scholarly journals Actuation Technologies for Soft Robot Grippers and Manipulators: A Review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shadab Zaidi ◽  
Martina Maselli ◽  
Cecilia Laschi ◽  
Matteo Cianchetti
Keyword(s):  
Effective Interaction ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Soft Robot ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Technology Utilization ◽  
Intended Application ◽  
Pneumatic Actuation ◽  
Area Of Study

Abstract Purpose of Review The new paradigm of soft robotics has been widely developed in the international robotics community. These robots being soft can be used in applications where delicate yet effective interaction is necessary. Soft grippers and manipulators are important, and their actuation is a fundamental area of study. The main purpose of this work is to provide readers with fast references to actuation technologies for soft robotic grippers in relation to their intended application. Recent Findings The authors have surveyed recent findings on actuation technologies for soft grippers. They presented six major kinds of technologies which are either used independently for actuation or in combination, e.g., pneumatic actuation combined with electro-adhesion, for certain applications. Summary A review on the latest actuation technologies for soft grippers and manipulators is presented. Readers will get a guide on the various methods of technology utilization based on the application.

scholarly journals Advanced soft robot modeling in ChainQueen

Robotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Andrew Spielberg ◽  
Tao Du ◽  
Yuanming Hu ◽  
Daniela Rus ◽  
Wojciech Matusik
Keyword(s):  
Application Programming Interface ◽  
Material Point ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Soft Robot ◽  
Inference Control ◽  
Simulation And Optimization ◽  
Efficient Simulation ◽  
Application Programming ◽  
Robot Modeling ◽  
Programming Interface

Abstract We present extensions to ChainQueen, an open source, fully differentiable material point method simulator for soft robotics. Previous work established ChainQueen as a powerful tool for inference, control, and co-design for soft robotics. We detail enhancements to ChainQueen, allowing for more efficient simulation and optimization and expressive co-optimization over material properties and geometric parameters. We package our simulator extensions in an easy-to-use, modular application programming interface (API) with predefined observation models, controllers, actuators, optimizers, and geometric processing tools, making it simple to prototype complex experiments in 50 lines or fewer. We demonstrate the power of our simulator extensions in over nine simulated experiments.

scholarly journals Soft Robotics: Light-Driven Soft Robot Mimics Caterpillar Locomotion in Natural Scale (Advanced Optical Materials 11/2016)

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
pp. 1902-1902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikołaj Rogóż ◽  
Hao Zeng ◽  
Chen Xuan ◽  
Diederik Sybolt Wiersma ◽  
Piotr Wasylczyk
Keyword(s):  
Optical Materials ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Soft Robot ◽  
Natural Scale

scholarly journals Fundamentals of soft robot locomotion

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (130) ◽  
pp. 20170101 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Calisti ◽  
G. Picardi ◽  
C. Laschi
Keyword(s):  
Deformable Body ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Soft Robot ◽  
Robot Interaction ◽  
Reference Guide ◽  
Robot Locomotion ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Research Stage ◽  
Soft Manipulation

Soft robotics and its related technologies enable robot abilities in several robotics domains including, but not exclusively related to, manipulation, manufacturing, human–robot interaction and locomotion. Although field applications have emerged for soft manipulation and human–robot interaction, mobile soft robots appear to remain in the research stage, involving the somehow conflictual goals of having a deformable body and exerting forces on the environment to achieve locomotion. This paper aims to provide a reference guide for researchers approaching mobile soft robotics, to describe the underlying principles of soft robot locomotion with its pros and cons, and to envisage applications and further developments for mobile soft robotics.

scholarly journals Additive Manufacturing for Soft Robotics: Design and Fabrication of Airtight, Monolithic Bending PneuNets with Embedded Air Connectors

Micromachines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianni Stano ◽  
Luca Arleo ◽  
Gianluca Percoco
Keyword(s):  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Wall Thickness ◽  
Chamber Wall ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Soft Robot ◽  
Soft Robots ◽  
Bending Performance ◽  
3D Print ◽  
Air Tightness ◽  
The Relationship

Air tightness is a challenging task for 3D-printed components, especially for fused filament fabrication (FFF), due to inherent issues, related to the layer-by-layer fabrication method. On the other hand, the capability of 3D print airtight cavities with complex shapes is very attractive for several emerging research fields, such as soft robotics. The present paper proposes a repeatable methodology to 3D print airtight soft actuators with embedded air connectors. The FFF process has been optimized to manufacture monolithic bending PneuNets (MBPs), an emerging class of soft robots. FFF has several advantages in soft robot fabrication: (i) it is a fully automated process which does not require manual tasks as for molding, (ii) it is one of the most ubiquitous and inexpensive (FFF 3D printers costs < $200) 3D-printing technologies, and (iii) more materials can be used in the same printing cycle which allows embedding of several elements in the soft robot body. Using commercial soft filaments and a dual-extruder 3D printer, at first, a novel air connector which can be easily embedded in each soft robot, made via FFF technology with a single printing cycle, has been fabricated and tested. This new embedded air connector (EAC) prevents air leaks at the interface between pneumatic pipe and soft robot and replaces the commercial air connections, often origin of leakages in soft robots. A subsequent experimental study using four different shapes of MBPs, each equipped with EAC, showed the way in which different design configurations can affect bending performance. By focusing on the best performing shape, among the tested ones, the authors studied the relationship between bending performance and air tightness, proving how the Design for Additive Manufacturing approach is essential for advanced applications involving FFF. In particular, the relationship between chamber wall thickness and printing parameters has been analyzed, the thickness of the walls has been studied from 1.6 to 1 mm while maintaining air tightness and improving the bending angle by 76.7% under a pressure of 4 bar. It emerged that the main printing parameter affecting chamber wall air tightness is the line width that, in conjunction with the wall thickness, can ensure air tightness of the soft actuator body.

scholarly journals Comparison of Different Technologies for Soft Robotics Grippers

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 3253
Author(s):  
Silvia Terrile ◽  
Miguel Argüelles ◽  
Antonio Barrientos
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Geometrical Properties ◽  
Pneumatic Actuation ◽  
Specific Item ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Soft Objects ◽  
Electromechanical Actuation

Soft grippers have experienced a growing interest due to their considerable flexibility that allows them to grasp a variety of objects, in contrast to hard grippers, which are designed for a specific item. One of their most remarkable characteristics is the ability to manipulate soft objects without damaging them. This, together with their wide range of applications and the use of novels materials and technologies, renders them a very robust device. In this paper, we present a comparison of different technologies for soft robotics grippers. We fabricated and tested four grippers. Two use pneumatic actuation (the gripper with chambered fingers and the jamming gripper), while the other two employ electromechanical actuation (the tendon driver gripper and the gripper with passive structure). For the experiments, a group of twelve objects with different mechanical and geometrical properties have been selected. Furthermore, we analyzed the effect of the environmental conditions on the grippers, by testing each object in three different environments: normal, humid, and dusty. The aim of this comparative study is to show the different performances of different grippers tested under the same conditions. Our findings indicate that we can highlight that the mechanical gripper with a passive structure shows greater robustness.

scholarly journals Dual-gradient enabled ultrafast biomimetic snapping of hydrogel materials

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. eaav7174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenxin Fan ◽  
Caiyun Shan ◽  
Hongyu Guo ◽  
Jianwei Sang ◽  
Rui Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Elastic Energy ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Design Principle ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Medical Implants ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Dual Gradient

The design of materials that can mimic the complex yet fast actuation phenomena in nature is important but challenging. Herein, we present a new paradigm for designing responsive hydrogel sheets that can exhibit ultrafast inverse snapping deformation. Dual-gradient structures of hydrogel sheets enable the accumulation of elastic energy in hydrogels by converting prestored energy and rapid reverse snapping (<1 s) to release the energy. By controlling the magnitude and location of energy prestored within the hydrogels, the snapping of hydrogel sheets can be programmed to achieve different structures and actuation behaviors. We have developed theoretical model to elucidate the crucial role of dual gradients and predict the snapping motion of various hydrogel materials. This new design principle provides guidance for fabricating actuation materials with applications in tissue engineering, soft robotics, and active medical implants.

Adaptive visual servoing control for an underwater soft robot

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 669-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Xu ◽  
Hesheng Wang ◽  
Weidong Chen ◽  
Jingchuan Wang
Keyword(s):  
System Dynamics ◽  
Visual Servoing ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Soft Robot ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Soft Robots ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Underwater Environment ◽  
Close Loop Control ◽  
Visual Servoing Control

PurposeSoft robotics, regarded as a new research branch of robotics, has generated increasing interests in this decade and has demonstrated its outperformance in addressing safety issues when cooperating with human beings. However, there is still lack of accurate close-loop control because of the difficulty in acquiring feedback information and accurately modeling the system, especially in interactive environments. To this end, this paper aims to improve the controllability of the soft robot working in specific underwater environment. The system dynamics, which takes complicated hydrodynamics into account, is solved using Kane’s method. The dynamics-based adaptive visual servoing controller is proposed to realize accurate sensorimotor control.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents an image-based visual servoing control scheme for a cable-driven soft robot with a fixed camera observing the motions. The intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of the camera can be adapted online so that tedious camera calibration work can be eliminated. It is acknowledged that kinematics-based control can be only applied into tasks in the free space and has limitation in accelerating the motion speed of robot arms. That is, one must consider the unneglectable interaction effects generated from the environment and objectives when operating soft robots in such interactive control tasks. To extend the application of soft robots into underwater environment, the study models system dynamics considering complicated hydrodynamic effects. With the pre-knowledge of the external effects, the performance of the robot can be further improved by adding the compensation term into the controller.FindingsThe proposed controller has theoretically proved its convergence of image error, adaptive estimation error and the stability of the dynamical system based on Lyapunov’s analysis. The authors also validate the performance of the controller in positioning control task in an underwater environment. The controller shows its capacity of rapid convergence to and accurate tracking performance of a static image target in a physical experiment.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no such research before that has developed dynamics-based visual servoing controller which takes into account the environment interactions. This work can thus improve the control accuracy and enhance the applicability of soft robotics when operating in complicated environments.

Modeling biomechanical interaction between soft tissue and soft robotic instruments: importance of constitutive anisotropic hyperelastic formulations

2020 ◽  
pp. 027836492092747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuele Vignali ◽  
Emanuele Gasparotti ◽  
Katia Capellini ◽  
Benigno Marco Fanni ◽  
Luigi Landini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Properties ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Soft Robot ◽  
Fitting Procedure ◽  
Element Simulation ◽  
Fitting Procedures ◽  
Robotic Instruments ◽  
Contact Pressures

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the western countries. Robotic surgery recently emerged as a confirmed strategy in the cardiovascular field, especially thanks to the improvement of soft robotics. These techniques have demonstrated their potential in terms of speed of execution and precision. In this context, a deeper knowledge of the material properties of the blood vessels is required, especially for computational soft robotics applications. A constitutive model including the contribution of the collagen fibers families is needed to take hyperelasticity and anisotropy into account. For this purpose, four different models are presented: two fiber families with dispersion (2FFD), two fiber families without dispersion (2FF), four fiber families with dispersion (4FFD), and four fiber families without dispersion (4FF). A set of experimental biaxial data obtained from ex-vivo specimens was used to assess the model performances. Two fitting procedures were imposed: a procedure with no weighting of scores and a procedure with a weight set to enhance the model performances in the contact range. A finite element simulation of a contact procedure was developed to evaluate the effect on the contact pressures and forces according to the different model implementations. In particular, a minimally invasive aortic valve positioning process through a previously designed soft robot was simulated. The results confirmed the overall fitting procedure. The adoption of the weighting process for the fitting was successful, as it permitted an accurate prediction in the region of interest through models with less parameters.

scholarly journals On-Board Pneumatic Pressure Generation Methods for Soft Robotics Applications

Actuators ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Momme Adami ◽  
Arthur Seibel
Keyword(s):  
Review Paper ◽  
High Mobility ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Soft Robot ◽  
Pressure Source ◽  
Pneumatic Pressure ◽  
Safety Aspects ◽  
Wearable Robots ◽  
Challenging Tasks ◽  
Working Principle

The design and construction of a soft robot are challenging tasks on their own. When the robot is supposed to operate without a tether, it becomes even more demanding. While a tethered operation is sufficient for a stationary use, it is impractical for wearable robots or performing tasks that demand a high mobility. Choosing and implementing an on-board pneumatic pressure source are particularly complex tasks. There are several different pressure generation methods to choose from, each with very different properties and ways of implementation. This review paper is written with the intention of informing about all pressure generation methods available in the field of soft robotics and providing an overview of the abilities and properties of each method. Nine different methods are described regarding their working principle, pressure generation behavior, energetic considerations, safety aspects, and suitability for soft robotics applications. All presented methods are evaluated in the most important categories for soft robotics pressure sources and compared to each other qualitatively and quantitatively as far as possible. The aim of the results presented is to simplify the choice of a suitable pressure generation method when designing an on-board pressure source for a soft robot.

scholarly journals The Sounds of Softness. Designing Sound for Human-Soft Robot Interaction

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Jørgensen ◽  
Mads Bering Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Human Robot Interaction ◽  
Soft Robotics ◽  
Soft Robot ◽  
Robot Interaction ◽  
Soft Robots ◽  
Creative Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
People’S Perception ◽  
The Aesthetic

In this article, we report on research and creative practice that explores the aesthetic interplay between movement and sound for soft robotics. Our inquiry seeks to interrogate what sound designs might be aesthetically engaging and appropriate for soft robotic movement in a social human-robot interaction setting. We present the design of a soft sound-producing robot, SONŌ, made of pliable and expandable silicone and three sound designs made for this robot. The article comprises an articulation of the underlying design process and results from two empirical interaction experiments (N = 66, N = 60) conducted to evaluate the sound designs. The sound designs did not have statistically significant effects on people’s perception of the social attributes of two different soft robots. Qualitative results, however, indicate that people’s interpretations of the sound designs depend on robot type.

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