Template for robust soft-body crawling with reflex-triggered gripping

Continuous models for peristaltic locomotion with application to worms and soft robots

A continuous model for the peristaltic locomotion of compressible and incompressible rod-like bodies is presented. Using Green and Naghdi's theory of a directed rod, incompressibility is enforced as an internal constraint. A discussion on muscle actuation models for a single continuum is included. The resulting theory is demonstrated in a simulation of a soft-robotic device. In addition, a calibration of parameters is performed and the incompressible rod is validated against a biomimetic model of earthworm locomotion.

STABILITY PERFORMANCE OF INFLATABLE TUBE IMITATING CLANIS BILINEATA LARVA UNDER AXIAL PRESSURE

The body wall structure of Clanis bilineata larva exhibits strong stability. This characteristic prompted the development of a new inflatable tube to improve the stability under axial pressure. The C. bilineata larva was chosen to observe the connection between its body wall and nearby muscle tissues, as well as the distribution of these tissues, by using the tissue section technique. Using this method, an inflatable tube with reinforcing ribs was designed. Simulation using the finite element method and experimentation were employed to compare and analyze the stability of the inflatable tube with and without reinforcing ribs under different axial pressure levels. Results indicate that the ultimate load of both inflatable tubes increases linearly with increasing pressure. The difference between the slopes of the two lines is small. Under different axial pressure levels, the ultimate load of the inflatable tube with reinforcing ribs is about 1.34[Formula: see text]N higher than that without reinforcing ribs; the ultimate compression power increased by 31% to 68% compared with that without ribs. The simulation results are slightly larger than the experimental results, but the ultimate load value in the simulation exhibits the same trend as that in the experiment. Finally, the limit load and ultimate compression power are used as evaluation criteria to quantitatively analyze the stability performance of an inflatable tube with reinforcing ribs under axial pressure.

Fundamentals of soft robot locomotion

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.