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Jain S, Dontu S, Teoh JEM, Valdivia Y Alvarado P. A Multimodal, Reconfigurable Workspace Soft Gripper for Advanced Grasping Tasks. Soft Robot 2022. [PMID: 36346280 DOI: 10.1089/soro.2021.0225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
A new generation of soft functional materials and actuator designs has ushered the development of highly advanced soft grippers as adaptive alternatives to traditional rigid end-effectors for grasping and manipulation applications. While being advantageous over their rigid counterparts, soft gripper capabilities such as contact effort are mostly a consequence of the gripper workspace, which in turn is largely constrained by the gripper design. Moreover, soft grippers designed for highly specific grasping tasks such as scooping grains or wide payloads are usually limited in grasping other payload types or in their manipulation versatility. This article describes a reconfigurable workspace soft (RWS) gripper that exploits compliant structures and pneumatic actuators to reconfigure its workspace to suit a wide range of grasping tasks. To achieve desired kinematics, finite element analysis (FEA) studies are conducted to dictate actuator design and materials used. Various grasping modes and their reconfiguration of the gripper workspace are presented and characterized, including the gripper's capability to reliably scoop granular items with radii as small as 1.5 mm, precisely pick items as thin as 300 μm from flat surfaces, as well as grasp large convex, nonconvex, and deformable items as heavy as 1.4 kg. The RWS gripper can modify and increase its grasping workspace volume by 397%, enabling the widest range of grasping capabilities to date achieved by a single soft gripper.
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Affiliation(s)
- Snehal Jain
- Digital Manufacturing and Design (DManD) Centre, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Saikrishna Dontu
- Engineering Product Development (EPD) Pillar, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Joanne Ee Mei Teoh
- Digital Manufacturing and Design (DManD) Centre, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Pablo Valdivia Y Alvarado
- Digital Manufacturing and Design (DManD) Centre, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore, Singapore.,Engineering Product Development (EPD) Pillar, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore, Singapore
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Calais T, Sanandiya ND, Jain S, Kanhere EV, Kumar S, Yeow RCH, Valdivia Y Alvarado P. Freeform Liquid 3D Printing of Soft Functional Components for Soft Robotics. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2022; 14:2301-2315. [PMID: 34962370 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c20209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Freeform liquid three-dimensional printing (FL-3DP) is a promising new additive manufacturing process that uses a yield stress gel as a temporary support, enabling the processing of a broader class of inks into complex geometries, including those with low viscosities or long solidification kinetics that were previously not processable. However, the full exploitation of these advantages for the fabrication of complex multilateral structures has been hindered by difficulties in controlling the interfaces between inks and supports. In this work, an in-depth study of the rheological properties and interfacial stabilities between a nanoclay-modified support and silicone-based inks enabled a better understanding of the impact printing parameters have on the extruded filament morphology, and thus on printing resolutions. With these improvements, the fabrication of functional multimaterial pneumatic components applied to soft robotics could be demonstrated, exhibiting superior capabilities compared to casting or traditional extrusion-based additive manufacturing in terms of geometric freedom (overhanging and multimaterial structures), tunability of the component's functionality, and robustness between different phases. Overall, the full exploitation of FL-3DP advantages enables a broader design space for features and functionalities in soft robotic components that require complex and robust combinations of materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Théo Calais
- Digital Manufacturing and Design (DManD) Centre, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 8 Somapah Road, 487372 Singapore
| | - Naresh D Sanandiya
- Digital Manufacturing and Design (DManD) Centre, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 8 Somapah Road, 487372 Singapore
| | - Snehal Jain
- Digital Manufacturing and Design (DManD) Centre, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 8 Somapah Road, 487372 Singapore
| | - Elgar V Kanhere
- Digital Manufacturing and Design (DManD) Centre, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 8 Somapah Road, 487372 Singapore
| | - Siddharth Kumar
- Engineering and Product Development Pillar, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 8 Somapah Road, 487372 Singapore
| | - Raye Chen-Hua Yeow
- Depatment of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117583 Singapore
| | - Pablo Valdivia Y Alvarado
- Digital Manufacturing and Design (DManD) Centre, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 8 Somapah Road, 487372 Singapore
- Engineering and Product Development Pillar, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 8 Somapah Road, 487372 Singapore
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Abstract
In contrast to conventional hard actuators, soft actuators offer many vivid advantages, such as improved flexibility, adaptability, and reconfigurability, which are intrinsic to living systems. These properties make them particularly promising for different applications, including soft electronics, surgery, drug delivery, artificial organs, or prosthesis. The additional degree of freedom for soft actuatoric devices can be provided through the use of intelligent materials, which are able to change their structure, macroscopic properties, and shape under the influence of external signals. The use of such intelligent materials allows a substantial reduction of a device's size, which enables a number of applications that cannot be realized by externally powered systems. This review aims to provide an overview of the properties of intelligent synthetic and living/natural materials used for the fabrication of soft robotic devices. We discuss basic physical/chemical properties of the main kinds of materials (elastomers, gels, shape memory polymers and gels, liquid crystalline elastomers, semicrystalline ferroelectric polymers, gels and hydrogels, other swelling polymers, materials with volume change during melting/crystallization, materials with tunable mechanical properties, and living and naturally derived materials), how they are related to actuation and soft robotic application, and effects of micro/macro structures on shape transformation, fabrication methods, and we highlight selected applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Indra Apsite
- Faculty of Engineering Science, Department of Biofabrication, University of Bayreuth, Ludwig Thoma Str. 36A, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Sahar Salehi
- Department of Biomaterials, Center of Energy Technology und Materials Science, University of Bayreuth, Prof.-Rüdiger-Bormann-Straße 1, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Leonid Ionov
- Faculty of Engineering Science, Department of Biofabrication, University of Bayreuth, Ludwig Thoma Str. 36A, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany.,Bavarian Polymer Institute, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
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Li S, Fan Y, Liu Y, Niu S, Han Z, Ren L. Smart Bionic Surfaces with Switchable Wettability and Applications. JOURNAL OF BIONIC ENGINEERING 2021; 18:473-500. [PMID: 34131422 PMCID: PMC8193597 DOI: 10.1007/s42235-021-0038-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In order to satisfy the needs of different applications and more complex intelligent devices, smart control of surface wettability will be necessary and desirable, which gradually become a hot spot and focus in the field of interface wetting. Herein, we review interfacial wetting states related to switchable wettability on superwettable materials, including several classical wetting models and liquid adhesive behaviors based on the surface of natural creatures with special wettability. This review mainly focuses on the recent developments of the smart surfaces with switchable wettability and the corresponding regulatory mechanisms under external stimuli, which is mainly governed by the transformation of surface chemical composition and geometrical structures. Among that, various external stimuli such as physical stimulation (temperature, light, electric, magnetic, mechanical stress), chemical stimulation (pH, ion, solvent) and dual or multi-triggered stimulation have been sought out to realize the regulation of surface wettability. Moreover, we also summarize the applications of smart surfaces in different fields, such as oil/water separation, programmable transportation, anti-biofouling, detection and delivery, smart soft robotic etc. Furthermore, current limitations and future perspective in the development of smart wetting surfaces are also given. This review aims to offer deep insights into the recent developments and responsive mechanisms in smart biomimetic surfaces with switchable wettability under external various stimuli, so as to provide a guidance for the design of smart surfaces and expand the scope of both fundamental research and practical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuyi Li
- Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun, 130022 China
| | - Yuyan Fan
- Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun, 130022 China
| | - Yan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun, 130022 China
| | - Shichao Niu
- Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun, 130022 China
| | - Zhiwu Han
- Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun, 130022 China
| | - Luquan Ren
- Key Laboratory of Bionic Engineering (Ministry of Education), Jilin University, Changchun, 130022 China
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Stalin T, Jain S, Thanigaivel NK, Teoh JEM, Raj PMA, Alvarado PVY. Automated Fiber Embedding for Soft Mechatronic Components. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2021. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2021.3067244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Aracri S, Giorgio-Serchi F, Suaria G, Sayed ME, Nemitz MP, Mahon S, Stokes AA. Soft Robots for Ocean Exploration and Offshore Operations: A Perspective. Soft Robot 2021; 8:625-639. [PMID: 33450174 PMCID: PMC8713554 DOI: 10.1089/soro.2020.0011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The ocean and human activities related to the sea are under increasing pressure
due to climate change, widespread pollution, and growth of the offshore energy
sector. Data, in under-sampled regions of the ocean and in the offshore patches
where the industrial expansion is taking place, are fundamental to manage
successfully a sustainable development and to mitigate climate change. Existing
technology cannot cope with the vast and harsh environments that need monitoring
and sampling the most. The limiting factors are, among others, the spatial
scales of the physical domain, the high pressure, and the strong hydrodynamic
perturbations, which require vehicles with a combination of persistent autonomy,
augmented efficiency, extreme robustness, and advanced control. In light of the
most recent developments in soft robotics technologies, we propose that the use
of soft robots may aid in addressing the challenges posed by abyssal and
wave-dominated environments. Nevertheless, soft robots also allow for fast and
low-cost manufacturing, presenting a new potential problem: marine pollution
from ubiquitous soft sampling devices. In this study, the technological and
scientific gaps are widely discussed, as they represent the driving factors for
the development of soft robotics. Offshore industry supports increasing energy
demand and the employment of robots on marine assets is growing. Such expansion
needs to be sustained by the knowledge of the oceanic environment, where large
remote areas are yet to be explored and adequately sampled. We offer our
perspective on the development of sustainable soft systems, indicating the
characteristics of the existing soft robots that promote underwater
maneuverability, locomotion, and sampling. This perspective encourages an
interdisciplinary approach to the design of aquatic soft robots and invites a
discussion about the industrial and oceanographic needs that call for their
application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Aracri
- Scottish Microelectronics Centre, Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Francesco Giorgio-Serchi
- Scottish Microelectronics Centre, Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Giuseppe Suaria
- Institute of Marine Sciences-National Research Council (ISMAR-CNR), La Spezia, Italy
| | - Mohammed E Sayed
- Scottish Microelectronics Centre, Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Markus P Nemitz
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.,Robotics Engineering Program, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Stephen Mahon
- Scottish Microelectronics Centre, Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Adam A Stokes
- Scottish Microelectronics Centre, Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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