Humans possess a remarkable ability to react to unpredictable perturbations through immediate mechanical responses, which harness the visco-elastic properties of muscles to maintain balance. Inspired by this behaviour, we propose a novel design of a robotic leg utilising fibre jammed structures as passive compliant mechanisms to achieve variable joint stiffness and damping. We developed multi-material fibre jammed tendons with tunable mechanical properties, which can be 3D printed in one-go without need for assembly. Through extensive numerical simulations and experimentation, we demonstrate the usefulness of these tendons for shock absorbance and maintaining joint stability. We investigate how they could be used effectively in a multi-joint robotic leg by evaluating the relative contribution of each tendon to the overall stiffness of the leg. Further, we showcase the potential of these jammed structures for legged locomotion, highlighting how morphological properties of the tendons can be used to enhance stability in robotic legs.

翻译：人类在应对不可预测的扰动时展现出卓越能力，能够通过即时机械响应利用肌肉的粘弹性特性维持平衡。受此行为启发，我们提出了一种采用纤维堵塞结构作为被动柔顺机构的新型机器人腿设计，以实现关节刚度和阻尼的可变调节。我们开发了具有可调力学性能的多材料纤维堵塞肌腱，该肌腱可通过一次3D打印成型而无需装配。通过广泛的数值模拟与实验验证，我们证明了这些肌腱在冲击吸收和关节稳定性维持方面的有效性。通过评估每条肌腱对腿部整体刚度的相对贡献，我们探究了如何在多关节机器人腿中高效利用这些肌腱。此外，我们展示了这些堵塞结构在腿部运动中的潜力，突显了肌腱形态学特性如何用于增强机器人腿的稳定性。