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Mendoza MJ, Cancán S, Surichaqui S, Centeno E, Vilchez R, Bertoldi K, Vela EA. Versatile vacuum-powered artificial muscles through replaceable external reinforcements. Front Robot AI 2024; 10:1289074. [PMID: 38239276 PMCID: PMC10794473 DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2023.1289074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Soft pneumatic artificial muscles are a well actuation scheme in soft robotics due to its key features for robotic machines being safe, lightweight, and conformable. In this work, we present a versatile vacuum-powered artificial muscle (VPAM) with manually tunable output motion. We developed an artificial muscle that consists of a stack of air chambers that can use replaceable external reinforcements. Different modes of operation are achieved by assembling different reinforcements that constrain the output motion of the actuator during actuation. We designed replaceable external reinforcements to produce single motions such as twisting, bending, shearing and rotary. We then conducted a deformation and lifting force characterization for these motions. We demonstrated sophisticated motions and reusability of the artificial muscle in two soft machines with different modes of locomotion. Our results show that our VPAM is reusable and versatile producing a variety and sophisticated output motions if needed. This key feature specially benefits unpredicted workspaces that require a soft actuator that can be adjusted for other tasks. Our scheme has the potential to offer new strategies for locomotion in machines for underwater or terrestrial operation, and wearable devices with different modes of operation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mijaíl Jaén Mendoza
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia - UTEC, Lima, Peru
| | - Sergio Cancán
- Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia - UTEC, Lima, Peru
| | - Steve Surichaqui
- Department of Bioengineering, Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia - UTEC, Lima, Peru
| | - Esteban Centeno
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia - UTEC, Lima, Peru
- Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia - UTEC, Lima, Peru
| | - Ricardo Vilchez
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia - UTEC, Lima, Peru
| | - Katia Bertoldi
- J. A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Emir A. Vela
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia - UTEC, Lima, Peru
- Research Center in Bioengineering, Universidad de Ingenieria y Tecnologia - UTEC, Lima, Peru
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Joe S, Bliah O, Magdassi S, Beccai L. Jointless Bioinspired Soft Robotics by Harnessing Micro and Macroporosity. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2023; 10:e2302080. [PMID: 37323121 PMCID: PMC10427402 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202302080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Although natural continuum structures, such as the boneless elephant trunk, provide inspiration for new versatile grippers, highly deformable, jointless, and multidimensional actuation has still not been achieved. The challenging pivotal requisites are to avoid sudden changes in stiffness, combined with the capability of providing reliable large deformations in different directions. This research addresses these two challenges by harnessing porosity at two levels: material and design. Based on the extraordinary extensibility and compressibility of volumetrically tessellated structures with microporous elastic polymer walls, monolithic soft actuators are fabricated by 3D printing unique polymerizable emulsions. The resulting monolithic pneumatic actuators are printed in a single process and are capable of bidirectional movements with just one actuation source. The proposed approach is demonstrated by two proof-of-concepts: a three-fingered gripper, and the first ever soft continuum actuator that encodes biaxial motion and bidirectional bending. The results open up new design paradigms for continuum soft robots with bioinspired behavior based on reliable and robust multidimensional motions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seonggun Joe
- Soft BioRobotics PerceptionIstituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)Genova16163Italy
| | - Ouriel Bliah
- Casali Center for Applied ChemistryInstitute of ChemistryCenter for Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Hebrew University of JerusalemJerusalem9190401Israel
| | - Shlomo Magdassi
- Singapore‐HUJ Alliance for Research and Enterprise (SHARE)Smart Grippers for Soft Robotics (SGSR)Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE)Singapore138602Singapore
| | - Lucia Beccai
- Soft BioRobotics PerceptionIstituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)Genova16163Italy
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Elsamanty M, Hassaan MA, Orban M, Guo K, Yang H, Abdrabbo S, Selmy M. Soft Pneumatic Muscles: Revolutionizing Human Assistive Devices with Geometric Design and Intelligent Control. MICROMACHINES 2023; 14:1431. [PMID: 37512742 PMCID: PMC10383850 DOI: 10.3390/mi14071431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Revised: 07/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
Soft robotics, a recent advancement in robotics systems, distinguishes itself by utilizing soft and flexible materials like silicon rubber, prioritizing safety during human interaction, and excelling in handling complex or delicate objects. Soft pneumatic actuators, a prevalent type of soft robot, are the focus of this paper. A new geometrical parameter for soft artificial pneumatic muscles is introduced, enabling the prediction of actuation behavior using analytical models based on specific design parameters. The study investigated the impact of the chamber pitch parameter and actuation conditions on the deformation direction and internal stress of three tested soft pneumatic muscle (SPM) models. Simulation involved the modeling of hyperelastic materials using finite element analysis. Additionally, an artificial neural network (ANN) was employed to predict pressure values in three chambers at desired Cartesian positions. The trained ANN model demonstrated exceptional performance. It achieved high accuracy with training, validation, and testing residuals of 99.58%, 99.89%, and 99.79%, respectively. During the validation simulations and neural network results, the maximum errors in the x, y, and z coordinates were found to be 9.3%, 7.83%, and 8.8%, respectively. These results highlight the successful performance and efficacy of the trained ANN model in accurately predicting pressure values for the desired positions in the soft pneumatic muscles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahmoud Elsamanty
- Mechanical Department, Faculty of Engineering at Shoubra, Benha University, Cairo 11672, Egypt
- Mechatronics and Robotics Department, School of Innovative Design Engineering, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, Alexandria 21934, Egypt
| | - Mohamed A Hassaan
- Mechanical Department, Faculty of Engineering at Shoubra, Benha University, Cairo 11672, Egypt
| | - Mostafa Orban
- Mechanical Department, Faculty of Engineering at Shoubra, Benha University, Cairo 11672, Egypt
- School of Biomedical Engineering (Suzhou), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
- Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215163, China
| | - Kai Guo
- School of Biomedical Engineering (Suzhou), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
- Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215163, China
| | - Hongbo Yang
- School of Biomedical Engineering (Suzhou), Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
- Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215163, China
| | - Saber Abdrabbo
- Mechanical Department, Faculty of Engineering at Shoubra, Benha University, Cairo 11672, Egypt
| | - Mohamed Selmy
- Electrical Department, Faculty of Engineering at Shoubra, Benha University, Cairo 11672, Egypt
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Singh K, Gupta S. Controlled actuation, adhesion, and stiffness in soft robots: A review. J INTELL ROBOT SYST 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10846-022-01754-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Design, Development and Experimental Assessment of a Cost-Effective Bellow Pneumatic Actuator. ACTUATORS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/act11060170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Soft pneumatic actuators offer great advantages compared to rigid ones, particularly due to their compliant nature, which allows them to adapt to uncertainties in the environment. As such, they enable human-safe interactions and are often applied to various applications, such as for example, soft grippers or wearable devices for human motion assistance. The presented research describes the process of design, development and finally control of two cost-effective bellow pneumatic actuators. The properties of the developed devices are experimentally assessed by performing three different types of experiments. In a first instance, the testing of blocking force was performed, followed by experimental assessment of velocity-displacement characteristics, and finally, the dynamical properties for sinusoidally forced motion were examined. It was shown that the actuator can provide over 100 N force and assure a contraction ratio over 40% of its full length, with maximum velocity exceeding 60 mm/s. Experimental responses to a sinusoidally forced motion allowed establishing that no significant change due to the fatigue, creep and relaxation occur in material properties. Finally, the positioning performances of both developed devices were assessed by employing PID and LQR controllers which allowed their precise position control with fast responses and steady-state errors within the 0.2 mm margin. The performed research gives some insights into the future development of the pneumatically driven mechatronics systems used for position control.
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Abstract
In this overview of recent developments in the field of biorobotics we cover the developments in materials such as the use of polyester fabric being used as artificial skin and the start of whole new ways to actuate artificial muscles as a whole. In this, we discuss all of the relevant innovations from the fields of nano and microtechnology, as well as in the field of soft robotics to summarize what has been over the last 4 years and what could be improved for artificial muscles in the future. The goal of this paper will be to gain a better understanding of where the current field of biorobotics is at and what its current trends in manufacturing and its techniques are within the last several years.
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