Tensegrity joints on cover page of Advanced Intelligent Systems
© 2025 EPFL
Evolutionary co-design and fabrication of tensegrity joints with integrated artificial muscles can be adapted for a variety of articulated robots, such as quadrupeds, grippers, and more.
The article presents tensegrity articulated joints with actuation that combine thin pneumatic artificial muscles and energy-restoring elastics, both integrated into the tensile network. It uses a tensegrity spine-inspired topology, further refined through a multi-objective, constraint-based evolutionary algorithm. The method was validated by designing and fabricating two types of joints, which were tested in a quadruped robot and robotic grippers.
This project was jointly funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) [IZLJZ2_214053], by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)[JPJSJRP20221502], and by JSPS Overseas Challenge Program for Young Researchers
Petrš, J., Kobayashi, R., van Diggelen, F., Nabae, H., Suzumori, K. and Floreano, D. (2025), Evolutionary Codesign and Fabrication of Tensegrity Joints with Integrated Pneumatic Artificial Muscles. Adv. Intell. Syst., 7: 2500310