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1
Azouz, Naoufel, Madeleine Pascal, and Alain Combescure. "Application de la MEF à la modélisation dynamique des robots souples." Revue Européenne des Éléments Finis 7, no. 7 (January 1998): 763–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/12506559.1998.10511340.
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Lin, Hao, Yihui Chen, and Wei Tang. "Soft Electrohydraulic Bending Actuators for Untethered Underwater Robots." Actuators 13, no. 6 (June 8, 2024): 214. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/act13060214.
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Traditional underwater rigid robots have some shortcomings that limit their applications in the ocean. In contrast, because of their inherent flexibility, soft robots, which have gained popularity recently, offer greater adaptability, efficiency, and safety than rigid robots. Among them, the soft actuator is the core component to power the soft robot. Here, we propose a class of soft electrohydraulic bending actuators suitable for underwater robots, which realize the bending motion of the actuator by squeezing the working liquid with an electric field. The actuator consists of a silicone rubber film, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films, soft electrodes, silicone oils, an acrylic frame, and a soft flipper. When a square wave voltage is applied, the actuator can generate continuous flapping motions. By mimicking Haliclystus auricula, we designed an underwater robot based on six soft electrohydraulic bending actuators and constructed a mechanical model of the robot. Additionally, a high-voltage square wave circuit board was created to achieve the robot’s untethered motions and remote control using a smart phone via WiFi. The test results show that 1 Hz was the robot’s ideal driving frequency, and the maximum horizontal swimming speed of the robot was 7.3 mm/s.
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Wang, Jie, Haoyu Zhou, Yong Gao, Yupeng Xie, Jing Zhang, Yaocheng Hu, Dengwang Wang, et al. "The Characterization of Silicone-Tungsten-Based Composites as Flexible Gamma-Ray Shields." Materials 14, no. 20 (October 11, 2021): 5970. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma14205970.
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Robots are very essential for modern nuclear power plants to monitor equipment conditions and eliminate accidents, allowing one to reduce the radiations on personnel. As a novel robot, a soft robot with the advantages of more degrees of freedom and abilities of continuously bending and twisting has been proposed and developed for applications in nuclear power industry. Considering the radiation and high-temperature environment, the overall performance improvement of the flexible materials used in the soft nuclear robot, such as the tensile property and gamma-ray shielding property, is an important issue, which should be paid attention. Here, a flexible gamma-ray shielding material silicone-W-based composites were initially doped with nano titanium oxide and prepared, with the composition of 20 silicone-(80-x) W-(x) TiO2, where x varied from 0.1 to 2.0 wt.%. Structural investigations on SEM and EDS were performed to confirm the structure of the prepared composites and prove that all the chemicals were included in the compositions. Moreover, the tensile property of the composites at 25, 100, and 150 °C were investigated to study the effect of working temperature on the flexibility of the compositions. The attenuation characteristics including the linear attenuation coefficients and mass attenuation coefficients of the prepared silicone-W or silicone-W-TiO2-based composites with respect to gamma ray were investigated. The stability of the silicone–tungsten-TiO2-based composite at high temperature was studied for the first time. In addition, the influence of nano TiO2 additive on the property’s variation of silicone-W-based composites was initially studied. The comparison of the properties such as the tensile elongation, thermal stability, and gamma-ray shielding of the synthesized silicone-W and silicone-W-TiO2 composites showed that the addition of nano TiO2 powders could be useful to develop novel gamma-ray-shielding materials for radiation protection of soft robots or other applications for which soft gamma-ray-shielding materials are needed.
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García-Samartín, Jorge Francisco, Adrián Rieker, and Antonio Barrientos. "Design, Manufacturing, and Open-Loop Control of a Soft Pneumatic Arm." Actuators 13, no. 1 (January 17, 2024): 36. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/act13010036.
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Soft robots distinguish themselves from traditional robots by embracing flexible kinematics. Because of their recent emergence, there exist numerous uncharted territories, including novel actuators, manufacturing processes, and advanced control methods. This research is centred on the design, fabrication, and control of a pneumatic soft robot. The principal objective is to develop a modular soft robot featuring multiple segments, each one with three degrees of freedom. This yields a tubular structure with five independent degrees of freedom, enabling motion across three spatial dimensions. Physical construction leverages tin-cured silicone and a wax-casting method, refined through an iterative processes. PLA moulds that are 3D-printed and filled with silicone yield the desired model, while bladder-like structures are formed within using solidified paraffin wax-positive moulds. For control, an empirically fine-tuned open-loop system is adopted. This paper culminates in rigorous testing. Finally, the bending ability, weight-carrying capacity, and possible applications are discussed.
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Sun, Hao, Bin Cheng, Ning Yang Wang, and Xiao Ping Chen. "A Preliminary Study of the HPN Robot." Applied Mechanics and Materials 575 (June 2014): 726–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.575.726.
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Soft robots are robots made of soft materials and actuators. Previously we proposed the HPN (Honeycomb PneuNets) Robot, where PneuNets were placed as actuators into honeycomb shaped elastomer. In this paper, we present some progress of this effort. A random search algorithm is applied to plan the obstacle-avoid movements of an HPN robot. We test it through several cases, and the results showed that the algorithm can work effectively. We introduce an HPN robot prototype, which is made of RTV-2 silicone rubber. Preliminary experiments showed that some good expansion rate and flexibility can be achieved. A piston and soft body simulation model of HPN robots is also presented, which can mimic the basic behaviors of the HPN robot.
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Marzi, Christian, Nikola Fischer, and Franziska Mathis-Ullrich. "Biocompatible Soft Material Actuator for Compliant Medical Robots." Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering 7, no. 1 (August 1, 2021): 58–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cdbme-2021-1013.
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Abstract Robots from material-based actuators offer high potential for small-scale robots with abilities hardly achievable by classical methods like electric motors. Besides excellent scaling to minimally invasive systems, allowing for omission of metallic components, such robots can be applied in imaging modalities such as MRI or CT. To allow for higher accessibility in this field of research, a facile method for fabrication of such soft actuators was developed. It comprises only two materials: graphene oxide and silicone elastomer. The facile fabrication method does not require specialized equipment. The resulting actuator is biocompatible and controllable by light mediated heat. The bending motion can be controlled by the intensity of applied infrared light and the actuator was experimentally shown to move five times its own weight. Thus, providing capabilities for a medical soft robotic actuator.
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Behkam, Bahareh, and Metin Sitti. "Design Methodology for Biomimetic Propulsion of Miniature Swimming Robots." Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control 128, no. 1 (September 23, 2005): 36–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/1.2171439.
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Miniature and energy-efficient propulsion systems hold the key to maturing the technology of swimming microrobots. In this paper, two new methods of propulsion inspired by the motility mechanism of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms are proposed. Hydrodynamic models for each of the two methods are developed, and the optimized design parameters for each of the two propulsion modes are demonstrated. To validate the theoretical result for the prokaryotic flagellar motion, a scaled-up prototype of the robot is fabricated and tested in silicone oil, using the Buckingham PI theorem for scaling. The proposed propulsion methods are appropriate for the swimming robots that are intended to swim in low-velocity fluids.
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Condino, Sara, Kanako Harada, Nicola Ng Pak, Marco Piccigallo, Arianna Menciassi, and Paolo Dario. "Stomach Simulator for Analysis and Validation of Surgical Endoluminal Robots." Applied Bionics and Biomechanics 8, no. 2 (2011): 267–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/583608.
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A testing environment that imitates gastric geometry and contractile activity is necessary to analyse and validate endoluminal surgical robotic devices developed for gastric pathologies. To achieve this goal, a silicone stomach model and a mechanical setup to simulate gastric contractile motion were designed and fabricated. The developed stomach simulator was validated and its usefulness was demonstrated by means of internal pressure measurements and self-assembly tests of mock-ups of capsule devices. The results demonstrated that the stomach simulator is helpful for quantitative evaluation of endoluminal robotic devices beforein-vitro/in-vivoexperiments.
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Chiu, Wan-Ting, Yui Watanabe, Masaki Tahara, Tomonari Inamura, and Hideki Hosoda. "Investigations of Shape Deformation Behaviors of the Ferromagnetic Ni–Mn–Ga Alloy/Porous Silicone Rubber Composite towards Actuator Applications." Micromachines 14, no. 8 (August 14, 2023): 1604. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi14081604.
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Ferromagnetic shape memory alloys (FSMAs), which are potential candidates for future technologies (i.e., actuators in robots), have been paid much attention for their high work per volume and rapid response as external stimulation, such as a magnetic field, is imposed. Among all the FSMAs, the Ni–Mn–Ga-based alloys were considered promising materials due to their appropriate phase transformation temperatures and ferromagnetism. Nevertheless, their intrinsic embrittlement issue and sluggish twin motion due to the inhibition of grain boundaries restrict their practicability. This study took advantage of the single-crystal Ni–Mn–Ga cube/silicone rubber composite materials to solve the two aforementioned difficulties. The single-crystal Ni–Mn–Ga cube was prepared by using a high-temperature alloying procedure and a floating-zone (FZ) method, and the cubes were verified to be the near-{100}p Ni–Mn–Ga alloy. Various room temperature (RT) curing silicone rubbers were utilized as matrix materials. Furthermore, polystyrene foam particles (PFP) were used to provide pores, allowing a porous silicone rubber matrix. It was found that the elastic modulus of the silicone rubber was successfully reduced by introducing the PFP. Additionally, the magnetic field-induced martensite variant reorientation (MVR) was greatly enhanced by introducing a porous structure into the silicone rubber. The single-crystal Ni–Mn–Ga cube/porous silicone rubber composite materials are considered to be promising materials for applications in actuators.
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Li, Junfeng, Songyu Chen, and Minjie Sun. "Design and fabrication of a crawling robot based on a soft actuator." Smart Materials and Structures 30, no. 12 (November 9, 2021): 125018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-665x/ac2e1b.
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Abstract Inspired by biological systems, soft crawling robots provide unique advantages in terms of resilience and adaptive shaping during robotic motion. However, soft robots actuated by motors and pumps are usually heavy, noisy and bulky. In this paper, based on the principle of liquid-vapor changes of ethanol, a novel soft crawling robot that demonstrates more silent actuation and lighter weight compared with other robots is proposed. To increase the crawling speed of the robot, silicone mixed with liquid metal with a volume ratio of 20% is used to fabricate the actuators. The deformation of the actuator is analyzed and can be predicted using a theoretical model. To obtain effective crawling performance, a crawling locomotion sequence consisting of the three different parts (central, head and tail) based on the variable friction mechanism of actuators B and C is presented. The experimental results demonstrate that the robot can achieve forward movement on a horizontal surface and along vertical pipes and sticks. This study will provide further inspiration and guidance for the future development of crawling robots.
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Wu, Huaqing, Yutong Han, Xinyu Chen, Rong Lu, Erxing Zhuang, Huaping Wu, Xiaodi Jiang, Xiaojun Tan, and Bo Cao. "Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of a Novel Crawling Pneumatic Soft Robot." Automation 6, no. 1 (February 12, 2025): 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/automation6010007.
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Soft robots have shown great application potential in human–computer interaction, scientific exploration, and biomedical fields. However, they generally face issues like poor load capacity. Inspired by the propagation and movement mechanisms of ocean waves, this study proposes a novel type of pneumatically driven crawling soft robot. An automated pneumatic drive system was first constructed for driving and controlling the crawling soft robot, and then the soft robot body was made using additive manufacturing and silicone molding. Experimental testing of the robot’s performance revealed that it can move efficiently on surfaces with varying friction coefficients and has a strong load-bearing capacity. This work is expected to provide a reference for the design of other soft robots.
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Xing, Yu, Lei Liu, Chao Liu, Bo Li, Zishen Wang, Pengfei Li, and Erhu Zhang. "Mechanical Deformation Analysis of a Flexible Finger in Terms of an Improved ANCF Plate Element." Machines 10, no. 7 (June 27, 2022): 518. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/machines10070518.
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In recent years, flexible continuum robots have been substantially developed. Absolute nodal coordinates formulation (ANCF) gives a feasible path for simulating the behavior of flexible robots. However, the model of finger-shaped robots is often regarded as a cylinder and characterized by a beam element. Obviously, this is short of characterizing the geometrical feature of fingers in detail, especially under bending conditions. Additionally, for the lower-order plate element, it is hard to characterize the bending behavior of the flexible finger due to fewer nodes; a higher-order plate element often requires an extremely long computing time. In this work, an improved ANCF lower-order plate element is used to increase the accuracy of the Yeoh model and characterize the geometrical structure of silicone rubber fingers, taking into particular consideration the effect of volume locks and multi-body system constraints. Since it is a kind of lower-order plate element, essentially, the computing time is nearly the same as that of conventional lower-order plate elements. The validity of this model was verified by comparing it with the results of the published reference. The flexible finger, manufactured using silicone rubber, is characterized by the novel ANCF lower-order plate element, whereby its mechanical deformation and bending behavior are simulated both efficiently and accurately. Compared to the ANCF beam element, conventional lower-order plate element, and higher-order plate element, the novel plate element in this paper characterizes the external contour of the finger better, reflects bending behavior more realistically, and converges in less computing time.
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Jyothi, Mrs N. Krishna. "Plucking Flowers using Soft Robot." International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology 11, no. 11 (November 30, 2023): 575–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.22214/ijraset.2023.56490.
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Abstract: Soft robotics is a subfield of robotics that concerns the design, control, and fabrication of robots composed of complaint materials, instead of rigid links. In contrast to the rigid-bodied robots built from metals, ceramics, and hard plastics, the compliance of soft robots can improve their safety when working in close contact with humans. The main objective of this project is to pluck flowers using a soft robot. The proposed system is designed to provide gentle manipulation of flowers in a horticultural setting. The soft robot is composed of flexible and deformable materials, such as silicone or elastomer, and is designed to mimic the motion and compliance of human fingers. The system is implemented and tested in a real-world scenario, and the results show that it can effectively pluck flowers without causing damage or injury to the plant. The proposed approach has potential applications in the floriculture industry, where the system can improve efficiency and reduce labour costs, while also minimizing damage to the flowers
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Gao, Hang, James Lynch, and Nick Gravish. "Soft Molds with Micro-Machined Internal Skeletons Improve Robustness of Flapping-Wing Robots." Micromachines 13, no. 9 (September 7, 2022): 1489. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi13091489.
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Mobile millimeter and centimeter scale robots often use smart composite manufacturing (SCM) for the construction of body components and mechanisms. The fabrication of SCM mechanisms requires laser machining and laminating flexible, adhesive, and structural materials into small-scale hinges, transmissions, and, ultimately, wings or legs. However, a fundamental limitation of SCM components is the plastic deformation and failure of flexures. In this work, we demonstrate that encasing SCM components in a soft silicone mold dramatically improves the durability of SCM flexure hinges and provides robustness to SCM components. We demonstrate this advance in the design of a flapping-wing robot that uses an underactuated compliant transmission fabricated with an inner SCM skeleton and exterior silicone mold. The transmission design is optimized to achieve desired wingstroke requirements and to allow for independent motion of each wing. We validate these design choices in bench-top tests, measuring transmission compliance, kinematics, and fatigue. We integrate the transmission with laminate wings and two types of actuation, demonstrating elastic energy exchange and limited lift-off capabilities. Lastly, we tested collision mitigation through flapping-wing experiments that obstructed the motion of a wing. These experiments demonstrate that an underactuated compliant transmission can provide resilience and robustness to flapping-wing robots.
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Xie, Disheng, Zhuo Ma, Jianbin Liu, and Siyang Zuo. "Pneumatic Artificial Muscle Based on Novel Winding Method." Actuators 10, no. 5 (May 10, 2021): 100. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/act10050100.
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This paper proposes a pneumatic artificial muscle based on a novel winding method. By this method, the inflation of silicone tubes is transformed to the contraction of muscle, whereas the expansion keeps on one side of the muscle, i.e., the expansion of the actuator does not affect the object close to it. Hence the muscle is great for wearable robots without squeezing on the user’s skin. Through necessary simplification, the contraction ratio model and force model are proposed and verified by experiments. The prototype of this paper has a maximum contraction ratio of 35.8% and a maximum output force of 12.24 N with only 5 mm thickness. The high compatibility proves it excellent to be the alternative for wearable robots.
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Delda, Ray Noel Medina, Rex Balisalisa Basuel, Rodel Peralta Hacla, Dan William Carpiano Martinez, John-John Cabibihan, and John Ryan Cortez Dizon. "3D Printing Polymeric Materials for Robots with Embedded Systems." Technologies 9, no. 4 (November 2, 2021): 82. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/technologies9040082.
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The fabrication of robots and their embedded systems is challenging due to the complexity of the interacting components. The integration of additive manufacturing (AM) to robotics has made advancements in robotics manufacturing through sophisticated and state-of-the-art AM technologies and materials. With the emergence of 3D printing, 3D printing materials are also being considered and engineered for specific applications. This study reviews different 3D printing materials for 3D printing embedded robotics. Materials such as polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), flexible photopolymers, silicone, and elastomer-based materials were found to be the most used 3D printing materials due to their suitability for robotic applications. This review paper revealed that the key areas requiring more research are material formulations for improved mechanical properties, cost, and the inclusion of materials for specific applications. Future perspectives are also provided.
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Xu, Ruomeng, and Qingsong Xu. "Design of a Bio-Inspired Untethered Soft Octopodal Robot Driven by Magnetic Field." Biomimetics 8, no. 3 (June 22, 2023): 269. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics8030269.
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Inspired by insects in nature, an increasing number of soft robots have been proposed to mimic their locomotion patterns. As a wireless actuation method, the magnetic actuation technique has been widely applied to drive soft magnetic robots for diverse applications. Although recent works on soft materials have stimulated the development of soft robots, it is challenging to achieve the efficient movement of soft robots for in vivo biomedical application. Inspired by centipede locomotion, a soft octopodal robot is designed in this paper. The robot is fabricated by mixing magnetic particles with silicone polymers, which is then magnetized by a specific magnetic field. The prototypes can be actuated by an external magnetic field (5–8 mT) produced by custom-made electromagnetic coils. Experimental results show that the soft robot can move at a high speed in the range of 0.536–1.604 mm/s on different surfaces, including paper, wood, and PMMA. This indicates that the soft robot can achieve comparable speeds to other robots, while being driven by a lower magnitude, resulting in energy savings. Furthermore, it achieves a high speed of 0.823 mm/s on the surface of a pig colon. The fine capabilities of the soft robot in terms of crossing uneven biological surfaces and carrying external loads are demonstrated. The results indicate that the reported soft robot exhibits promising applications in the biomedical field.
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Ribuan, Mohamed Najib, Shuichi Wakimoto, Koichi Suzumori, and Takefumi Kanda. "Omnidirectional Soft Robot Platform with Flexible Actuators for Medical Assistive Device." International Journal of Automation Technology 10, no. 4 (July 5, 2016): 494–502. http://dx.doi.org/10.20965/ijat.2016.p0494.
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This manuscript explains the employment of flexible actuators to act as a soft robot and transporting agent to assist medical X-ray examinations. Although soft robots from silicone material can be transparence and a human compliance used as medical assistive devices, soft robots have some problems: they tend to be sluggish, have long and imprecise gait trajectories, and need their control parameters to be adjusted for motion diversion. A soft robot with omnidirectional locomotion has been created, one that has a combination of pneumatic rubber legs that form a soft robot platform and an associated hardware setup. Tests have confirmed its omnidirectional locomotion ability; it has a maximum speed of 6.90 mm/s in forward locomotion and a maximum payload of 70 g. These features indicate that the robot can be used as a medical assistive device for fluoroscopy examinations.
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Zhou, Zhangxi, Jianlin Yang, Mark Runciman, James Avery, Zhijun Sun, and George Mylonas. "A Tension Sensor Array for Cable-Driven Surgical Robots." Sensors 24, no. 10 (May 16, 2024): 3156. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s24103156.
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Tendon–sheath structures are commonly utilized to drive surgical robots due to their compact size, flexibility, and straightforward controllability. However, long-distance cable tension estimation poses a significant challenge due to its frictional characteristics affected by complicated factors. This paper proposes a miniature tension sensor array for an endoscopic cable-driven parallel robot, aiming to integrate sensors into the distal end of long and flexible surgical instruments to sense cable tension and alleviate friction between the tendon and sheath. The sensor array, mounted at the distal end of the robot, boasts the advantages of a small size (16 mm outer diameter) and reduced frictional impact. A force compensation strategy was presented and verified on a platform with a single cable and subsequently implemented on the robot. The robot demonstrated good performance in a series of palpation tests, exhibiting a 0.173 N average error in force estimation and a 0.213 N root-mean-square error. In blind tests, all ten participants were able to differentiate between silicone pads with varying hardness through force feedback provided by a haptic device.
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Shibata, Mizuho. "Fish-Like Robot with a Deformable Body Fabricated Using a Silicone Mold." Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics 34, no. 1 (February 20, 2022): 40–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.20965/jrm.2022.p0040.
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This paper describes a fish-like robot with a deformable outer shell fabricated using a silicone mold. Based on the difference in the contact condition between the serial-link robot and the shell, the fabrication methods are classified into embedded type and skin type. This study analyzes the mechanical properties of embedded and skin-type underwater robots from the viewpoint of material mechanics. A low-torque motor can sufficiently drive the skin-type underwater robot if the friction coefficient and pressure between the skin and the link are appropriately selected. Furthermore, the outer skin of the fish-like robot can be easily fabricated by defoaming in the chamber of a vacuum-packaging machine. Finally, the performance of the skin-type robot in air and underwater was assessed through several experiments.
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Cho, Geun-Sik, and Yong-Jai Park. "Soft Gripper with EGaIn Soft Sensor for Detecting Grasp Status." Applied Sciences 11, no. 15 (July 28, 2021): 6957. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app11156957.
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With the Fourth Industrial Revolution, many factories aim for efficient mass production, and robots are being used to reduce human workloads. In recent years, the field of gripper robots with a soft structure that can grip and move objects without damaging them has attracted considerable attention. This paper proposes a variable-stiffness soft gripper, based on previous designs, with an added silicone coating for increased friction and an EGaIn soft sensor for monitoring grip forces. The variable-stiffness structure used in this study was constructed by connecting soft structures to rigid structures and using tendons fixed to the rigid structures. Furthermore, a more responsive EGaIn soft sensor compared to existing sensors was designed by adding bumps to the path traced by the alloy. After selecting the appropriate fingertip shape, changes in the output of the EGaIn soft sensor corresponding to the object held by the soft gripper were observed, confirming that the strength of the device could be changed according to the intended purpose.
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Xue, Yun, and Chul-Hee Lee. "Inchworm Robots Utilizing Friction Changes in Magnetorheological Elastomer Footpads Under Magnetic Field Influence." Micromachines 16, no. 1 (December 26, 2024): 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi16010019.
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The application of smart materials in robots has attracted considerable research attention. This study developed an inchworm robot that integrates smart materials and a bionic design, using the unique properties of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) to improve the performance of robots in complex environments, as well as their adaptability and movement efficiency. This research stems from solving the problem of the insufficient adaptability of traditional bionic robots on different surfaces. A robot that combines an MRE foot, an electromagnetic control system, and a bionic motion mechanism was designed and manufactured. The MRE foot was made from silicone rubber mixed with carbonyl iron particles at a specific ratio. Systematic experiments were conducted on three typical surfaces, PMMA, wood, and copper plates, to test the friction characteristics and motion performance of the robot. On all tested surfaces, the friction force of the MRE foot was reduced significantly after applying a magnetic field. For example, on the PMMA surface, the friction force of the front leg dropped from 2.09 N to 1.90 N, and that of the hind leg decreased from 3.34 N to 1.75 N. The robot movement speed increased by 1.79, 1.76, and 1.13 times on PMMA, wooden, and copper plate surfaces, respectively. The MRE-based intelligent foot design improved the environmental adaptability and movement efficiency of the inchworm robot significantly, providing new ideas for the application of intelligent materials in the field of bionic robots and solutions to movement challenges in complex environments.
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Sun, Xiyang, Akinao Nose, and Hiroshi Kohsaka. "A vacuum-actuated soft robot inspired by Drosophila larvae to study kinetics of crawling behaviour." PLOS ONE 18, no. 4 (April 5, 2023): e0283316. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283316.
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Peristalsis, a motion generated by the propagation of muscular contraction along the body axis, is one of the most common locomotion patterns in limbless animals. While the kinematics of peristalsis has been examined intensively, its kinetics remains unclear, partially due to the lack of suitable physical models to simulate the locomotion patterns and inner drive in soft-bodied animals. Inspired by a soft-bodied animal, Drosophila larvae, we propose a vacuum-actuated soft robot mimicking its crawling behaviour. The soft structure, made of hyperelastic silicone rubber, was designed to imitate the larval segmental hydrostatic structure. Referring to a numerical simulation by the finite element method, the dynamical change in the vacuum pressure in each segment was controlled accordingly, and the soft robots could exhibit peristaltic locomotion. The soft robots successfully reproduced two previous experimental phenomena on fly larvae: 1. Crawling speed in backward crawling is slower than in forward crawling. 2. Elongation of either the segmental contraction duration or intersegmental phase delay makes peristaltic crawling slow. Furthermore, our experimental results provided a novel prediction for the role of the contraction force in controlling the speed of peristaltic locomotion. These observations indicate that soft robots could serve to examine the kinetics of crawling behaviour in soft-bodied animals.
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Herzog, Thomas, Georg Schnell, Carsten Tille, and Hermann Seitz. "Comparison of Conventional and Robotic Fused Filament Fabrication on Silicone Build Plates." Materials 15, no. 18 (September 13, 2022): 6352. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma15186352.
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The objective of this study is the investigation of the transferability of the material extrusion process from conventional to robotic fabrication on silicone build plates for use in Enhanced Multipoint Moulding with Additive Attachments. Therefore, the study is based on two series of experiments. The first series of tests used a conventional plant extended by a silicone construction platform. In comparison, a six-axis industrial robot was chosen to produce the test specimens in the second series of tests. The comparisons of adhesion strengths and relative shape deviations are used to validate the transferability. The results of the tests show a very good transferability of the process from conventional to robotic production. Whilst angular specimen geometries can be transferred directly, for round specimen geometries, the results show a need for further adaptation to the robot kinematics. The round specimen geometries showed deviations in the surface quality caused by an over-extrusion in the robotic manufacturing. This over-extrusion results from the slicing process in combination with the robot control and may be avoided through further optimisation of the process parameters. Overall, to the best of our knowledge, this study is the first that successfully demonstrates the transfer of Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) from a conventional system to manufacturing using robots on silicone build plates for the use in Enhanced Multipoint Moulding with Additive Attachments.
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Rusu, Dan Mihai, Olivia Laura Petrașcu, Adrian Marius Pascu, and Silviu Dan Mândru. "The Influence of Industrial Environmental Factors on Soft Robot Materials." Materials 16, no. 8 (April 7, 2023): 2948. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma16082948.
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This work aims to identify the effects that a series of environmental factors, specific to the industrial conditions, have on the materials in the structure of soft robots and, therefore, on soft robotics systems. The purpose is to understand the changes in the mechanical characteristics of silicone materials, with the aim of transferring soft robotics applications from the sphere of services in the industrial field. Distilled water, hydraulic oil, cooling oil, and UV rays are the environmental factors considered in which the specimens were immersed/exposed for 24 h according to ISO-62/2008. The analysis was carried out on two of the most widely used materials in the field, belonging to the category of silicone rubber, which were subjected to uniaxial tensile tests on the strength testing machine Titan 2 Universal. The results show that the greatest impact on the characteristics of the two materials was when exposed to UV rays, while the other media tested had relatively little impact on the mechanical and elastic properties (tensile strength, elongation at break, and tensile modulus) of these materials.
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Chiu, Wan-Ting, Motoki Okuno, Masaki Tahara, Tomonari Inamura, and Hideki Hosoda. "Fundamental Investigations of the Deformation Behavior of Single-Crystal Ni-Mn-Ga Alloys and Their Polymer Composites via the Introduction of Various Fields." Applied Sciences 13, no. 14 (July 22, 2023): 8475. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app13148475.
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To meet the great requirements of future technologies, such as robots, single-crystal (SC) Ni-Mn-Ga alloys and their composites were designed and investigated in this study. Ferromagnetic shape memory alloys (FSMAs) are promising materials for applications in high-speed actuators, which are core components of robots; however, there are some issues of embrittlement and small deformation strain. Therefore, in this work, we first prepared SC Ni-Mn-Ga alloys for fundamental investigations of the shape deformations under the application of different fields (e.g., compressive and magnetic fields). Second, the SC Ni-Mn-Ga alloys were integrated with polymers of epoxy resin or silicone rubber to solve the embrittlement problem. The obvious two-stage yielding and sudden intensifying of the magnetization both suggest martensite variant reorientation (MVR) under the compressive and magnetic fields, respectively. Micro-computed tomography (μCT) and an X-ray diffractometer were utilized for the observations of shape deformation brought about by the MVR of the SC Ni-Mn-Ga particles in the polymer matrix. Clear MVR and shape deformation could be found in the compressed composites.
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Ma, Bingyin, Mohammed Z. Shaqura, Robert C. Richardson, and Abbas A. Dehghani-Sanij. "A Study on Phase-Changing Materials for Controllable Stiffness in Robotic Joints." Robotics 11, no. 3 (June 16, 2022): 66. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/robotics11030066.
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This paper studies the viability of using a class of phase-changing materials for the design of controlled variable stiffness robotic joints which enable the design of robots that can operate in confined spaces. In such environments, robots need to be able to navigate in proximity or while in contact with their environment to reach one or more manipulated target. Joints with controllable stiffness can substantially enhance functionality of this class of robots where relatively higher joint stiffness is required to support the robot weight against gravity and low stiffness is desired when operating in complex or delicate environments. The research work presented in this paper focuses on examining thermorheological fluids (TRF) to design and manufacture thermally controlled variable stiffness joints. Two phase-changing materials are considered in the study: low-melting-point solder and hot-melt adhesive. Both materials are embedded in a custom designed joint fabricated using 3D printing and silicone casting. Joint stiffness was investigated with both materials and reported here. The results shows that the proposed variable stiffness joints with TRF achieve wide ranges of load-deflection ratio varying between 0.05 N/mm (when thermally activated) to about 10 N/mm (in bonding state). On average, the joint can withstand 20 times its total weight when in the bonding state. Design challenges and durability of TRF-based joints are discussed.
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Joseph, Vincent Sebastian, Theo Calais, Thileepan Stalin, Snehal Jain, Naresh Kumar Thanigaivel, Naresh D. Sanandiya, and Pablo Valdivia y Alvarado. "Silicone/epoxy hybrid resins with tunable mechanical and interfacial properties for additive manufacture of soft robots." Applied Materials Today 22 (March 2021): 100979. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmt.2021.100979.
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Long, Fei, Gaojie Xu, Jing Wang, Yong Ren, and Yuchuan Cheng. "Variable Stiffness Conductive Composites by 4D Printing Dual Materials Alternately." Micromachines 13, no. 8 (August 19, 2022): 1343. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi13081343.
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Materials that can be designed with programmable properties and which change in response to external stimuli are of great importance in numerous fields of soft actuators, involving robotics, drug delivery and aerospace applications. In order to improve the interaction of human and robots, materials with variable stiffness are introduced to develop their compliance. A variable stiffness composite has been investigated in this paper, which is composed of liquid metals (LMs) and silicone elastomers. The phase changing materials (LMs) have been encapsulated into silicone elastomer by printing the dual materials alternately with three-dimensional direct ink writing. Such composites enable the control over their own stiffness between soft and rigid states through LM effective phase transition. The tested splines demonstrated that the stiffness changes approximately exceeded 1900%, and the storage modulus is 4.75 MPa and 0.2 MPa when LM is rigid and soft, respectively. In the process of heating up, the stretching strain can be enlarged by at least three times, but the load capacity is weakened. At a high temperature, the resistance of the conductive composites changes with the deformation degree, which is expected to be applied in the field of soft sensing actuators.
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Ruppel, Philipp, and Jianwei Zhang. "Elastic Tactile Sensor Glove for Dexterous Teaching by Demonstration." Sensors 24, no. 6 (March 16, 2024): 1912. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s24061912.
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We present a thin and elastic tactile sensor glove for teaching dexterous manipulation tasks to robots through human demonstration. The entire glove, including the sensor cells, base layer, and electrical connections, is made from soft and stretchable silicone rubber, adapting to deformations under bending and contact while preserving human dexterity. We develop a glove design with five fingers and a palm sensor, revise material formulations for reduced thickness, faster processing and lower cost, adapt manufacturing processes for reduced layer thickness, and design readout electronics for improved sensitivity and battery operation. We further address integration with a multi-camera system and motion reconstruction, wireless communication, and data processing to obtain multimodal reconstructions of human manipulation skills.
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Hu, Jinjin, Beizhi Chu, Xueqing Liu, Huaixiao Wei, Jianwen Wang, Xue Kan, Yumin Xia, Shuohan Huang, and Yuwei Chen. "Preparation of PANI/CuPc/PDMS Composite Elastomer with High Dielectric Constant and Low Modulus Assisted by Electric Fields." Polymers 16, no. 11 (May 30, 2024): 1549. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym16111549.
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Dielectric elastomer is a kind of electronic electroactive polymer, which plays an important role in the application of soft robots and flexible electronics. In this study, an all-organic polyaniline/copper phthalocyanine/silicone rubber (PANI/CuPc/PDMS) dielectric composite with superior comprehensive properties was prepared by manipulating the arrangement of filler in a polymer matrix assisted by electric fields. Both CuPc particles and PANI particles can form network structures in the PDMS matrix by self-assembly under electric fields, which can enhance the dielectric properties of the composites at low filler content. The dielectric constant of the assembled PANI/CuPc/PDMS composites can reach up to 140 at 100 Hz when the content of CuPc and PANI particles is 4 wt% and 2.5 wt%, respectively. Moreover, the elastic modulus of the composites remains below 2 MPa, which is important for electro-deforming. The strain of assembled PANI/CuPc/PDMS three-phase composites at low electric field strength (2 kV/mm) can increase up to five times the composites with randomly dispersed particles, which makes this composite have potential application in the field of soft robots and flexible electronics.
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Albrecht, Andreas, Marco Bobinger, José Salmerón, Markus Becherer, Gordon Cheng, Paolo Lugli, and Almudena Rivedeneyra. "Over-Stretching Tolerant Conductors on Rubber Films by Inkjet-Printing Silver Nanoparticles for Wearables." Polymers 10, no. 12 (December 19, 2018): 1413. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym10121413.
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The necessity to place sensors far away from the processing unit in smart clothes or artificial skins for robots may require conductive wirings on stretchable materials at very low-cost. In this work, we present an easy method to produce wires using only commercially available materials. A consumer grade inkjet printer was used to print a wire of silver nanoparticles with a sheet resistance below 1 Ω/sq. on a non-pre-strained sheet of elastic silicone. This wire was stretched more than 10,000 times and was still conductive afterwards. The viscoelastic behavior of the substrate results in a temporarily increased resistance that decreases to almost the original value. After over-stretching, the wire is conductive within less than a second. We analyze the swelling of the silicone due to the ink’s solvent and the nanoparticle film on top by microscope and SEM images. Finally, a 60 mm long stretchable conductor was integrated onto wearables, and showed that it can bear strains of up to 300% and recover to a conductivity that allows the operation of an assembled LED assembled at only 1.8 V. These self-healing wires can serve as wiring and binary strain or pressure sensors in sportswear, compression underwear, and in robotic applications.
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Prechtl, J., J. Kunze, G. Moretti, D. Bruch, S. Seelecke, and G. Rizzello. "Modeling and experimental validation of thin, tightly rolled dielectric elastomer actuators." Smart Materials and Structures 31, no. 1 (November 19, 2021): 015008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-665x/ac34be.
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Abstract Due to their large deformation, high energy density, and high compliance, dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) have found a number of applications in several areas of mechatronics and robotics. Among the many types of DEAs proposed in the literature, rolled DEAs (RDEAs) represent one of the most popular configurations. RDEAs can be effectively used as compact muscle-like actuators for soft robots, since they allow eliminating the need for external motors or compressors while providing at the same time a flexible and lightweight structure with self-sensing capabilities. To effectively design and control complex RDEA-driven systems and robots, accurate and numerically efficient mathematical models need to be developed. In this work, we propose a novel lumped-parameter model for silicone-based, thin and tightly rolled RDEAs. The model is grounded on a free-energy approach, and permits to describe the electro-mechanically coupled response of the transducer with a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. After deriving the constitutive relationships, the model is validated by means of an extensive experimental campaign, conducted on three RDEA specimens having different geometries. It is shown how the developed model permits to accurately predict the effects of several parameters (external load, applied voltage, actuator geometry) on the RDEA electro-mechanical response, while maintaining an overall simple mathematical structure.
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Maestre, Juan Montes, Ronan Hinchet, Stelian Coros, and Bernhard Thomaszewski. "ToRoS: A Topology Optimization Approach for Designing Robotic Skins." ACM Transactions on Graphics 42, no. 6 (December 5, 2023): 1–11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3618382.
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Soft robotics offers unique advantages in manipulating fragile or deformable objects, human-robot interaction, and exploring inaccessible terrain. However, designing soft robots that produce large, targeted deformations is challenging. In this paper, we propose a new methodology for designing soft robots that combines optimization-based design with a simple and cost-efficient manufacturing process. Our approach is centered around the concept of robotic skins---thin fabrics with 3D-printed reinforcement patterns that augment and control plain silicone actuators. By decoupling shape control and actuation, our approach enables a simpler and cost-efficient manufacturing process. Unlike previous methods that rely on empirical design heuristics for generating desired deformations, our approach automatically discovers complex reinforcement patterns without any need for domain knowledge or human intervention. This is achieved by casting reinforcement design as a nonlinear constrained optimization problem and using a novel, three-field topology optimization approach tailored to fabrics with 3D-printed reinforcements. We demonstrate the potential of our approach by designing soft robotic actuators capable of various motions such as bending, contraction, twist, and combinations thereof. We also demonstrate applications of our robotic skins to robotic grasping with a soft three-finger gripper and locomotion tasks for a soft quadrupedal robot.
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Wang, Ning, Yu Zhang, Guofeng Zhang, Wenchuan Zhao, and Linghui Peng. "Development and Analysis of Key Components of a Multi Motion Mode Soft-Bodied Pipe Robot." Actuators 11, no. 5 (April 29, 2022): 125. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/act11050125.
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In order to enhance the environmental adaptability of peristaltic soft-bodied pipe robots, based on the nonlinear and hyperelastic characteristics of silicone rubber combined with the biological structure and motion characteristics of worms, a hexagonal prism soft-bodied bionic actuator is proposed. The actuator adopts different inflation patterns to produce different deformations, so that the soft-bodied robot can realize different motion modes in the pipeline. Based on the Yeoh binomial parameter silicone rubber constitutive model, the deformation analysis model of the hexagonal prism soft-bodied bionic actuator is established, and the numerical simulation algorithm is used to ensure both that the drive structure and deformation mode are reasonable, and that the deformation analysis theoretical model is accurate. The motion and dynamic characteristics of the prepared hexagonal prism soft-bodied bionic actuator are tested and analyzed, the motion and dynamic characteristic curves of the actuator are obtained, and the empirical deformation formula of the actuator is fitted. The experimental results are consistent with the deformation analysis model and numerical simulation result, which shows that the deformation analysis model and numerical simulation method are accurate and can provide design methods and reference basis for the development of a pneumatic soft-bodied body bionic actuator. The above research results can also prove that the hexagonal prism soft-bodied bionic actuator is reasonable and feasible.
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Yan, Zhibin, Yi Song, Rui Zhou, Liuwei Wang, Zhiliang Wang, and Zhendong Dai. "Facial Expression Realization of Humanoid Robot Head and Strain-Based Anthropomorphic Evaluation of Robot Facial Expressions." Biomimetics 9, no. 3 (February 20, 2024): 122. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics9030122.
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The facial expressions of humanoid robots play a crucial role in human–computer information interactions. However, there is a lack of quantitative evaluation methods for the anthropomorphism of robot facial expressions. In this study, we designed and manufactured a humanoid robot head that was capable of successfully realizing six basic facial expressions. The driving force behind the mechanism was efficiently transmitted to the silicone skin through a rigid linkage drive and snap button connection, which improves both the driving efficiency and the lifespan of the silicone skin. We used human facial expressions as a basis for simulating and acquiring the movement parameters. Subsequently, we designed a control system for the humanoid robot head in order to achieve these facial expressions. Moreover, we used a flexible vertical graphene sensor to measure strain on both the human face and the silicone skin of the humanoid robot head. We then proposed a method to evaluate the anthropomorphic degree of the robot’s facial expressions by using the difference rate of strain. The feasibility of this method was confirmed through experiments in facial expression recognition. The evaluation results indicated a high degree of anthropomorphism for the six basic facial expressions which were achieved by the humanoid robot head. Moreover, this study also investigates factors affecting the reproduction of expressions. Finally, the impulse was calculated based on the strain curves of the energy consumption of the humanoid robot head to complete different facial expressions. This offers a reference for fellow researchers when designing humanoid robot heads, based on energy consumption ratios. To conclude, this paper offers data references for optimizing the mechanisms and selecting the drive components of the humanoid robot head. This was realized by considering the anthropomorphic degree and energy consumption of each part. Additionally, a new method for evaluating robot facial expressions is proposed.
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Liu, Cheng, Yitao Zhuang, Amir Nasrollahi, Lingling Lu, Mohammad Faisal Haider, and Fu-Kuo Chang. "Static Tactile Sensing for a Robotic Electronic Skin via an Electromechanical Impedance-Based Approach." Sensors 20, no. 10 (May 16, 2020): 2830. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s20102830.
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Tactile sensing is paramount for robots operating in human-centered environments to help in understanding interaction with objects. To enable robots to have sophisticated tactile sensing capability, researchers have developed different kinds of electronic skins for robotic hands and arms in order to realize the ‘sense of touch’. Recently, Stanford Structures and Composites Laboratory developed a robotic electronic skin based on a network of multi-modal micro-sensors. This skin was able to identify temperature profiles and detect arm strikes through embedded sensors. However, sensing for the static pressure load is yet to be investigated. In this work, an electromechanical impedance-based method is proposed to investigate the response of piezoelectric sensors under static normal pressure loads. The smart skin sample was firstly fabricated by embedding a piezoelectric sensor into the soft silicone. Then, a series of static pressure tests to the skin were conducted. Test results showed that the first peak of the real part impedance signal was sensitive to static pressure load, and by using the proposed diagnostic method, this test setup could detect a resolution of 0.5 N force. Numerical simulation methods were then performed to validate the experimental results. The results of the numerical simulation prove the validity of the experiments, as well as the robustness of the proposed method in detecting static pressure loads using the smart skin.
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Mersch, Johannes, Najmeh Keshtkar, Henriette Grellmann, Carlos Alberto Gomez Cuaran, Mathis Bruns, Andreas Nocke, Chokri Cherif, Klaus Röbenack, and Gerald Gerlach. "Integrated Temperature and Position Sensors in a Shape-Memory Driven Soft Actuator for Closed-Loop Control." Materials 15, no. 2 (January 10, 2022): 520. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma15020520.
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Soft actuators are a promising option for the advancing fields of human-machine interaction and dexterous robots in complex environments. Shape memory alloy wire actuators can be integrated into fiber rubber composites for highly deformable structures. For autonomous, closed-loop control of such systems, additional integrated sensors are necessary. In this work, a soft actuator is presented that incorporates fiber-based actuators and sensors to monitor both deformation and temperature. The soft actuator showed considerable deformation around two solid body joints, which was then compared to the sensor signals, and their correlation was analyzed. Both, the actuator as well as the sensor materials were processed by braiding and tailored fiber placement before molding with silicone rubber. Finally, the novel fiber-rubber composite material was used to implement closed-loop control of the actuator with a maximum error of 0.5°.
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Johnson, Alissa Claire, Alice S. Fontaine, Emily Adair Beeman, and James H. Pikul. "Silicone Oil Emulsions As Oxygen Enriched Flow Battery Catholytes That Enable Fully Submerged Air Cathodes." ECS Meeting Abstracts MA2022-01, no. 38 (July 7, 2022): 1665. http://dx.doi.org/10.1149/ma2022-01381665mtgabs.
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In biology, multifunctional interconnected systems provide increased system-level efficiency. Animal circulatory systems, for example, transport oxygen and nutrients while simultaneously regulating temperature and maintaining homeostasis. Inspired by biology, recent work has shown how multifunctional fluids can increase the total energy density of a robotic fish by both storing electrochemical energy and transmitting mechanical work to hydraulic actuators1. Despite the low energy density of the zinc-iodide electrolytes, this multifunctional approach increased the robot energy density by 4X compared to the same robot with just a lithium-ion battery. New low viscosity fluids that can store large amounts of electrochemical energy would enable even further improvements in energy density and transform the way robots and vehicles are designed. We have created a liquid electrolyte capable of storing large amounts of dissolved oxygen that can be directly reduced with a fully submerged electrode (See Fig. 1A, 1D). This capability mimics biological circulatory systems that store oxygen in hemoglobin suspended in blood, and also takes advantage of the high energy density of redox pairs that reduce oxygen in the cathode, such as metal-air batteries. Our electrolyte is a silicone oil emulsion suspended in 0.5 M KOH (1:4 v/v with Span-60 (sorbitane monostearate) (1.0 % w/v) as a surfactant). Here, the high oxygen solubility of the silicone oil droplets (up to 2247 mg O2/L) acts like hemoglobin and increases the oxygen solubility of the entire emulsion to 30 mg O2/L compared to 6.2 mg O2/L for 0.5 M KOH. The approach of storing oxygen in emulsions was inspired by synthetic blood that can support the respiration needs of animals in emergencies. These emulsions can remain stable for several weeks and, once saturated, can maintain their high dissolved oxygen levels. The heterogeneous nature of this catholyte is essential for electrochemical energy conversion. Within the electrolytic emulsion, droplets of silicone oil are dispersed throughout aqueous potassium hydroxide. The oil phase provides oxygen for the oxygen reduction reaction while the aqueous phase provides ionic conductivity. Thus, oxygen reduction occurs at the three-phase interface between the platinum-carbon electrode, the silicone oil droplets, and the aqueous potassium hydroxide (see Fig. 1C). Importantly, all three interfaces are either solid or liquid. Cyclic voltammograms (CV) comparing the performance of electrolytes with and without silicone oils demonstrated that oxygen can be electrochemically reduced in both systems. For both samples, cyclic voltammogram scans were recorded with a fully submerged platinum-carbon working electrode at a scan rate of 5 mV/s (see Fig. 1E). The aqueous system without the silicone oil emulsions, showed weaker CV peaks and more capacitive current (see Fig. 1D). The sample with the silicone oil emulsions demonstrated a more prominent reduction peak at 0.056 V vs. SHE which is indicative of the oxygen reduction reaction in basic media (see Fig. 1D). Both electrolytes were used in a full cell set-up to demonstrate the discharge performance of a zinc-air flow battery with an underwater air cathode. While both cells had a starting open circuit voltage of ~1V, the cell without silicone oil emulsions showed a steep drop in voltage to below 0.3V after only 43 minutes. The cell with silicone oil emulsions demonstrated significantly higher discharge capacity, discharging for over 10 hours at 50 µA (0.0625 mA/cm2). The increased oxygen content in the emulsion-based catholyte is critical for superior discharge performance. This work presents a new way for storing and transporting oxygen in pumpable electrolytes. The high oxygen solubility of silicone oil emulsions allows high-rate ORR over longer durations than control electrolytes. This electrolyte is a promising candidate for multifunctional power systems and presents new design opportunities for flow batteries by removing the need for the challenging gas-liquid-solid interfaces in conventional ORR cathodes. Reference: C. A. Aubin et al., Nature, 571, 51–57 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1313-1. Figure 1
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Nagase, Jun-Ya, Norihiko Saga, Toshiyuki Satoh, and Koichi Suzumori. "Development and control of a multifingered robotic hand using a pneumatic tendon-driven actuator." Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures 23, no. 3 (September 4, 2011): 345–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1045389x11420590.
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Because of the rapid aging of the Japanese population and the acute decrease in young workers in Japan, robots are anticipated for use in performing rehabilitation and daily domestic tasks for nursing and welfare services. Use in environments with humans, safety, and human affinity are particularly important robot hand characteristics. Such robot hands must have flexible movements and be lightweight. Under these circumstances, this study specifically addresses the expansion of a silicone rubber, tendon-driven actuator, which has been developed using a pneumatic balloon. A multifingered robotic hand using the actuator is developed. Moreover, a fuzzy grasping control system is applied to the proposed robotic hand. The robot hand’s development is described incorporating pneumatic balloon actuator with the softness, size, and weight of a human hand. The fuzzy grasping control system is shown to be effective for the proposed robot hand, which can grasp soft objects easily.
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Matsuda, R., Y. Isano, K. Ueno, and H. Ota. "Highly stretchable and sensitive silicone composites with positive piezoconductivity using nickel powder and ionic liquid." APL Bioengineering 7, no. 1 (March 1, 2023): 016108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0124959.
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Conductive rubber composites are mixtures of stretchable rubber and conductive materials. They can achieve conductivity and high elasticity and are used in soft robots and wearable devices. In general, these composites exhibit high electrical resistance owing to their bonds between the fillers breaking during elongation. However, there are several types of composite materials that decrease resistance by increasing contact between the conductive materials during elongation through optimization of the shape and size of the filler. These composite materials can rapidly decrease the resistance and are expected to be applicable to switch in electric circuits and sensors. However, to use such composite materials in circuits, the electrical resistance at the time of resistance reduction must be sufficiently low to not affect the electric circuit. To achieve this, a considerable amount of filler must be mixed; however, this reduces the elasticity of the composite. Simultaneously achieving elasticity of the composite and a sufficient decrease in the resistance is challenging. This study developed a conductive rubber composite gel by mixing silicone rubber, ionic liquid, and metal filler. Consequently, the composite achieved an elongation rate of over six times and a decrease in the resistance of less than 1/105. In addition, this composite material was used as a switch circuit wherein an electric circuit is turned on and off according to elongation through a connection to a DC power source.
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Du, Tianhao, Lechen Sun, and Jingjing Wan. "A Worm-like Crawling Soft Robot with Pneumatic Actuators Based on Selective Laser Sintering of TPU Powder." Biomimetics 7, no. 4 (November 20, 2022): 205. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics7040205.
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Soft robotics is one of the most popular areas in the field of robotics due to advancements in bionic technology, novel materials, and additive manufacturing. Existing soft crawling robots with specific structures have a single locomotion mode and cannot complete turning. Moreover, some silicone-based robots lack stiffness, leading to unstable movements especially when climbing walls, and have limited environmental adaptability. Therefore, in this study, a novel crawling soft robot with a multi-movement mode and high environmental adaptability is proposed. As the main structure of the robot, pneumatic single-channeled and double-channeled actuators are designed, inspired by the worm’s somite expansion and contraction. Model-based methods are employed to evaluate and analyze the characteristics of the actuators. By the application of selective laser sintering technology and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) material, the fabricated actuators with an auxetic cavity structure are able to maintain a certain stiffness. Via the coordination between the actuators and the suckers, two locomotion modes—straight-line and turning—are realized. In the testing, the speed of straight-line crawling was 7.15 mm/s, and the single maximum turning angle was 28.8 degrees. The testing verified that the robot could realize crawling on flat ground, slopes, and smooth vertical walls with a certain stability and equipment-carrying capacity. This research could lay the foundation for subsequent applications, including large tank interior inspections, civil aviation fuselage and wing inspections, and wall-cleaning in high-rise buildings.
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Wang, Jie, Tengfei Zheng, Yong Gao, Dengwang Wang, Wei Cui, Jiakun Fan, Zhiming You, et al. "Preparation and properties characterization of a novel soft robots partially made of silicone/W-based composites for gamma ray shielding." Progress in Nuclear Energy 130 (December 2020): 103531. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2020.103531.
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Sui, Xin, Mingzhu Lai, Jian Qi, Zhiyuan Yang, Ning Zhao, Jie Zhao, Hegao Cai, and Yanhe Zhu. "A Fluid-Driven Loop-Type Modular Soft Robot with Integrated Locomotion and Manipulation Capability." Biomimetics 8, no. 5 (August 26, 2023): 390. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics8050390.
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In nature, some animals, such as snakes and octopuses, use their limited body structure to conduct various complicated tasks not only for locomotion but also for hunting. Their body segments seem to possess the intelligence to adapt to environments and tasks. Inspired by nature, a modular soft robot with integrated locomotion and manipulation abilities is presented in this paper. A soft modular robot is assembled using several homogeneous cubic pneumatic soft actuator units made of silicone rubber. Both a mathematical model and backpropagation neural network are established to describe the nonlinear deformation of the soft actuator unit. The locomotion process of the chain-type soft robot is analyzed to provide a general rhythmic control principle for modular soft robots. A vision sensor is adopted to control the locomotion and manipulation processes of the modular soft robot in a closed loop. The experimental results indicate that the modular soft robot put forward in this paper has both locomotion and manipulation abilities.
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Liu, Zhe, Yuqi Xiong, Jinghao Hao, Hao Zhang, Xiao Cheng, Hua Wang, Wei Chen, and Chuanjian Zhou. "Liquid Crystal-Based Organosilicone Elastomers with Supreme Mechanical Adaptability." Polymers 14, no. 4 (February 18, 2022): 789. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym14040789.
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Elastomers with supreme mechanical adaptability where the increasing stress under continuous deformation is significantly inhibited within a large deformation zone, are highly desired in many areas, such as artificial muscles, flexible and wearable electronics, and soft artificial-intelligence robots. Such system comprises the advantages of recoverable elasticity and internal compensation to external mechanical work. To obtain elastomer with supreme mechanical adaptability, a novel liquid crystal-based organosilicon elastomer (LCMQ) is developed in this work, which takes the advantages of reversible strain-induced phase transition of liquid crystal units in polymer matrix and the recoverable nano-sized fillers. The former is responsible for the inhibition of stress increasing during deformation, where the external work is mostly compensated by internal phase transition, and the latter provides tunable and sufficient high tensile strength. Such LCMQs were synthesized with 4-methoxyphenyl 4-(but-3-en-1-yloxy)benzoate (MBB) grafted thiol silicone oil (crosslinker-g-MBB) as crosslinking agent, vinyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane as base adhesive, and fumed silica as reinforcing filler by two-step thiol-ene “click” reaction. The obtained tensile strength and the elongation at break are better than previously reported values. Moreover, the resulting liquid crystal elastomers exhibit different mechanical behavior from conventional silicone rubbers. When the liquid crystal content increases from 1% (w/w) to 4% (w/w), the stress plateau for mechanical adaptability becomes clearer. Moreover, the liquid crystal elastomer has no obvious deformation from 25 °C to 120 °C and is expected to be used in industrial applications. It also provides a new template for the modification of organosilicon elastomers.
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Muratbakeev, Eduard, Yuriy Kozhubaev, Yao Yiming, and Shehzad Umar. "Symmetrical Modeling of Physical Properties of Flexible Structure of Silicone Materials for Control of Pneumatic Soft Actuators." Symmetry 16, no. 6 (June 16, 2024): 750. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/sym16060750.
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With the ongoing advancements in material technology, the domain of soft robotics has garnered increasing attention. Soft robots, in contrast to their rigid counterparts, offer superior adaptability to the environment, enhanced flexibility, and improved safety, rendering them highly suitable for complex application scenarios such as rescue operations and medical interventions. In this paper, a new type of pneumatic software actuator is proposed. The actuator adopts a combination of a soft structure and pneumatic control, which is highly flexible and versatile. By using the flow of gas inside the soft structure, high-precision and flexible motion control is realized. In the design process, the extensibility and adaptability of the structure are considered, so that the actuator can adapt to different working environments and task requirements. The experimental results show that the pneumatic soft actuator exhibits excellent performance in terms of accuracy, response speed, and controllability. This research provides new ideas and methods for the development of the field of pneumatic actuators and has wide application prospects. The main research content of this paper is as follows: first, the soft pneumatic actuator is modeled and simulated, the structure is optimized on the basis of simulation, and finally, the performance of the actuator is tested.
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Wang, Fei, and Xiaoming Tao. "Carbon/Silicone Nanocomposite-Enabled Soft Pressure Sensors with a Liquid-Filled Cell Structure Design for Low Pressure Measurement." Sensors 21, no. 14 (July 10, 2021): 4732. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s21144732.
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In the fields of humanoid robots, soft robotics, and wearable electronics, the development of artificial skins entails pressure sensors that are low in modulus, high in sensitivity, and minimal in hysteresis. However, few sensors in the literature can meet all the three requirements, especially in the low pressure range (<10 kPa). This article presents a design for such pressure sensors. The bioinspired liquid-filled cell-type structural design endows the sensor with appropriate softness (Young’s modulus < 230 kPa) and high sensitivity (highest at 0.7 kPa−1) to compression forces below 0.65 N (6.8 kPa). The low-end detection limit is ~0.0012 N (13 Pa), only triple the mass of a bee. Minimal resistance hysteresis of the pressure sensor is 7.7%. The low hysteresis is attributed to the study on the carbon/silicone nanocomposite, which reveals the effect of heat treatment on its mechanical and electromechanical hysteresis. Pressure measurement range and sensitivity of the sensor can be tuned by changing the structure and strain gauge parameters. This concept of sensor design, when combined with microfluidics technology, is expected to enable soft, stretchable, and highly precise touch-sensitive artificial skins.
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Zhu, Xinping, Hanwei Zhou, Xiaoxiao Zhu, and Kundong Wang. "A Novel Caterpillar-Inspired Vascular Interventional Robot Navigated by Magnetic Sinusoidal Mechanism." Actuators 13, no. 10 (October 13, 2024): 412. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/act13100412.
Full textAbstract:
Magnetic soft continuum robots (MSCRs) hold significant potential in fulfilling the requirements of vascular interventional robots, enabling safe access to difficult-to-reach areas with enhanced active maneuverability, shape morphing capabilities, and stiffness variability. Their primary advantage lies in their tether-less actuation mechanism that can safely adapt to complex vessel structures. Existing commercial MSCRs primarily employ a magnetic-pull strategy, which suffers from insufficient driving force and a single actuation strategy, limiting their clinical applicability. Inspired by the inchworm crawling locomotion gait, we herein present a novel MSCR that integrates a magnetic sinusoidal actuation mechanism with adjustable frequency and kirigami structures. The developed MSCRs consist of two permanent magnets connected by a micro-spring, which is coated with a silicone membrane featuring a specific notch array. This design enables bio-inspired crawling with controllable velocity and active maneuverability. An analytical model of the magnetic torque and finite element analysis (FEA) simulations of the MSCRs has been constructed. Additionally, the prototype has been validated through two-dimensional in-vitro tracking experiments with actuation frequencies ranging from 1 to 10 Hz. Its stride efficiency has also been verified in a three-dimensional (3D) coronary artery phantom. Diametrically magnetized spherical chain tip enhances active steerability. Kirigami skin is coated over the novel guidewire and catheter, not only providing proximal anchorage for improved stride efficiency but also serving similar function as a cutting balloon. Under the actuation of an external magnetic field, the proposed MSCRs demonstrate the ability to traverse bifurcations and tortuous paths, indicating their potential for dexterous flexibility in pathological vessels.
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NUMAJIRI, Hiroshi, and Akitoshi ITOH. "2A1-A20 Development of Biomimetic Actuator for Dancing and Jumping Robot : Development of the tendon structure for robots using silicone rubber." Proceedings of JSME annual Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics (Robomec) 2010 (2010): _2A1—A20_1—_2A1—A20_4. http://dx.doi.org/10.1299/jsmermd.2010._2a1-a20_1.
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Ning, Kewei, and Hideyuki Sawada. "A wireless bionic soft robotic fish using shape-memory alloy actuators." IAES International Journal of Robotics and Automation (IJRA) 11, no. 4 (December 1, 2022): 278. http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijra.v11i4.pp278-287.
Full textAbstract:
<span lang="EN-US">In this study, we present the construction of a wireless bionic soft robotic fish that has a silicone tail and uses shape-memory alloys (SMAs) as actuators. Even though there have been a lot of recent advancements in the field of soft robotics, the use of SMAs as actuators for soft robots is still not something that is investigated very often. In the course of this research, we plan to work toward the creation of a realistic bionic fish robot that possesses a high level of mobility in the water, in addition to being light enough, strong enough, and flexible enough. The purpose of this study is to expound on the process of optimizing the morphologies of the fish body, as well as the optimization of the electromechanical behavior of the SMAs, in order to generate swimming motions in the fish. Our attention will be on the optimization of these two aspects. This report also outlines some preliminary but promising physical tests that were conducted to create a robotic fish with the similar shape.</span>