No abstract

In the area of Robotics, the gripper plays a very important role as it is required to hold and place the object at the desired location. The requirements of gripper in terms of load capacity, and flexibility to adapt to the form of the object with tactile sensing capability which suit the strength of the object are necessary. Extensive research work is under way in the design of soft gripper or dexterous hand. An exhaustive survey of all such grippers conveys the idea of higher and higher sophistication with innumerable components and elaborate controls with programmable ability has been the outcome of research. Flexible micro actuators (FMA) proposed by earlier researchers are having two or more internal chambers and the internal pressure of each are controlled independently through flexible tubes which are connected to pressure control valves. The proposed actuator has a single internal chamber and is simple, compact and easy to manufacture. In this paper, a flexible microactuator (FMA) driven by a pneumatic/ hydraulic system with single internal chamber has been developed for robotic soft gripper. By proper selection and manufacturing of the asymmetric tube flexible actuator with reinforcement, a versatile dexterous hand can be fabricated which is suited for dynamic application closely approximating to the human hand. The present work has paved the way for extensive research on this innovative technique as it holds out the true potential for innumerable and very interesting application in various areas such as micro robots, pipeline inspection robots, underwater robots and walking robots..

Robotic surgical tools used in minimally invasive surgeries (MIS) require miniaturized and reliable actuators for precise positioning and control of the end-effector. Miniature pneumatic artificial muscles (MPAMs) are a good choice due to their inert nature, high force to weight ratio, and fast actuation. In this paper, we present the development of miniaturized braided pneumatic muscles with an outer diameter of ∼1.2 mm, a high contraction ratio of about 18%, and capable of providing a pull force in excess of 4 N at a supply pressure of 0.8 MPa. We present the details of the developed experimental setup, experimental data on contraction and force as a function of applied pressure, and characterization of the MPAM. We also present a simple kinematics and experimental data based model of the braided pneumatic muscle and show that the model predicts contraction in length to within 20% of the measured value. Finally, a robust controller for the MPAMs is developed and validated with experiments and it is shown that the MPAMs have a time constant of ∼10 ms thereby making them suitable for actuating endoscopic and robotic surgical tools.

In the area of biorobotics, intense research work is being done based on plant intelligence. Any living cell continuously receives information from the environment. In this paper, research is conducted on the plant named descoingsii x haworthioides (Pepe) obtaining the action potential signals and its responses to stimulations of different light modes. The plant electrical signal is the reaction of plant's stimulation owing to various environmental conditions. Action potentials are responsible for signaling between plant cells and communication from the plants can be achieved through modulation of various parameters of the electrical signal in the plant tissue. The modulated signals are used for providing information to the microcontroller's algorithm for working of the bio-machine. The changes of frequency of action potentials in plant are studied. Electromyography (EMG) electrodes and needletype conductive electrodes along with electronic modules are used to collect and transform the information from the plant. Inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) is used to convert signal in frequency domain into voltage signal for real-time analysis. The changes in frequency of the plant action potentials to different light modes are used for the control of the bio-machine. This work has paved the way for an extensive research towards plant intelligence.

In the area of biorobotics, intense research work is being done based on plant intelligence. Any living cell continuously receives information from the environment. In this paper, research is conducted on the plant named descoingsii x haworthioides (Pepe) obtaining the action potential signals and its responses to stimulations of different light modes. The plant electrical signal is the reaction of plant's stimulation owing to various environmental conditions. Action potentials are responsible for signaling between plant cells and communication from the plants can be achieved through modulation of various parameters of the electrical signal in the plant tissue. The modulated signals are used for providing information to the microcontroller's algorithm for working of the bio-machine. The changes of frequency of action potentials in plant are studied. Electromyography (EMG) electrodes and needletype conductive electrodes along with electronic modules are used to collect and transform the information from the plant. Inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) is used to convert signal in frequency domain into voltage signal for real-time analysis. The changes in frequency of the plant action potentials to different light modes are used for the control of the bio-machine. This work has paved the way for an extensive research towards plant intelligence.