Pub Date : 2018-04-24DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404894
Morgan T. Gillespie, Charles M. Best, Eric C. Townsend, D. Wingate, Marc D. Killpack
Soft robots have the potential to significantly change the way that robots interact with the environment and with humans. However, accurately modeling soft robot dynamics in order to do model-based control is extremely time consuming and difficult. neural networks are a powerful tool for modeling systems with complex dynamics such as an inflatable robot link with antagonistic pneumatic actuation. Unfortunately it is also difficult to apply standard model-based control techniques using a neural net. In this work, we show that the gradients used within a neural net to relate system states and inputs to outputs can be used to formulate a linearized discrete state space representation of the system. Using the state space representation, model predictive control can be developed with a one degree of freedom soft robot to achieve position control within 2° of the commanded joint angle. Additionally, control using the model derived from the neural net has similar performance to control using a model derived from first principles that took significantly longer to develop. This shows the potential of combining empirical modeling approaches with model-based control for soft robots.
{"title":"Learning nonlinear dynamic models of soft robots for model predictive control with neural networks","authors":"Morgan T. Gillespie, Charles M. Best, Eric C. Townsend, D. Wingate, Marc D. Killpack","doi":"10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404894","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404894","url":null,"abstract":"Soft robots have the potential to significantly change the way that robots interact with the environment and with humans. However, accurately modeling soft robot dynamics in order to do model-based control is extremely time consuming and difficult. neural networks are a powerful tool for modeling systems with complex dynamics such as an inflatable robot link with antagonistic pneumatic actuation. Unfortunately it is also difficult to apply standard model-based control techniques using a neural net. In this work, we show that the gradients used within a neural net to relate system states and inputs to outputs can be used to formulate a linearized discrete state space representation of the system. Using the state space representation, model predictive control can be developed with a one degree of freedom soft robot to achieve position control within 2° of the commanded joint angle. Additionally, control using the model derived from the neural net has similar performance to control using a model derived from first principles that took significantly longer to develop. This shows the potential of combining empirical modeling approaches with model-based control for soft robots.","PeriodicalId":306255,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130359080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-24DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8405364
Matthew A. Robertson, J. Paik
Recently developed soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) powered by negative pressure have demonstrated great potential in the future of soft robotics for their high strength, intrinsic safety, low weight, and often simple design. The majority of these limited examples have only provided linear force and motion profiles, however, despite the general prevalence of bending actuators common to positive pressure powered SPAs. The benefits of such bending type SPAs follow from the direct production of moment and angular motion that are highly desirable for diverse robotic applications and activities, which allows more simple design of soft robots with complex motion behavior. Following this motivation, a new vacuum powered bending actuator is developed here as an extension of a previously presented vacuum powered actuator, the V-SPA, which features simple, lightweight material construction and rapid fabrication. Leveraging these attributes, an empirical study of a new Coil V-SPA performance is conducted across a spectrum of eight actuator prototypes. The force, speed, and stiffness of the actuators are characterized, and a generalized design metric, the Geometric Compression Ratio (GCR), is defined to quantify the relationship between physical geometric parameters of Coil V-SPAs. Finally, the results of testing reveal the new low-inertia actuator is capable of high-speed, and high-bandwidth motion, up to 0.97 m/s and 1.59 Hz, respectively.
{"title":"Low-inertia vacuum-powered soft pneumatic actuator coil characterization and design methodology","authors":"Matthew A. Robertson, J. Paik","doi":"10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8405364","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8405364","url":null,"abstract":"Recently developed soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) powered by negative pressure have demonstrated great potential in the future of soft robotics for their high strength, intrinsic safety, low weight, and often simple design. The majority of these limited examples have only provided linear force and motion profiles, however, despite the general prevalence of bending actuators common to positive pressure powered SPAs. The benefits of such bending type SPAs follow from the direct production of moment and angular motion that are highly desirable for diverse robotic applications and activities, which allows more simple design of soft robots with complex motion behavior. Following this motivation, a new vacuum powered bending actuator is developed here as an extension of a previously presented vacuum powered actuator, the V-SPA, which features simple, lightweight material construction and rapid fabrication. Leveraging these attributes, an empirical study of a new Coil V-SPA performance is conducted across a spectrum of eight actuator prototypes. The force, speed, and stiffness of the actuators are characterized, and a generalized design metric, the Geometric Compression Ratio (GCR), is defined to quantify the relationship between physical geometric parameters of Coil V-SPAs. Finally, the results of testing reveal the new low-inertia actuator is capable of high-speed, and high-bandwidth motion, up to 0.97 m/s and 1.59 Hz, respectively.","PeriodicalId":306255,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)","volume":"216 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114849849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-24DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404919
Taigo Yukisawa, Satoshi Nishikawa, Ryuma Niiyama, Y. Kawahara, Y. Kuniyoshi
We propose an extensible pneumatic continuum arm that elongates to perform reaching movements and object grasping, and is suspended on the ceiling to prevent interference with human workers in a desktop workspace. The selected actuators with bellows aim to enhance the arm motion capabilities. A single actuator can provide a maximum tension force of 150 N, and the proposed arm has a three-segment structure with a bundle of three actuators per segment. We measured the three-dimensional motion at the arm tip by using an optical motion-capture system. The corresponding results show that the arm can grasp objects with approximate radius of 80 mm and reach any point on the desktop. Furthermore, the maximum elongation ratio is 180%, with length varying between 0.75 m and 2.1 m. Experiments verified that the arm can grasp objects of various sizes and shapes. Moreover, we demonstrate the vertical transportation of objects taking advantage of the arm extensibility. We expect to apply the proposed arm for tasks such as grasping objects, illuminating desktops, and physically interacting with users.
{"title":"Ceiling continuum arm with extensible pneumatic actuators for desktop workspace","authors":"Taigo Yukisawa, Satoshi Nishikawa, Ryuma Niiyama, Y. Kawahara, Y. Kuniyoshi","doi":"10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404919","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404919","url":null,"abstract":"We propose an extensible pneumatic continuum arm that elongates to perform reaching movements and object grasping, and is suspended on the ceiling to prevent interference with human workers in a desktop workspace. The selected actuators with bellows aim to enhance the arm motion capabilities. A single actuator can provide a maximum tension force of 150 N, and the proposed arm has a three-segment structure with a bundle of three actuators per segment. We measured the three-dimensional motion at the arm tip by using an optical motion-capture system. The corresponding results show that the arm can grasp objects with approximate radius of 80 mm and reach any point on the desktop. Furthermore, the maximum elongation ratio is 180%, with length varying between 0.75 m and 2.1 m. Experiments verified that the arm can grasp objects of various sizes and shapes. Moreover, we demonstrate the vertical transportation of objects taking advantage of the arm extensibility. We expect to apply the proposed arm for tasks such as grasping objects, illuminating desktops, and physically interacting with users.","PeriodicalId":306255,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)","volume":"96 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129519015","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-24DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8405383
Yingtian Li, Yonghua Chen, Yunquan Li
In soft bending gripper design, the concept of passive particle jamming can play an important role in improving certain properties of the gripper. It has been proved that its stiffness could exhibit six-fold change through varying air pressure. However, the integral design of a particle sac has negative effect on grippers' compliance, limiting its broader applications. Since passive particle jamming does not need any dedicated actuation and control, its design into a soft bending actuator allows more variations. This paper proposes a distributed design of passive particle jamming soft gripper, which can increase the bending angle of an integral passive particle jamming gripper from 50° to 76°, while roughly maintaining the gripper's rotational stiffness and maximum pull-out forces. The proposed gripper design is 3D printed using an elastomer material and filled with particles manually. Given the simple design and fabrication process, together with improved grasping compliance, it is expected that this research will stimulate more interest in exploring novel applications of passive particle jamming in soft robot design and development.
{"title":"Distributed design of passive particle jamming based soft grippers","authors":"Yingtian Li, Yonghua Chen, Yunquan Li","doi":"10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8405383","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8405383","url":null,"abstract":"In soft bending gripper design, the concept of passive particle jamming can play an important role in improving certain properties of the gripper. It has been proved that its stiffness could exhibit six-fold change through varying air pressure. However, the integral design of a particle sac has negative effect on grippers' compliance, limiting its broader applications. Since passive particle jamming does not need any dedicated actuation and control, its design into a soft bending actuator allows more variations. This paper proposes a distributed design of passive particle jamming soft gripper, which can increase the bending angle of an integral passive particle jamming gripper from 50° to 76°, while roughly maintaining the gripper's rotational stiffness and maximum pull-out forces. The proposed gripper design is 3D printed using an elastomer material and filled with particles manually. Given the simple design and fabrication process, together with improved grasping compliance, it is expected that this research will stimulate more interest in exploring novel applications of passive particle jamming in soft robot design and development.","PeriodicalId":306255,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)","volume":"286 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124553781","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-24DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404935
O. D. Yirmibeşoğlu, John Morrow, S. Walker, W. Gosrich, Reece Canizares, Hansung Kim, U. Daalkhaijav, Chloë Fleming, C. Branyan, Y. Mengüç
Additive manufacturing has a wide range of applications and addresses many challenges inherited from conventional molding techniques such as human error, multistep fabrication, and manual handling. However, 3D printing soft functional robots with two-part platinum cure silicones requires development to match the material performance of the molded counterparts. In this paper, we present a custom 3D printer and an extrusion mechanism capable of 3D printing soft functional robots. Moreover, we compare the performance differences between our 3D printed soft robots and molded counterparts via lamination casting and lost wax casting. We validate our results by conducting multiple experiments such as blocked force, bend angle, failure pressure, and dimensional quality analyses. We demonstrate that our method enables 3D printing of soft robots that can perform better, or match the performance of molded counterparts while being more reliable and robust with the usage of the same materials.
{"title":"Direct 3D printing of silicone elastomer soft robots and their performance comparison with molded counterparts","authors":"O. D. Yirmibeşoğlu, John Morrow, S. Walker, W. Gosrich, Reece Canizares, Hansung Kim, U. Daalkhaijav, Chloë Fleming, C. Branyan, Y. Mengüç","doi":"10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404935","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404935","url":null,"abstract":"Additive manufacturing has a wide range of applications and addresses many challenges inherited from conventional molding techniques such as human error, multistep fabrication, and manual handling. However, 3D printing soft functional robots with two-part platinum cure silicones requires development to match the material performance of the molded counterparts. In this paper, we present a custom 3D printer and an extrusion mechanism capable of 3D printing soft functional robots. Moreover, we compare the performance differences between our 3D printed soft robots and molded counterparts via lamination casting and lost wax casting. We validate our results by conducting multiple experiments such as blocked force, bend angle, failure pressure, and dimensional quality analyses. We demonstrate that our method enables 3D printing of soft robots that can perform better, or match the performance of molded counterparts while being more reliable and robust with the usage of the same materials.","PeriodicalId":306255,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130835503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-24DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404929
M. Brancadoro, M. Manti, S. Tognarelli, M. Cianchetti
Soft robotics opened a new set of technological challenges in using soft materials to build robots. The ability of change stiffness is among the most important, because it enables the possibility to tune forces exchanged with the environment. Granular and layer jamming transition have already demonstrated to be a promising approach for developing variable stiffness structures, but no studies have been dedicated to specifically fiber jamming so far. In this paper, we report a preliminary comparative study on fiber jamming applied to cylindrical structures. Fibers of different materials have been used as filler and tested under bending conditions. The results show that up to 380% of stiffness increase can be achieved, in line with data collected on similar devices that use granular jamming. The role of the main mechanical and geometrical parameters have been discussed: elastic properties are fundamental, but optimal performance can be achieved only with ordered arrangements of the fibers; geometrical features seem secondary, but surface roughness has an important role in preventing sliding. This is a preliminary study, but it already defines a first set of guidelines that can help and promote future works on the development and integration of the fiber jamming in soft systems.
{"title":"Preliminary experimental study on variable stiffness structures based on fiber jamming for soft robots","authors":"M. Brancadoro, M. Manti, S. Tognarelli, M. Cianchetti","doi":"10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404929","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404929","url":null,"abstract":"Soft robotics opened a new set of technological challenges in using soft materials to build robots. The ability of change stiffness is among the most important, because it enables the possibility to tune forces exchanged with the environment. Granular and layer jamming transition have already demonstrated to be a promising approach for developing variable stiffness structures, but no studies have been dedicated to specifically fiber jamming so far. In this paper, we report a preliminary comparative study on fiber jamming applied to cylindrical structures. Fibers of different materials have been used as filler and tested under bending conditions. The results show that up to 380% of stiffness increase can be achieved, in line with data collected on similar devices that use granular jamming. The role of the main mechanical and geometrical parameters have been discussed: elastic properties are fundamental, but optimal performance can be achieved only with ordered arrangements of the fibers; geometrical features seem secondary, but surface roughness has an important role in preventing sliding. This is a preliminary study, but it already defines a first set of guidelines that can help and promote future works on the development and integration of the fiber jamming in soft systems.","PeriodicalId":306255,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129922802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-24DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404925
M. Totaro, L. Beccai
Soft tactile sensors are core components for enabling soft robots perception. Their performance can be tuned shaping the electromechanical characteristics of their materials and structure at the microscale. In this work, the behavior of soft capacitive pressure sensors, based on porous dielectric material, is studied by means of 2D FEM simulations. In particular, from the mechanical point of view, it is shown how the apparent Young's modulus decreases with increasing porosity. Then, the variation of initial capacitance and the output characteristics with different level of porosity is discussed, showing that the sensitivity in the simulated structure can improve remarkably, with a tenfold increase for porosity around 30%. Deviations from empirical or simplified analytical expression found in the literature are shown and discussed.
{"title":"Electromechanical behavior of soft porous capacitive sensors","authors":"M. Totaro, L. Beccai","doi":"10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404925","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404925","url":null,"abstract":"Soft tactile sensors are core components for enabling soft robots perception. Their performance can be tuned shaping the electromechanical characteristics of their materials and structure at the microscale. In this work, the behavior of soft capacitive pressure sensors, based on porous dielectric material, is studied by means of 2D FEM simulations. In particular, from the mechanical point of view, it is shown how the apparent Young's modulus decreases with increasing porosity. Then, the variation of initial capacitance and the output characteristics with different level of porosity is discussed, showing that the sensitivity in the simulated structure can improve remarkably, with a tenfold increase for porosity around 30%. Deviations from empirical or simplified analytical expression found in the literature are shown and discussed.","PeriodicalId":306255,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)","volume":"100 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126884114","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-24DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404945
Luca Scimeca, P. Maiolino, F. Iida
Sensor morphology is a fundamental aspect of tactile sensing technology. Design choices induce stimuli to be morphologically processed, changing the sensory perception of the touched objects and affecting inference at a later processing stage. We develop a framework to analyze the filtered sensor response and observe the correspondent change in tactile information. We test the morphological processing effects on the tactile stimuli by integrating a capacitive tactile sensor into a flat end-effector and creating three soft silicon-based filters with varying thickness (3mm, 6mm and 10mm). We incorporate the end-effector onto a robotic arm. We control the arm in order to apply a calibrated force onto 4 objects, and retrieve tactile images. We create an unsupervised inference process through the use of Principal Component Analysis and K-Means Clustering. We use the process to group the sensed objects into 2 classes and observe how different soft filters affect the clustering results. The sensor response with the 3mm soft filter allows for edges to be the feature with most variance (captured by PC A) and induces the association of edged objects. With thicker soft filters the associations change, and with a 10mm filter the sensor response results more diverse for objects with different elongation. We show that the clustering is intrinsically driven by the morphology of the sensor and that the robot's world understanding changes according to it.
{"title":"Soft morphological processing of tactile stimuli for autonomous category formation","authors":"Luca Scimeca, P. Maiolino, F. Iida","doi":"10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404945","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404945","url":null,"abstract":"Sensor morphology is a fundamental aspect of tactile sensing technology. Design choices induce stimuli to be morphologically processed, changing the sensory perception of the touched objects and affecting inference at a later processing stage. We develop a framework to analyze the filtered sensor response and observe the correspondent change in tactile information. We test the morphological processing effects on the tactile stimuli by integrating a capacitive tactile sensor into a flat end-effector and creating three soft silicon-based filters with varying thickness (3mm, 6mm and 10mm). We incorporate the end-effector onto a robotic arm. We control the arm in order to apply a calibrated force onto 4 objects, and retrieve tactile images. We create an unsupervised inference process through the use of Principal Component Analysis and K-Means Clustering. We use the process to group the sensed objects into 2 classes and observe how different soft filters affect the clustering results. The sensor response with the 3mm soft filter allows for edges to be the feature with most variance (captured by PC A) and induces the association of edged objects. With thicker soft filters the associations change, and with a 10mm filter the sensor response results more diverse for objects with different elongation. We show that the clustering is intrinsically driven by the morphology of the sensor and that the robot's world understanding changes according to it.","PeriodicalId":306255,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121507511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-24DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8405371
Chaim C. Futran, Steven Ceron, B. M. Murray, R. Shepherd, Kirstin H. Petersen
A key advantage to Fluidic Elastomer Actuators (FEA) is that they permit easy fabrication of robots capable of sophisticated manipulation and mobility. This advantage arises primarily from the continuous stretching and relaxation of elastomeric material that defines an active degree of freedom (DOF), prescribed during the manufacturing process. While the low elastic moduli of the soft material allows for infinite passive DOFs, each active DOF typically requires a valve and/or pump. On-board valving adds weight and size to the robots, and off-board valving requires tubing that imparts resistance to flow and requires higher pressure differentials for reasonable actuation velocities. In contrast to these methods, the work presented here exploits fluidic resistance in poroelastic foam actuators to create a traveling wave using only a single valve and pressure inlet. This concept is evaluated with respect to foam volume and fluid viscosity, and further demonstrated in a three-legged robot capable of millipede-inspired locomotion. The robot is capable of traveling at ∼1.1 mm/s, with individual legs (closest to the inlet) extending 41.28, 27.36, and 12.95 mm. These results represents an important step towards increasingly complex behavior in soft robots that remain simple to fabricate and control.
{"title":"Leveraging fluid resistance in soft robots","authors":"Chaim C. Futran, Steven Ceron, B. M. Murray, R. Shepherd, Kirstin H. Petersen","doi":"10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8405371","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8405371","url":null,"abstract":"A key advantage to Fluidic Elastomer Actuators (FEA) is that they permit easy fabrication of robots capable of sophisticated manipulation and mobility. This advantage arises primarily from the continuous stretching and relaxation of elastomeric material that defines an active degree of freedom (DOF), prescribed during the manufacturing process. While the low elastic moduli of the soft material allows for infinite passive DOFs, each active DOF typically requires a valve and/or pump. On-board valving adds weight and size to the robots, and off-board valving requires tubing that imparts resistance to flow and requires higher pressure differentials for reasonable actuation velocities. In contrast to these methods, the work presented here exploits fluidic resistance in poroelastic foam actuators to create a traveling wave using only a single valve and pressure inlet. This concept is evaluated with respect to foam volume and fluid viscosity, and further demonstrated in a three-legged robot capable of millipede-inspired locomotion. The robot is capable of traveling at ∼1.1 mm/s, with individual legs (closest to the inlet) extending 41.28, 27.36, and 12.95 mm. These results represents an important step towards increasingly complex behavior in soft robots that remain simple to fabricate and control.","PeriodicalId":306255,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)","volume":"138 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124362589","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-24DOI: 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404938
Qiyang Wu, Vishesh Pradeep, Xinyu Liu
In this paper, we report a paper-based wall-climbing robot capable of climbing vertical walls of different materials. The robot, made from paper and shape memory alloy (SMA), can be controlled to climb walls under certain combinations of activation patterns of electrostatic adhesion and contraction of the SMA. Electrostatic adhesion is applied using a paper structure with embedded interdigitated electrodes. This structure, fully compatible with the paper-based robot, is able to output strong and reliable adhesion forces (the resultant friction force can be as high as 1.65 N on specific substrates), and can be easily turned on and off using a commercial high-voltage converter. The SMA embedded in the robot is employed to deform the robot body and induce contracting displacements while being activated. The elastic energy stored in the robot body allows it to complete a repeatable actuation cycle by recovering the SMA automatically after its contraction. With above structures, we demonstrate the walking and climbing ability of this robot with a locomotion speed of 1 mm/s. The climbing of a vertical wall along both the vertical and horizontal directions is achieved.
{"title":"A paper-based wall-climbing robot enabled by electrostatic adhesion","authors":"Qiyang Wu, Vishesh Pradeep, Xinyu Liu","doi":"10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404938","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404938","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we report a paper-based wall-climbing robot capable of climbing vertical walls of different materials. The robot, made from paper and shape memory alloy (SMA), can be controlled to climb walls under certain combinations of activation patterns of electrostatic adhesion and contraction of the SMA. Electrostatic adhesion is applied using a paper structure with embedded interdigitated electrodes. This structure, fully compatible with the paper-based robot, is able to output strong and reliable adhesion forces (the resultant friction force can be as high as 1.65 N on specific substrates), and can be easily turned on and off using a commercial high-voltage converter. The SMA embedded in the robot is employed to deform the robot body and induce contracting displacements while being activated. The elastic energy stored in the robot body allows it to complete a repeatable actuation cycle by recovering the SMA automatically after its contraction. With above structures, we demonstrate the walking and climbing ability of this robot with a locomotion speed of 1 mm/s. The climbing of a vertical wall along both the vertical and horizontal directions is achieved.","PeriodicalId":306255,"journal":{"name":"2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)","volume":"58 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133905101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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