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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.07417 |
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| _version_ | 1866918378571038720 |
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| author | Liu, Hangjun Geng, Jiarui Ding, Jinxuan He, Gengzhi Wang, Xiyuan Arukgoda, Melisa DiGennaro, Joe Ubertalli, George Blekherman, Grigoriy Chong, Baxi |
| author_facet | Liu, Hangjun Geng, Jiarui Ding, Jinxuan He, Gengzhi Wang, Xiyuan Arukgoda, Melisa DiGennaro, Joe Ubertalli, George Blekherman, Grigoriy Chong, Baxi |
| contents | Centipede-like robots offer unique locomotion advantages due to their small cross-sectional area for accessing confined spaces, and their redundant legs enhance robustness in cluttered environments such as search-and-rescue and pipe inspection. However, elongated robots are particularly vulnerable to tipping over when climbing large obstacles, making reliable self-righting essential for field deployment. Self-righting strategies for elongate, multi-legged systems remain poorly understood. In this study, we conduct a comparative biomechanics and robophysical investigation to address three key questions: (1) What self-righting strategies are effective for elongate, many-legged systems? (2) How should these strategies depend on morphological parameters such as leg length and leg number? (3) Is there a morphological limit beyond which reliable self-righting becomes infeasible? We compare two biological exemplars: Scolopendra subspinipes (short legs) and Scutigera coleoptrata (house centipedes with long legs). Scolopendra subspinipes reliably self-rights both during aerial phases and through ground-assisted self-righting, whereas house centipedes rely predominantly on aerial reorientation and struggle to generate effective self-righting torques during ground contact. Motivated by these observations, we construct a parameterized space of bio-inspired self-righting strategies and develop an elongate robot with adjustable leg lengths. Systematic experiments reveal that increasing leg length necessitates a shift in control strategy to prevent torque over-concentration in mid-body actuators, and we identify a critical limb-length threshold above which robust self-righting becomes challenging. These results establish morphology-strategy coupling principles for self-righting in elongate robots and provide design guidelines for centipede-like systems operating in uncertain terrain. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_07417 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Unifying Sidewinding and Rolling: A Wave-Based Framework for Self-Righting in Elongated Limbless and Multi-Legged Robots Liu, Hangjun Geng, Jiarui Ding, Jinxuan He, Gengzhi Wang, Xiyuan Arukgoda, Melisa DiGennaro, Joe Ubertalli, George Blekherman, Grigoriy Chong, Baxi Robotics Centipede-like robots offer unique locomotion advantages due to their small cross-sectional area for accessing confined spaces, and their redundant legs enhance robustness in cluttered environments such as search-and-rescue and pipe inspection. However, elongated robots are particularly vulnerable to tipping over when climbing large obstacles, making reliable self-righting essential for field deployment. Self-righting strategies for elongate, multi-legged systems remain poorly understood. In this study, we conduct a comparative biomechanics and robophysical investigation to address three key questions: (1) What self-righting strategies are effective for elongate, many-legged systems? (2) How should these strategies depend on morphological parameters such as leg length and leg number? (3) Is there a morphological limit beyond which reliable self-righting becomes infeasible? We compare two biological exemplars: Scolopendra subspinipes (short legs) and Scutigera coleoptrata (house centipedes with long legs). Scolopendra subspinipes reliably self-rights both during aerial phases and through ground-assisted self-righting, whereas house centipedes rely predominantly on aerial reorientation and struggle to generate effective self-righting torques during ground contact. Motivated by these observations, we construct a parameterized space of bio-inspired self-righting strategies and develop an elongate robot with adjustable leg lengths. Systematic experiments reveal that increasing leg length necessitates a shift in control strategy to prevent torque over-concentration in mid-body actuators, and we identify a critical limb-length threshold above which robust self-righting becomes challenging. These results establish morphology-strategy coupling principles for self-righting in elongate robots and provide design guidelines for centipede-like systems operating in uncertain terrain. |
| title | Unifying Sidewinding and Rolling: A Wave-Based Framework for Self-Righting in Elongated Limbless and Multi-Legged Robots |
| topic | Robotics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.07417 |