A soft gripper of fast speed and low energy consumption

Wang, Yuzhe; Gupta, Ujjaval; Parulekar, Nachiket; Zhu, Jian

doi:10.1007/s11431-018-9358-2

Cited by 92 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Spanning decades, the research achieved a transition from hard robots with soft actuation to entirely soft systems. These systems were made possible by utilizing various smart and partially soft materials as actuators, such as liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) (Wani et al, 2017 ), shape memory alloys (SMAs) (Kim et al, 2013 ), and polymers (Mather et al, 2009 ; Behl et al, 2013 ; Meng and Li, 2013 ; Besse et al, 2017 ), electroactive polymers (e.g., DEA, Pelrine et al, 2000 ; Wang et al, 2019 , and IPMC, Shahinpoor, 2011 ), and materials with thermal (Behl et al, 2013 ), and humidity responsiveness such as hydrogel (Athas et al, 2016 ). The newest systems are capable not only of soft actuation but also of “soft sensing” by utilizing soft materials such as conductive elastomers or silicones and/or soft and flexible channels filled with liquid metals (e.g., EGaIn, consisting of a mixture of gallium, indium, and tin) forming soft sensors (Kumar et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial Venus Flytraps: A Research Review and Outlook on Their Importance for Novel Bioinspired Materials Systems

2020

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Bioinspired and biomimetic soft machines rely on functions and working principles that have been abstracted from biology but that have evolved over 3.5 billion years. So far, few examples from the huge pool of natural models have been examined and transferred to technical applications. Like living organisms, subsequent generations of soft machines will autonomously respond, sense, and adapt to the environment. Plants as concept generators remain relatively unexplored in biomimetic approaches to robotics and related technologies, despite being able to grow, and continuously adapt in response to environmental stimuli. In this research review, we highlight recent developments in plant-inspired soft machine systems based on movement principles. We focus on inspirations taken from fast active movements in the carnivorous Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) and compare current developments in artificial Venus flytraps with their biological role model. The advantages and disadvantages of current systems are also analyzed and discussed, and a new state-of-the-art autonomous system is derived. Incorporation of the basic structural and functional principles of the Venus flytrap into novel autonomous applications in the field of robotics not only will inspire further plant-inspired biomimetic developments but might also advance contemporary plant-inspired robots, leading to fully autonomous systems utilizing bioinspired working concepts.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial Venus Flytraps: A Research Review and Outlook on Their Importance for Novel Bioinspired Materials Systems

2020

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“…They can be divided into three types by the way of control: dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA), shape memory polymer actuator (SMPA) and pneumatic actuator (PA). Wang et al [6] designed a flexible gripper, which was based on bi-stable DEA. This flexible gripper could achieve good performances in grasping various objects by a simple actuation system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation and Experiment Study on Deformation Characteristics of the Water Hydraulic Flexible Actuator Used for the Underwater Gripper

Nie

Liu

et al. 2020

IEEE Access

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A water hydraulic flexible gripper with three-fingered structure is developed to deal with the problem of poor adaptability for the existing underwater gripper. This gripper driven by water hydraulics can realize flexible grasping and possess simple structure, high pressure-bearing, strong adaptability and capability of anti-jamming to the water environment and easy to control. In particular, the water hydraulic flexible gripper system is an open system in relation to the underwater environment, with the water source being supplied directly by the underwater environment, eliminating the effects of back pressure generated by the underwater environment in comparison with the closed system of other grippers. It is a good solution to solve the problem of poor adaptability for the existing underwater gripper in underwater environment. The flexible actuator model is established to explore the key parameters influencing the deformation characteristics. The effects of different inlet pressure, knuckle length, wall thickness and material of the inner skeleton and external surface on the deformation characteristics of the flexible actuator are investigated through simulation. It is found that, for the flexible actuator, the wall thickness of the inner skeleton is selected as 1 mm and the inner skeleton length is designed with the first knuckle of 30 mm and the second knuckle of 80 mm. Based on the optimal parameters obtained through simulation, the prototype of flexible actuator and flexible gripper are fabricated. Experiment is performed to test the deformation of the flexible actuator under different inlet pressure. It is found that the experiment results are consistent with the simulation results. Both of the experiment and simulation results exhibit that the total deformation of the flexible actuator is proportional to the inlet pressure. The research will lay foundation for the optimal design of flexible actuator used for the underwater gripper driven by water hydraulics.

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“…Other methods that have been developed to achieve high speed include the use of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) [21] [2], and combustion [10] [19]. However, DEA technologies rely on high voltage inputs to actuate and combustion based robots can be unpredictable with respect to direction of travel and repeatability of locomotion [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Stretchable Inductor With Integrated Strain Sensing and Wireless Signal Transfer

Conn

2020

IEEE Sensors J.

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As robotic systems enter an ever expanding spectrum of industries, it is becoming increasingly important that they are built to respond quickly and efficiently to dynamic environments. This paper presents a passive, reflex response (PRR) unit for quick actuation of pneumatic soft robotic systems. The PRR unit consists of a pressure reservoir with a soft one way valve that can be opened by passing a pin through its aperture. The device is mechanically stimulated by the environment, leading to the release of stored pneumatic pressure into the body of a soft robotic system. Prototypes of the PRR unit were characterized with three different valve sizes (6 mm, 9 mm and 11 mm) across a range of reservoir pressures (0.2 bar to 1.2 bar). A pin, attached to a load cell, was then lowered into the valve aperture until it opened. Force and pressure dynamics were recorded, along with the curvature of a pneu-net bending actuator during successive testing of the unit when coupled with a soft structure. For all valve sizes, the force required to open the valve increased proportionally with increasing internal pressure, with a minimum force of 0.98 N and a maximum force of 4.68 N. Time to vent the system decreased with increasing valve size, from 1.30 s to vent the system with the 6 mm aperture at 1.2 bar, to 0.53 s to vent the system with an 11 mm aperture. When integrated with a pneu-net bending actuator, the force required to open the 11 mm aperture increased to 15.82 N when charged to 0.5 bar of internal pressure due to the added force required to push on the constraining layer of the pneu-net. The PRR unit actuated the pneu-net in 0.37 s when charged to 0.5 bar of internal pressure. This demonstrates how reactive soft robotic systems can rapidly respond to mechanical environmental stimuli without the need for high-level control.

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A soft gripper of fast speed and low energy consumption

Cited by 92 publications

References 35 publications

Artificial Venus Flytraps: A Research Review and Outlook on Their Importance for Novel Bioinspired Materials Systems

Artificial Venus Flytraps: A Research Review and Outlook on Their Importance for Novel Bioinspired Materials Systems

Simulation and Experiment Study on Deformation Characteristics of the Water Hydraulic Flexible Actuator Used for the Underwater Gripper

A Stretchable Inductor With Integrated Strain Sensing and Wireless Signal Transfer

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