Implementation of A Gas Fuel-Actuated Hopping Mechanism

A gas fuel-actuated hopping mechanism with a magnetic latching mechanism and a double-piston structure is designed and implemented. The magnetic force between two cylindrical permanent magnets is analyzed by Finite element method and validated by experiment. Both results show magnetic force decays rapidly with the increase in air gap, which is desirable for latching mechanism. The inner space of hollow piston rod is used as combustion chamber, in which a small piston is inserted to expel exhaust gas as much as possible. This kind of double-piston structure can take advantage of the inner space of the mechanism to a great extent. Experiments show the hopping mechanism has an obstacle-overcoming ability of the hopping height of 1.5 m and the hopping distance of 1.5 m at a relatively low fuel pressure, which validates the feasibility of the design of the hopping mechanism.