot

B. The snake robots microcontroller unit

The implemented circuit board is as shown in Fig 13.
There are seven PWM waves sent to the seven servo motors.
There are six motor signals sent to the two DC motor driver
in order to control its clockwise and anti-clockwise rotation.

Fig 13. The microcontroller unit of the snake robot

C. Measuring the distance

The Arduino UNO microcontroller is connected to the
computer through a USB cable. The power supply to the
ultrasonic sensor is given through the microcontroller. The
signals are sent and received from the ultrasonic sensor and
the values of the distance between the snake robot and
obstacle are displayed on the serial monitor of the computer.
The circuit diagram [22] is as shown in the Fig 14.

IX. INTERFACING
A. Block Diagram
The 5V filter supply is given to the microcontroller
through an adapter. The input from the computer is given to
the microcontroller through a USB to UART, Serial data
modbus/RTU and level shifter. The SMPS gives power to
the servo and DC motors. The signals in the form of PWM
wave is sent from the microcontroller through a servo
control. It is used to control the servo motor. Similarly the
motor control signals are sent from the microcontroller
through the DC motor control. The block diagram is as
shown in Fig 12.

Fig 14. Interfacing the ultrasonic sensor with the microcontroller

X. FLOWCHART OF THE CONTROL

The control of the snake robot is as shown in the
flowchart in Fig 15. It works on the basis of state change
delay. The FORWARD mode and BACKWARD modes are
to exhibit concertina motion by the snake robot. The
CLOCKWISE and ANTI-CLOCKWISE modes are to

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exhibit side winding motion by the snake robot. The

RHIGHT SIDE and LEFT SIDE modes are to exhibit lateral

undulation motion in our future work.

Fig 15. The flowchart for the control of the snake robot

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XI. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The outcomes of the simulations and the implemented
snake robot show the expected concertina and side winding
motion. It is as shown in Fig 16. They are discussed as
follows.

B. Side winding motion

In this kind of motion, the snake robot moves sidewise. It
is due to the rotation of the rotating disk with projection. In
reality, the DC motors rotate in the clockwise or anticlockwise direction based on the side it has to move. It is as
shown in the Fig 18.

Fig 16. The implemented snake robot

A. Concertina motion
In this motion the snake robot is capable of moving
forward linearly. The simulations showed the possibility of
the concertina motion. In reality the same motion was
obtained as expected through the actuation of the servo
motors in a repeated set of sequence. It is as shown in Fig
17.

Fig 18. The comparision of the simulated and implemented snake robot
showing side winding motion

XII. CONCLUSIONS

Fig 17. The comparision of the simulated and implemented snake robot
showing concertina motion

In this paper, a new joint mechanism with two sets of

three revolute joint is proposed. It enables the concertina
motion of the snake robot. Then two rotation disks with
projection was used to perform side winding mechanism.
Then a method to control the seven servo motors to perform
concertina motion and two DC motors to perform side
winding motion was proposed. The simulated results were
compared with the real snake robot that was fabricated.

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In the future work, the lateral undulation motion will be

made to perform by the same snake robot. The control of the
snake robot will be based on the feedback control signals
from the force and ultrasonic sensors used.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

[9]

[10]

The authors thank the management of SASTRA

University (Tanjore, India) and Adhiparasakthi Engineering
College (Melmaruvathur, India) for providing us with the
necessary software in the CAD/CAM laboratory to carry out
the research. We also like to thank P.Muruganantham for his
valuable inputs.
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[13]

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