Academic literature on the topic 'Soft robots material and design'
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Journal articles on the topic "Soft robots material and design"
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Morales, Jorge Eduardo, Francisco Ramírez Cruz, and Francisco Eugenio López Guerrero. "An agile multi-body additively manufactured soft actuator for soft manipulators." Ingenierias 23, no. 89 (October 1, 2020): 14–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.29105/ingenierias23.89-4.
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With the introduction of collaborative robots in production environments, the harm to workers by using traditional robots with rigid links is inherent. A new generation of robots made from flexible soft materials that decreases collision danger by self-deforming actions has been proposed as a promising solution for the human-robot collaboration environments. Recently, by the development of additive manufacture of elastic soft materials, new design opportunities arise for these so-called soft robots. However, robustness that is required for production environments is still not achieved. This paper presents a design approach of a fully additively manufactured three-axis soft pneumatic actuator. For its use in flexible soft robotic manipulator systems, design guidelines, a direct 3D printing process with elastic materials and a low-level PLC semi-automated pressure regulation control system are presented. To validate the proposed design, the actuator is manufactured and tested for maximum contact force, bending motion reaction and its signal response.
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Rieffel, John, Davis Knox, Schuyler Smith, and Barry Trimmer. "Growing and Evolving Soft Robots." Artificial Life 20, no. 1 (January 2014): 143–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/artl_a_00101.
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Completely soft and flexible robots offer to revolutionize fields ranging from search and rescue to endoscopic surgery. One of the outstanding challenges in this burgeoning field is the chicken-and-egg problem of body-brain design: Development of locomotion requires the preexistence of a locomotion-capable body, and development of a location-capable body requires the preexistence of a locomotive gait. This problem is compounded by the high degree of coupling between the material properties of a soft body (such as stiffness or damping coefficients) and the effectiveness of a gait. This article synthesizes four years of research into soft robotics, in particular describing three approaches to the co-discovery of soft robot morphology and control. In the first, muscle placement and firing patterns are coevolved for a fixed body shape with fixed material properties. In the second, the material properties of a simulated soft body coevolve alongside locomotive gaits, with body shape and muscle placement fixed. In the third, a developmental encoding is used to scalably grow elaborate soft body shapes from a small seed structure. Considerations of the simulation time and the challenges of physically implementing soft robots in the real world are discussed.
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Tomori, Hiroki, Kenta Hiyoshi, Shonosuke Kimura, Naoya Ishiguri, and Taisei Iwata. "A Self-Deformation Robot Design Incorporating Bending-Type Pneumatic Artificial Muscles." Technologies 7, no. 3 (July 23, 2019): 51. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/technologies7030051.
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With robots becoming closer to humans in recent years, human-friendly robots made of soft materials provide a new line of research interests. We designed and developed a soft robot that can move via self-deformation toward the practical application of monitoring children and the elderly on a daily basis. The robot’s structure was built out of flexible frames, which are bending-type pneumatic artificial muscles (BPAMs). We first provide a description and discussion on the nature of BPAM, followed by static characteristics experiment. Although the BPAM theoretical model shares a similar tendency with the experimental results, the actual BPAMs moved along the depth direction. We then proposed and demonstrated an effective locomotion method for the robot and calculated its locomotion speed by measuring its drive time and movement distance. Our results confirmed the reasonability of the robot’s speed for monitoring children and the elderly. Nevertheless, during the demonstration, some BPAMs were bent sharply by other activated BPAMs as the robot was driving, leaving a little damage on these BPAMs. This will be addressed in our future work.
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Booth, Joran W., Dylan Shah, Jennifer C. Case, Edward L. White, Michelle C. Yuen, Olivier Cyr-Choiniere, and Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio. "OmniSkins: Robotic skins that turn inanimate objects into multifunctional robots." Science Robotics 3, no. 22 (September 19, 2018): eaat1853. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.aat1853.
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Robots generally excel at specific tasks in structured environments but lack the versatility and the adaptability required to interact with and locomote within the natural world. To increase versatility in robot design, we present robotic skins that can wrap around arbitrary soft bodies to induce the desired motions and deformations. Robotic skins integrate actuation and sensing into a single conformable material and may be leveraged to create a multitude of controllable soft robots with different functions or gaits to accommodate the demands of different environments. We show that attaching the same robotic skin to a soft body in different ways, or to different soft bodies, leads to distinct motions. Further, we show that combining multiple robotic skins enables complex motions and functions. We demonstrate the versatility of this soft robot design approach in a wide range of applications—including manipulation tasks, locomotion, and wearables—using the same two-dimensional (2D) robotic skins reconfigured on the surface of various 3D soft, inanimate objects.
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Su, Manjia, Rongzhen Xie, Yihong Zhang, Xiaopan Kang, Dongyu Huang, Yisheng Guan, and Haifei Zhu. "Pneumatic Soft Actuator with Anisotropic Soft and Rigid Restraints for Pure in-Plane Bending Motion." Applied Sciences 9, no. 15 (July 26, 2019): 2999. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app9152999.
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A variety of soft robots with prospective applications has been developed in recent years. As a key component of a soft robot, the soft actuator plays a critical role and hence must be designed carefully according to application requirements. The soft body may deform in undesired directions if no restraint is endued, due to the isotropy of the pure soft material. For some soft robots such as an inchworm-like biped climbing robot, the actuation direction must be constrained with the appropriate structure design of the soft actuator. This study proposes a pneumatic soft actuator (PSA) to achieve pure in-plane bending motion with anisotropic soft and rigid restraints. The in-plane bending pneumatic soft actuator (2D-PSA) is developed with a composite structure where a metal hinge belt is embedded into the soft material. The design method, material choice, and fabrication process are presented in detail in this paper. Tests are conducted to measure the actuating performance of 2D-PSA in terms of the relationship between the bending angle or force and the input air pressure. Dynamic response is also measured with a laser tracker. Furthermore, a comparative experiment is carried out between the presented 2D-PSA and a general PSA, with results verifying the effectiveness of the presented 2D-PSA. A robot consisting of two serially-connected 2D-PSAs and three pneumatic suckers, which can climb on a flat surface mimicking a snake’s locomotion, is developed as an application demo of the presented 2D-PSA. Its locomotion capability presents the in-plane performance and mobility of 2D-PSA.
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Shinde, Mr Pruthviraj, Mr Prathamesh Kadam, Mr Hrushikesh Konnur, and Mr Suraj Kharat. "Study of G-Bot." International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology 10, no. 11 (November 30, 2022): 153–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.22214/ijraset.2022.47275.
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Abstract: This study aims to improve the performance of the vine robot to allow for its movement into hard materials by innovating on a setup that can help it to move through hard materials like rocky terrain, caves, man made covers, etc. increasing its area of use to almost all drilling and surveying activities happening in the industry today and will the time and resources of many of our customers if we succeed in this endeavor. Vine Robots are soft continuum robots design with low-cost fabrication in mind and for the navigation of difficult environments. Unlike traditional robots, which move through surface contact to walk or run, the vine robot relies on growth for movement. Much like a vine and other plants, the robot has a grounded root, or “base,” and can continually grow as it expands to add material at its tip. Vine robots can be easily assembled and programmed by novices while also having the option to perform complex tasks.
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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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Huang, Yaoli, Qinghua Yu, Chuanli Su, Jinhua Jiang, Nanliang Chen, and Huiqi Shao. "Light-Responsive Soft Actuators: Mechanism, Materials, Fabrication, and Applications." Actuators 10, no. 11 (November 10, 2021): 298. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/act10110298.
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Soft robots are those that can move like living organisms and adapt to the surrounding environment. Compared with traditional rigid robots, the advantages of soft robots, in terms of material flexibility, human–computer interaction, and biological adaptability, have received extensive attention. Flexible actuators based on light response are one of the most promising ways to promote the field of cordless soft robots, and they have attracted the attention of scientists in bionic design, actuation implementation, and application. First, the three working principles and the commonly used light-responsive materials for light-responsive actuators are introduced. Then, the characteristics of light-responsive soft actuators are sequentially presented, emphasizing the structure strategy, actuation performance, and emerging applications. Finally, this review is concluded with a perspective on the existing challenges and future opportunities in this nascent research frontier.
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Zhang, Chengguang. "Simulation Analysis of Bionic Robot Fish Based on MFC Materials." Mathematical Problems in Engineering 2019 (June 4, 2019): 1–9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/2720873.
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With the development of marine resources, research on underwater robots has received unprecedented attention. The discovery and application of new smart materials provide new ideas for the research of underwater robots, which can overcome the issues of traditional underwater robots and optimize their design. A macro fiber composite (MFC) is a new type of piezoelectric fiber composite that combines actuators and sensors. The material has excellent deflection, good flexibility, and a high electromechanical coupling coefficient. Bionic mechatronics design is an effective way to innovate mechatronics in the future and can significantly improve mechatronics system performance. As an important issue for the design of bionic mechatronics, it is necessary to make robots as soft as natural organisms to achieve similar biological movement with both higher efficiency and performance. Compared with traditional rigid robots, the design and control of a soft robotic fish are difficult because the coupling between the flexible structure and the surrounding environment should be considered, which is difficult to solve due to the large deformation and coupling dynamics. In this paper, an MFC smart material is applied as an actuator in the design of bionic robotic fish. Combined with the piezoelectric constitutive and elastic constitutive equations of the MFC material, the voltage-drive signal is converted to a mechanical load applied to the MFC actuator, which makes the MFC material deform and drives the movement of the robotic fish. The characteristics of caudal fin motion during the swimming process of the bionic robotic fish were analyzed by an acoustic-solid coupling analysis method. The motion control analysis of the bionic robotic fish was carried out by changing the applied driving signal. Through numerical analysis, a new type of soft robotic fish was designed, and the feasibility of using an MFC smart material for underwater bionic robotic fish actuators was verified. The new soft robotic fish was successfully developed to achieve high performance.
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Tse, Zion Tsz Ho, Yue Chen, Sierra Hovet, Hongliang Ren, Kevin Cleary, Sheng Xu, Bradford Wood, and Reza Monfaredi. "Soft Robotics in Medical Applications." Journal of Medical Robotics Research 03, no. 03n04 (September 2018): 1841006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/s2424905x18410064.
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Soft robotics are robotic systems made of materials that are similar in softness to human soft tissues. Recent medical soft robot designs, including rehabilitation, surgical, and diagnostic soft robots, are categorized by application and reviewed for functionality. Each design is analyzed for engineering characteristics and clinical significance. Current technical challenges in soft robotics fabrication, sensor integration, and control are discussed. Future directions including portable and robust actuation power sources, clinical adoptability, and clinical regulatory issues are summarized.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic "Soft robots material and design"
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Winters, Amy. "Why does soft matter? : exploring the design space of soft robotic materials and programmable machines." Thesis, Royal College of Art, 2017. http://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/2842/.
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This practice-led research examines how the emerging role of the ‘material designer’ can enrich the design process in Human Computer Interaction. It advocates embodiment as a design methodology by employing tacit knowledge; focusing on a subjective, affective and visceral engagement with computational materials. This theoretical premise is explored by drawing on the fields of soft robotics, as well as transitive and programmable materials. With the advancement and democratisation of physical computing and digital fabrication, it is now possible for designers to process, or even invent and composite new programmable materials, merging both their physical and digital capabilities. This study questions how the notion of soft can develop a distinct space for the design of novel user interfaces. This premise is applied through a phenomenological understanding of technology development—as opposed to generating data which is solely reliant on observable and measurable evidence. Bio-engineered technologies such as electroactive polymer, pneumatic and hydraulic actuator systems are deployed to explore a new type of responsive, sensual and organic materiality. Here, traditional medical diagnostic applications such as microfluidics are transferred into the experimental contexts of textiles and wearable technology. Therefore, by thinking through physical prototyping, a bodily engagement with materials and the interpretation of the elements of water, air and steam; a designer can create a fertile ground for a polyvalent imagination. Together, this methodology is used as a qualitative system for collecting and evaluating data on the significance of design-led thinking in soft robotic materials. This research concludes that there are insights to be gained from the creative practice and exploratory methods of material-led thinking in HCI that can contribute to the commercial research and development fields of wearable technology. Outputs include a prototype box of ‘Invention Tools’ for textile designers and the identification and creation of the role 04 of embodied making in relation to the imagination. Further, soft composite hybrids, incorporating elastomers, have potential applications in colour, texture and shape changing surfaces. Thus, this thesis argues that it is within the creative soft sciences that the next advancements in soft robotics may emerge.
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Ying, Min. "A Soft-Body Interconnect For Self-Reconfigurable Modular Robots." Digital WPI, 2014. https://digitalcommons.wpi.edu/etd-theses/234.
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Disaster support and recovery generally involve highly irregular and dangerous environments. Modular robots are a salient solution to support search and rescue efforts but are still limited to do their reliance on a rigid structure design. To enhance flexibility and resilience to damage, a soft-body interconnection mechanism for self-reconfigurable modular robotic systems has been developed. The soft-body interconnection mechanism utilizes elastomeric polymers instead of a rigid body. Hence, it is capable of deforming under extreme loads without damage. This thesis presents the work completed towards the realization of a soft-body interconnection mechanism. The functional requirements of the soft-body mechanism were broken down into two separate modules for extension and capture. An initial simulation demonstrated the inability of using a simulated model made of hypo-elastic materials as a basis for design. Hence, an iterative design process was used to develop an initial extension and capture soft-body mechanisms that conformed to the desired performance parameters. An empirical study which varied multiple structural parameters was then completed with the initial extension and capture soft-body mechanisms as a basis for the modified designs. The data from the study was correlated with measured performance data with resulted in diagrams useful for the optimal design of soft-body extension and capture mechanisms. The use of the diagrams for design was demonstrated in the design and development of a soft-body interconnection mechanism for an in-house designed small hard shell modular robot system.
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Pajon, Adrien. "Humanoid robots walking with soft soles." Thesis, Montpellier, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017MONTS060/document.
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Lorsque des changements inattendus de la surface du sol se produisent lors de la marche, le système nerveux central humain doit appliquer des mesures de contrôle appropriées pour assurer une stabilité dynamique. De nombreuses études dans le domaine de la commande moteur ont étudié les mécanismes d'un tel contrôle postural et ont largement décrit comment les trajectoires du centre de masse (COM), le placement des pas et l'activité musculaire s'adaptent pour éviter une perte d'équilibre. Les mesures que nous avons effectuées montrent qu'en arrivant sur un sol mou, les participants ont modulé de façon active les forces de réaction au sol (GRF) sous le pied de support afin d'exploiter les propriétés élastiques et déformables de la surface pour amortir l'impact et probablement dissiper l'énergie mécanique accumulée pendant la ‘chute’ sur la nouvelle surface déformable. Afin de contrôler plus efficacement l'interaction pieds-sol des robots humanoïdes pendant la marche, nous proposons d'ajouter des semelles extérieures souples (c'est-à-dire déformables) aux pieds. Elles absorbent les impacts et limitent les effets des irrégularités du sol pendant le mouvement sur des terrains accidentés. Cependant, ils introduisent des degrés de liberté passifs (déformations sous les pieds) qui complexifient les tâches d'estimation de l'état du robot et ainsi que sa stabilisation globale. Pour résoudre ce problème, nous avons conçu un nouveau générateur de modèle de marche (WPG) basé sur une minimisation de la consommation d'énergie qui génère les paramètres nécessaires pour utiliser conjointement un estimateur de déformation basé sur un modèle éléments finis (FEM) de la semelle souple pour prendre en compte sa déformation lors du mouvement. Un tel modèle FEM est coûteux en temps de calcul et empêche la réactivité en ligne. Par conséquent, nous avons développé une boucle de contrôle qui stabilise les robots humanoïdes lors de la marche avec des semelles souples sur terrain plat et irrégulier. Notre contrôleur en boucle fermée minimise les erreurs sur le centre de masse (COM) et le point de moment nul (ZMP) avec un contrôle en admittance des pieds basé sur un estimateur de déformation simplifié. Nous démontrons son efficacité expérimentalement en faisant marcher le robot humanoïde HRP-4 sur des graviersWhen unexpected changes of the ground surface occur while walking, the human central nervous system needs to apply appropriate control actions to assure dynamic stability. Many studies in the motor control field have investigated the mechanisms of such a postural control and have widely described how center of mass (COM) trajectories, step patterns and muscle activity adapt to avoid loss of balance. Measurements we conducted show that when stepping over a soft ground, participants actively modulated the ground reaction forces (GRF) under the supporting foot in order to exploit the elastic and compliant properties of the surface to dampen the impact and to likely dissipate the mechanical energy accumulated during the ‘fall’ onto the new compliant surface.In order to control more efficiently the feet-ground interaction of humanoid robots during walking, we propose adding outer soft (i.e. compliant) soles to the feet. They absorb impacts and cast ground unevenness during locomotion on rough terrains. However, they introduce passive degrees of freedom (deformations under the feet) that complexify the tasks of state estimation and overall robot stabilization. To address this problem, we devised a new walking pattern generator (WPG) based on a minimization of the energy consumption that offers the necessary parameters to be used jointly with a sole deformation estimator based on finite element model (FEM) of the soft sole to take into account the sole deformation during the motion. Such FEM computation is time costly and inhibit online reactivity. Hence, we developed a control loop that stabilizes humanoid robots when walking with soft soles on flat and uneven terrain. Our closed-loop controller minimizes the errors on the center of mass (COM) and the zero-moment point (ZMP) with an admittance control of the feet based on a simple deformation estimator. We demonstrate its effectiveness in real experiments on the HRP-4 humanoid walking on gravels
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Marchese, Andrew D. (Andrew Dominic). "Design, fabrication, and control of soft robots with fluidic elastomer actuators." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/97807.
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Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2015.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 223-236).
The goal of this thesis is to explore how autonomous robotic systems can be created with soft elastomer bodies powered by fluids. In this thesis we innovate in the design, fabrication, control, and experimental validation of both single and multi-segment soft fluidic elastomer robots. First, this thesis describes an autonomous fluidic elastomer robot that is both self-contained and capable of rapid, continuum body motion. Specifically, the design, modeling, fabrication, and control of a soft fish is detailed, focusing on enabling the robot to perform rapid escape responses. The robot employs a compliant body with embedded actuators emulating the slender anatomical form of a fish. In addition, the robot has a novel fluidic actuation system that drives body motion and has all the subsystems of a traditional robot on-board: power, actuation, processing, and control. At the core of the fish's soft body is an array of Fluidic Elastomer Actuators (FEAs). The fish is designed to emulate escape responses in addition to forward swimming because such maneuvers require rapid body accelerations and continuum body motion. These maneuvers showcase the performance capabilities of this self-contained robot. The kinematics and controllability of the robot during simulated escape response maneuvers are analyzed and compared to studies on biological fish. During escape responses, the soft-bodied robot is shown to have similar input-output relationships to those observed in biological fish. The major implication of this portion of the thesis is that a soft fluidic elastomer robot is shown to be both self-contained and capable of rapid body motion. Next, this thesis provides an approach to planar manipulation using soft fluidic elastomer robots. That is, novel approaches to design, fabrication, kinematic modeling, power, control, and planning as well as extensive experimental evaluations with multiple manipulator prototypes are presented. More specifically, three viable manipulator morphologies composed entirely from soft silicone rubber are explored, and these morphologies are differentiated by their actuator structures, namely: ribbed, cylindrical, and pleated. Additionally, three distinct casting-based fabrication processes are explored: lamination-based casting, retractable-pin-based casting, and lost-wax- based casting. Furthermore, two ways of fabricating a multiple DOF manipulator are explored: casting the complete manipulator as a whole, and casting single DOF segments with subsequent concatenation. An approach to closed-loop configuration control is presented using a piecewise constant curvature kinematic model, real-time localization data, and novel fluidic drive cylinders which power actuation. Multi-segment forward and inverse kinematic algorithms are developed and combined with the configuration controller to provide reliable task-space position control. Building on these developments, a suite of task-space planners are presented to demonstrate new autonomous capabilities from these soft robots such as: (i) tracking a path in free-space, (ii) maneuvering in confined environments, and (iii) grasping and placing objects. Extensive evaluations of these capabilities with physical prototypes demonstrate that manipulation with soft fluidic elastomer robots is viable. Lastly, this thesis presents a robotic manipulation system capable of autonomously positioning a multi-segment soft fluidic elastomer robot in three dimensions while subject to the self-loading effects of gravity. Specifically, an extremely soft robotic manipulator morphology that is composed entirely from low durometer elastomer, powered by pressurized air, and designed to be both modular and durable is presented. To understand the deformation of a single arm segment, a static physics-based model is developed and experimentally validated. Then, to kinematically model the multi-segment manipulator, a piece-wise constant curvature assumption consistent with more traditional continuum manipulators is used. Additionally, a complete fabrication process for this new manipulator is defined and used to make multiple functional prototypes. In order to power the robot's spatial actuation, a high capacity fluidic drive cylinder array is implemented, providing continuously variable, closed-circuit gas delivery. Next, using real-time localization data, a processing and control algorithm is developed that generates realizable kinematic curvature trajectories and controls the manipulator's configuration along these trajectories. A dynamic model for this multi-body fluidic elastomer manipulator is also developed along with a strategy for independently identifying all unknown components of the system: the soft manipulator, its distributed fluidic elastomer actuators, as well as its drive cylinders. Next, using this model and trajectory optimization techniques locally-optimal, open-loop control policies are found. Lastly, new capabilities offered by this soft fluidic elastomer manipulation system are validated with extensive physical experiments. These are: (i) entering and advancing through confined three-dimensional environments, (ii) conforming to goal shape-configurations within a sagittal plane under closed-loop control, and (iii) performing dynamic maneuvers we call grabs.
by Andrew D. Marchese.
Ph. D.
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Dotson, Zachary S. "Material selection for the actuator design for a biomimetic rolling robot conducive to miniaturization /." Online version of thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1850/10658.
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Lum, Guo Zhan. "Optimal Design of Miniature Flexural and Soft Robotic Mechanisms." Research Showcase @ CMU, 2017. http://repository.cmu.edu/dissertations/1090.
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Compliant mechanisms are flexible structures that utilize elastic deformation to achieve their desired motions. Using this unique mode of actuation, the compliant mechanisms have two distinct advantages over traditional rigid machines: (1) They can create highly repeatable motions that are critical for many high precision applications. (2) Their high degrees-of-freedom motions have the potential to achieve mechanical functionalities that are beyond traditional machines, making them especially appealing for miniature robots that are currently limited to only having simple rigid-body-motions and gripping functionalities. Unfortunately, despite the potential of compliant mechanisms, there are still several key challenges that restrict them from realizing their full potential. To facilitate this discussion, we first divide the compliant mechanisms into two categories: (1) the stiffer flexural mechanisms that are ideal for high precision applications, and (2) the more compliant miniature soft robots that can reshape their geometries to achieve highly complex mechanical functionalities. The key limitation for existing flexural mechanisms is that their stiffness and dynamic properties cannot be optimized when they have multi-degrees-of-freedom. This limitation has severely crippled the performance of flexural mechanisms because their stiffness and dynamic properties dictate their workspace, transient responses and capabilities to reject disturbances. On the other hand, miniature soft robots that have overall dimensions smaller than 1 cm, are unable to achieve their full potential because existing works do not have a systematic approach to determine the required design and control signals for the robots to generate their desired time-varying shapes.
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Yang, Hee Doo. "Design, Manufacturing, and Control of Soft and Soft/Rigid Hybrid Pneumatic Robotic Systems." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/100635.
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Soft robotic systems have recently been considered as a new approach that is in principle better suited for tasks where safety and adaptability are important. That is because soft materials are inherently compliant and resilient in the event of collisions. They are also lightweight and can be low-cost; in general, soft robots have the potential to achieve many tasks that were not previously possible with traditional robotic systems.
In this paper, we propose a new manufacturing process for creating multi-chambered pneumatic actuators and robots. We focus on using fabric as the primary structural material, but plastic films can be used instead of textiles as well. We introduce two different methods to create layered bellows actuators, which can be made with a heat press machine or in an oven. We also describe origami-like actuators with possible corner structures. Moreover, the fabrication process permits the creation of soft and soft/rigid hybrid robotic systems, and enables the easy integration of sensors into these robots. We analyze various textiles that are possibly used with this method, and model bellows actuators including operating force, restoring force, and estimated geometry with multiple bellows. We then demonstrate the process by showing a bellows actuator with an embedded sensor and other fabricated structures and robots.
We next present a new design of a multi-DOF soft/rigid hybrid robotic manipulator. It contains a revolute actuator and several roll-pitch actuators which are arranged in series. To control the manipulator, we use a new variant of the piece-wise constant curvature (PCC) model. The robot can be controlled using forward and inverse kinematics with embedded inertial measurement units (IMUs). A bellows actuator, which is a subcomponent of the manipulator, is modeled with a variable-stiffness spring, and we use the model to predict the behavior of the actuator. With the model, the roll-pitch actuator stiffnesses are measured in all directions through applying forces and torques. The stiffness is used to predict the behavior of the end effector. The robotic system introduced achieved errors of less than 5% when compared to the models, and positioning accuracies of better than 1cm.Doctor of Philosophy
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Shaheen, Robert. "Design and Material Characterization of a Hyperelastic Tubular Soft Composite." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/36117.
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Research within the field of human motion assistive device development, with the purpose of reducing the metabolic cost of daily activities, is seeing the benefits of the exclusive use of passive actuators to store and release energy during the gait cycle. Designs of novel exoskeletons at the University of Ottawa implement the Pneumatic Artificial Muscle (PAM) as the primary method of nonlinear, passive actuation. The PAM is proven as a superior actuator for these devices when compared to the linear mechanical springs used by other researchers. There are, however, challenges regarding PAM pressure loss and the limitation of PAM elongation that have been identified.
This thesis aims to develop a hyperelastic tubular soft composite that replicates the distinctive mechanical behaviour of the PAM without the need for internal pressurization. The final soft composite solution was achieved by impregnating a prefabricated polyethylene terephthalate braided sleeve, held at a high initial fibre angle, with a silicone prepolymer. A comprehensive experimental evaluation was performed on numerous prototypes for a variety of customizable design parameters including: initial fibre angle, silicone stiffness, and braided sleeve style. Moreover, two separate analytical models were formulated based on incompressible finite elasticity theory using either a structural model of Holzapfel’s type, or a phenomenological model of Fung’s type. Both models were in good agreement with the experimental data that were collected through a modified extension-inflation test.
This research has successfully developed, tested, and validated an innovative soft composite that can achieve specific mechanical properties, such as contraction distance and nonlinear stiffness, for optimal use in human motion assistive devices.
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Sakai, Satoru. "Design and Evaluation of a Heavy Material Handling Manipulator for Agricultural Robots." Kyoto University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/149010.
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Kyoto University (京都大学)0048
新制・課程博士
博士(農学)
甲第10287号
農博第1359号
新制||農||870(附属図書館)
学位論文||H15||N3808(農学部図書室)
UT51-2003-H708
京都大学大学院農学研究科地域環境科学専攻
(主査)教授 梅田 幹雄, 教授 笈田 昭, 助教授 大須賀 公一
学位規則第4条第1項該当
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Bodily, Daniel Mark. "Design Optimization and Motion Planning For Pneumatically-Actuated Manipulators." BYU ScholarsArchive, 2017. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6289.
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Soft robotic systems are becoming increasingly popular as they are generally safer, lighter, and easier to manufacture than their more rigid, traditional counterparts. These advantages allow an increased sense of freedom in both the design and operation of these platforms. In this work, we seek methods of leveraging this freedom to both design and plan motions for two different serial-chain, pneumatically actuated manipulators developed by Pneubotics, a small startup company based in San Francisco. In doing so, we focus primarily on two related endeavors: (1) the optimal kinematic design of these and other similar robots (i.e., choosing link lengths, base positioning, etc.), and (2) the planning of smooth paths in joint space that enable these robots to perform useful tasks. Our method of design optimization employs a genetic algorithm in combination with maximin multi-objective optimization techniques to efficiently generate a diverse set of Pareto optimal designs. This set represents the optimal region of the design space and highlights inherent tradeoffs that designers must make when choosing a particular set of design parameters for manufacture. In our work, we have chosen to optimize inflatable robots to be both dexterous, and to be able to support loads near the ground with limited deflection. We have also applied our framework to optimize a plastic manipulator to perform painting motions. In our approach to motion planning we simultaneously optimize the base position and joint motions of a robot in order to enable its end effector to follow a smooth desired trajectory. While this method of path planning generalizes to any kind of robot, we envision it to be especially applicable to soft robots and other mobile robots that can be quickly and easily repositioned to perform tasks in varying environments. Our method of path planning works by moving a set of virtual robot arms (each representing a single configuration in a sequence) branching from a common base, to a number of assigned target poses associated with a task. Additional goals and hard constraints (including joint limits) are naturally incorporated. The optimization problem at the core of this method is a quadratic program, allowing constrained high-dimensional problems to be solved in very little time. We demonstrate our method by planning and performing painting motion on two different systems. We also demonstrate in simulation how our planner could be used to perform several common tasks including those involving, pick-and-place, wiping and wrapping motions.
Books on the topic "Soft robots material and design"
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Fukuda, Kenjiro, Ryuma Niiyama, Koichi Suzumori, and Kohei Nakajima. Science of Soft Robots: Design, Materials and Information Processing. Springer, 2023.
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Soft Robots for Healthcare Applications: Design, Modelling, and Control. Institution of Engineering & Technology, 2017.
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Xie, S., M. Zhang, and W. Meng. Soft Robots for Healthcare Applications: Design, modelling, and control. Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1049/pbhe014e.
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Allison, Diana. Estimating and Costing for Interior Designers. 2nd ed. Bloomsbury Publishing Inc, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781501361081.
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Math is an essential component of the interior design profession. Estimating and Costing for Interior Designers, Second Edition, teaches readers a logical process for calculating materials and estimating the costs of installed products based on their math calculations. Fully updated and revised, this book utilizes step-by-step examples and worksheets to simplify the math used in the interior design field. Sample problems and exercises take the calculations of quantities needed one step further to actually applying material and labor costs, in order to discover the installed costs of the specified products. Exercises are provided in introductory, intermediate, and advanced levels for all types of interior designers. Clear sections cover wall and ceiling treatments, window treatments, soft fabrications, upholstery, flooring, and cabinetry and countertops, making this book applicable to both commercial and residential design projects. New to This Edition -Key pedagogical features including: learning objectives, key terms, chapter summaries, imperial and metric units, professional tips, and glossary. -Student STUDIO materials including: calculation worksheets, schedules/cost worksheets, practice examples, and flashcards. -Robust Instructor Resources including: a revised instructor’s guide, test questions, additional practice exercises and answers, PowerPoints lecture slides, and Excel worksheets.
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Borgatti, Matthew, and Kari Love. Soft Robotics: A DIY Introduction to Squishy, Stretchy, and Flexible Robots. Maker Media, Inc, 2018.
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Ishiguro, Akio, and Takuya Umedachi. From slime molds to soft deformable robots. Oxford University Press, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199674923.003.0040.
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An autonomous decentralized control mechanism, where the coordination of simple individual components yields non-trivial macroscopic behavior or functionalities, is a key to understanding how animals orchestrate the large degrees of freedom of their bodies in response to different situations. However, a systematic design methodology is still missing. To alleviate this problem, we focus, in this chapter, on the plasmodium of a true slime mold (Physarum polycephalum), which is a primitive multinucleate single-cell organism. Despite its primitiveness, and lacking a brain and nervous system, the plasmodium exhibits surprisingly adaptive and versatile behavior (e.g. taxis, exploration). This ability has undoubtedly been honed by evolutionary selection pressure, and there likely exists an ingenious mechanism that underlies the animals’ adaptive behavior. We successfully extracted a design scheme for decentralized control and implemented it in an amoeboid robot with many degrees of freedom. The experimental results showed that adaptive behaviors emerge even in the absence of any centralized control architecture.
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Aleksendric, Dragan, and Pierpaolo Carlone. Soft Computing in Design and Manufacturing of Composite Material: Applications to Brake Friction and Thermoset Matrix Composites. Elsevier Science & Technology, 2015.
Find full textBook chapters on the topic "Soft robots material and design"
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Venkatesa Prabu, D., B. Meenaskhi Priya, and E. B. Priyanka. "Design Fabrication and Control of Soft Robotic Gripper for Material Handling." In Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering, 913–25. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-9809-8_65.
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Ming, Aiguo, and Wenjing Zhao. "Design of Biomimetic Soft Underwater Robots." In Mechatronic Futures, 91–111. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32156-1_7.
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Raatz, Annika, Sebastian Blankemeyer, Gundula Runge, Christopher Bruns, and Gunnar Borchert. "Opportunities and Challenges for the Design of Inherently Safe Robots." In Soft Robotics, 173–83. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44506-8_15.
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Burgner-Kahrs, Jessica. "Task-specific Design of Tubular Continuum Robots for Surgical Applications." In Soft Robotics, 222–30. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44506-8_19.
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Van Damme, M., R. Van Ham, B. Vanderborght, F. Daerden, and D. Lefeber. "Design of a “Soft” 2-DOF Planar Pneumatic Manipulator." In Climbing and Walking Robots, 559–66. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/3-540-26415-9_67.
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Grube, Malte, and Robert Seifried. "An Optical Curvature Sensor for Soft Robots." In ROMANSY 24 - Robot Design, Dynamics and Control, 125–32. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06409-8_13.
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Michaud, François. "Adaptability by Behavior Selection and Observation for Mobile Robots." In Soft Computing in Engineering Design and Manufacturing, 363–70. London: Springer London, 1998. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0427-8_40.
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Grassi, Giulia, Bjorn Sparrman, Ingrid Paoletti, and Skylar Tibbits. "4D Soft Material Systems." In Proceedings of the 2021 DigitalFUTURES, 201–10. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5983-6_19.
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AbstractThis work introduces multi-material liquid printing as an enabling technology for designing programmed shape-shifting silicones. The goal of this research is to provide a readily available, scalable and customized approach at producing responsive 4D printed structures for a wide range of applications. Hence, the methodology allows customization at each step of the procedure by intervening either on the material composition and/or on the design and fabrication strategies for the production of responsive components. A significant endeavour is initiated to develop and engineer two different material systems that enable shape-shifting: silicone-ethanol composites and polyvinyl siloxane swelling rubbers. The printed samples successfully comply with the expected swelling behaviour through a variety of printed test patterns.
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Zhai, Gangjun, Liyan Zhao, Weimin Ma, and Xi Wang. "Design and Achievement on Building Material Virtual Demonstrate Experiment." In Advances in Intelligent and Soft Computing, 377–82. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28466-3_51.
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Huang, Wuxin, Shili Tan, and Xiang He. "Design of Vision System Based on Varying Lighting Condition for Multi-robots." In Advances in Intelligent and Soft Computing, 351–56. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27329-2_48.
Full textConference papers on the topic "Soft robots material and design"
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Cohen, Eliad, Vishesh Vikas, Barry Trimmer, and Stephen McCarthy. "Design Methodologies for Soft-Material Robots Through Additive Manufacturing, From Prototyping to Locomotion." In ASME 2015 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/detc2015-47507.
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Soft material robots have gained interest in recent years due to the mechanical potential of non-rigid materials and technological development in the additive manufacturing (3D printing) techniques. The incorporation of soft materials provides robots with potential for locomotion in unstructured environments due to the conformability and deformability properties of the structure. Current additive manufacturing techniques allow multimaterial printing which can be utilized to build soft bodied robots with rigid-material inclusions/features in a single process, single batch (low manufacturing volumes) thus saving on both design prototype time and need for complex tools to allow multimaterial manufacturing. However, design and manufacturing of such deformable robots needs to be analyzed and formalized using state of the art tools. This work conceptualizes methodology for motor-tendon actuated soft-bodied robots capable of locomotion. The methodology relies on additive manufacturing as both a prototyping tool and a primary manufacturing tool and is categorized into body design & development, actuation and control design. This methodology is applied to design a soft caterpillar-like biomimetic robot with soft deformable body, motor-tendon actuators which utilizes finite contact points to effect locomotion. The versatility of additive manufacturing is evident in the complex designs that are possible when implementing unique actuation techniques contained in a soft body robot (Modulus discrepancy); For the given motor-tendon actuation, the hard tendons are embedded inside the soft material body which acts as both a structure and an actuator. Furthermore, the modular design of soft/hard component coupling is only possible due to this manufacturing technique and often eliminates the need for joining and fasteners. The multi-materials are also used effectively to manipulate friction by utilizing soft/hard material frictional interaction disparity.
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Aygul, Cem, Joanna Kwiczak-Yigitbasi, Bilge Baytekin, and Onur Ozcan. "Joint Design and Fabrication for Multi-Material Soft/Hybrid Robots." In 2019 2nd IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft). IEEE, 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/robosoft.2019.8722769.
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DeMario, Anthony, and Jianguo Zhao. "A Miniature, 3D-Printed, Walking Robot With Soft Joints." In ASME 2017 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/detc2017-68182.
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Miniature robots have many applications ranging from military surveillance to search and rescue in disaster areas. Nevertheless, the fabrication of such robots has traditionally been labor-intensive and time-consuming. This paper proposes to directly leverage multi-material 3D printing (MM3P) to fabricate centimeter-scale robots by utilizing soft materials to create soft joints in replacement of revolute joints. We demonstrate the capability of MM3P by creating a miniature, four-legged walking robot. Moreover, we establish a numerical method based on the Psuedorigid-Body (PRB) 1R model to predict the motion of the leg mechanism with multiple soft joints. Experimental results verify the proposed numerical method. Meanwhile, a functional walking robot actuated by a single DC motor is demonstrated with a locomotion speed of one body length/sec. The proposed design, fabrication, and analysis for the walking robot can be readily applied to other robots that have mechanisms with soft joints.
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Tian, Jiawei, Xianfeng David Gu, and Shikui Chen. "Multi-Material Topology Optimization of Ferromagnetic Soft Robots Using Reconciled Level Set Method." In ASME 2021 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/detc2021-67821.
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Abstract Ferromagnetic soft materials can generate flexible mobility and changeable configurations under an external magnetic field. They are used in a wide variety of applications, such as soft robots, compliant actuators, flexible electronics, and bionic medical devices. The magnetic field enables fast and biologically safe remote control of the ferromagnetic soft material. The shape changes of ferromagnetic soft elastomers are driven by the ferromagnetic particles embedded in the matrix of a soft elastomer. The external magnetic field induces a magnetic torque on the magnetized soft material, causing it to deform. To achieve the desired motion, the soft active structure can be designed by tailoring the layouts of the ferromagnetic soft elastomers. This paper aims to optimize multi-material ferromagnetic actuators. Multi-material ferromagnetic flexible actuators are optimized for the desired kinematic performance using the reconciled level set method. This type of magnetically driven actuator can carry out more complex shape transformations by introducing ferromagnetic soft materials with more than one magnetization direction. Whereas many soft active actuators exist in the form of thin shells, the newly proposed extended level set method (X-LSM) is employed to perform conformal topology optimization of ferromagnetic soft actuators on the manifolds. The objective function comprises two sub-objective functions, one for the kinematic requirement and the other for minimal compliance. Shape sensitivity analysis is derived using the material time derivative and the adjoint variable method. Three examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework.
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Harris, Hannah, Adia Radecka, Raefa Malik, Roberto Alonso Pineda Guzman, Jeffrey Santoso, Alyssa Bradshaw, Megan McCain, Mariana Kersh, and Holly Golecki. "Development and Characterization of Biostable Hydrogel Robotic Actuators for Implantable Devices: Tendon Actuated Gelatin." In 2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/dmd2022-1049.
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Abstract While the field of medical device design has made tremendous progress in recent decades, implantable devices continue to be plagued by the body’s immune response and fibrosis. The field of soft robotics uses low modulus materials that compliance match surrounding tissues to help address this issue. Traditionally, silicone has been the material of choice for soft robots. Although durable and elastic, implanted silicone often leads to fibrosis. To advance the use of soft robotics in medical devices, new materials must be explored. We hypothesize that protein-based soft robotic actuators hold promise for implantable medical devices by not only matching moduli surrounding tissues but also providing physiologically relevant chemical cues. Biocompatible soft actuators that achieve the functionality of silicone counterparts may promote integration with host cells and support long-term implant safety. Additionally, controlled degradation may hold promise for post-surgical support devices or drug delivery. Here, we develop and characterize crosslinked gelatin (GEL) actuators. The development of biomaterial soft actuators with properties comparable to synthetic analogues expands the applications of soft robotic devices for medical devices and healthcare applications.
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Maeda, Shingo, Yusuke Hara, and Shuji Hashimoto. "Chemical robots -design of active soft materials." In 2011 4th International Conference on Human System Interactions (HSI). IEEE, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/hsi.2011.5937404.
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van Adrichem, Romeo C., and Jovana Jovanova. "Human Acceptance As Part of the Soft Robot Design." In ASME 2021 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/smasis2021-68268.
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Abstract As machines and robots become a increasingly larger part of society, it is important that they are fully accepted. If the machines are not utilized as intended, it is not only a waste of time and energy, but also of valuable resources. This acceptance by humans of robots is based on how well the interaction with robots is trusted. Trust of robots can be based on three approaches: physical safety, operational understanding, and the social aspect of training. It is important to also consider these aspects when designing machines that will interact with humans, since acceptance by the people is key for the correct utilization of the machines. A possible approach to solve the issues around trust are soft robots. These machines are adaptable to a situation by either a physical flexibility or a digital anticipation due to sensing and control. This adaptiveness to humans in different ways makes Soft Robotics easier to accept then regular rigid machines. With their reduced or prevented effect if collided with humans they are safer. Because of the reduced operational complexity and digital simulations they are therefore easier to understand. Training becomes also easier as operator can experience the flexible nature of soft material themselves as well have augmented reality or virtual reality to assist them in training and operating. All these benefits of Soft Robotics will eventually lead to better acceptance of robots and should therefore be taken into account when designing robots to enable a flourishing automatized society.
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Rajendran, Sunil Kumar, and Feitian Zhang. "Learning Based Speed Control of Soft Robotic Fish." In ASME 2018 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/dscc2018-8977.
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Bioinspired robotics takes advantage of biological systems in nature for morphology, action and perception to build advanced robots of compelling performance and wide application. This paper focuses on the design, modeling and control of a bioinspired robotic fish. The design utilizes a recently-developed artificial muscle named super coiled polymer for actuation and a soft material (silicone rubber) for building the robot body. The paper proposes a learning based speed control design approach for bioinspired robotic fish using model-free reinforcement learning. Based on a mathematically tractable dynamic model derived by approximating the robotic fish with a three-link robot, speed control simulation is conducted to demonstrate and validate the control design method. Exampled with a three-link reduced-order dynamic system, the proposed learning based control design approach is applicable to many and various complicated bioinspired robotic systems.
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Satheeshbabu, Sreeshankar, and Girish Krishnan. "Towards a Constraint-Based Design of Soft Mechanisms." In ASME 2016 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/detc2016-59834.
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Soft compliant robots and mechanisms have generated great interest due to their adaptability, and inherently safe operation. However, a systematic synthesis methodology for these devices has always remained elusive owing to complexities in geometry, and nonlinearities in deformation and material properties. This paper builds the groundwork towards a constraint based design (CBD) method for a unique class of soft robotic building blocks known as fluid-filled fiber-reinforced elastomer enclosures (FREEs). First, the constraint behavior of FREEs with varying fiber angles is mapped using an automated mobility analysis framework that is based on matrix-based kinetostatic methods. Specifically, such an analysis seeks to establish the constraint behavior of FREEs as a function of not just the global geometry, but also its local anisotropic material constituents. Then, the paper demonstrates the principle of reconfigurable constraint by combining several FREEs in series in accordance to the rules of constraint-based design. Eventual extension to actuating FREEs will enable a comprehensive synthesis methodology for soft robots.
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Stergiopulos, Constantinos, Daniel Vogt, Michael T. Tolley, Michael Wehner, Jabulani Barber, George M. Whitesides, and Robert J. Wood. "A Soft Combustion-Driven Pump for Soft Robots." In ASME 2014 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/smasis2014-7536.
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This paper describes the design and manufacture of a monolithic high-pressure diaphragm pump made entirely of soft elastomer material and driven by a combustion chamber incorporated within the soft pump structure. The pump can deliver pressures up to 60 kPa and can reach output flows up to 40 ml/min. Methane (CH4) combustion is used as the actuation source. The pump uses two soft flap-structured check valves for directing the flow. Pumping pressure and frequency dependence were measured and analyzed. Results show that controlled and repeatable combustion of methane is possible without damaging the soft structure. Experimentally, 6–10% methane is identified as the ideal air-fuel ratio for combustion. With continuous delivery of reactants, a 1 Hz pumping frequency was achieved. The volume of the combustion chamber and the material stiffness are identified to be major determinants of the stroke volume.