Bioinspired Soft Robotics: State of the Art, Challenges, and Future Directions

Hammond, Maxwell; Cichella, Venanzio; Lamuta, Caterina

doi:10.1007/s43154-023-00102-2

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 241 publications

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“…Bio-inspired robotics opens up new possibilities for narrowing the gap between synthetic robots and their natural analogues (Hammond et al, 2023). This approach not only advances robotics but also provides biologists with tools to test hypotheses that may be impractical with living specimens, thereby serving as invaluable assets in biomechanical research (Siddall et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repetitive Learning Control for Body Caudal Undulation with Soft Sensory Feedback

Schwab,

El Arayshi,

Rezaei

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Soft bio-inspired robotics is a growing field of research that seeks to close the gap with animal robustness and adaptability where conventional robots fall short. The embedding of sensors with the capability to discriminate between different body deformation modes is a key technological challenge in soft robotics to enhance robot control — a difficult task for such kinds of systems with high degrees of freedom. The recently conceived Linear Repetitive Learning Estimation Scheme (LRLES) — to be included in the traditional Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) control — is proposed here as a way to compensate for uncertain dynamics on a soft swimming robot, which is actuated with soft pneumatic actuators and equipped with soft sensors providing proprioceptive information pertaining to lateral body caudal bending akin to a goniometer. The proposed controller is derived in detail and experimentally validated, with the experiment consisting of tracking a desired trajectory for bending angle while continuously oscillating with a constant frequency. The results are compared vis a vis those achieved with the traditional PID controller, finding that the PID endowed with the LRLES outperforms the PID controller (though the latter has been separately tuned) and experimentally validating the novel controller's effectiveness, accuracy, and matching speed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repetitive Learning Control for Body Caudal Undulation with Soft Sensory Feedback

Schwab,

El Arayshi,

Rezaei

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…With the advent of soft robotics, the reproduction of bioinspired structures has increased enormously, pushing it to an unexpected level compared to the past [10]. The two main drivers of this field of research have been both the availability of soft materials [11], which are easily deformable and inherently safe, and 3D printing, especially fused deposition modeling (FDM) [12], to make molds for injection silicone rubbers and to print actuators [13] directly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seahorse-Tail-Inspired Soft Pneumatic Actuator: Development and Experimental Characterization

Antonelli,

Beomonte Zobel,

Sarwar

et al. 2024

Biomimetics

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The study of bio-inspired structures and their reproduction has always fascinated humans. The advent of soft robotics, thanks to soft materials, has enabled considerable progress in this field. Over the years, polyps, worms, cockroaches, jellyfish, and multiple anthropomorphic structures such as hands or limbs have been reproduced. These structures have often been used for gripping and handling delicate objects or those with complex unknown a priori shapes. Several studies have also been conducted on grippers inspired by the seahorse tail. In this paper, a novel biomimetic soft pneumatic actuator inspired by the tail of the seahorse Hippocampus reidi is presented. The actuator has been developed to make a leg to sustain a multi-legged robot. The prototyping of the actuator was possible by combining a 3D-printed reinforcement in thermoplastic polyurethane, mimicking the skeletal apparatus, within a silicone rubber structure, replicating the functions of the external epithelial tissue. The latter has an internal channel for pneumatic actuation that acts as the inner muscle. The study on the anatomy and kinematic behaviour of the seahorse tail suggested the mechanical design of the actuator. Through a test campaign, the actuator prototype was characterized by isotonic tests with an external null load, isometric tests, and activation/deactivation times. Specifically, the full actuator distension of 154.5 mm occurs at 1.8 bar, exerting a maximum force of 11.9 N, with an activation and deactivation time of 74.9 and 94.5 ms, respectively.

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“…The phrase 'biologically inspired robotics' first appeared in a journal article written by Beer et al in 1997 [2], followed by work by Dickinson et al in 2000 [3] and Ritzmann et al in 2000 [4], where they suggested that robots should have as many characteristics of animals as possible. Mechatronics has frequently drawn inspiration from behavioral, cognitive, and neuroscience research to build systems that are more reactive, efficient, flexible, and adaptable based on biological principles of locomotion and manipulation tasks in natural environments [5]. The study of physical system-environment interactions has become highly prominent in the interdisciplinary fields of embodied cognitive science and artificial intelligence, where biologists and roboticists collaborate to further examine the fundamental mechanisms of adaptivity in biological systems [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bio-inspired design of hard-bodied mobile robots based on arthropod morphologies: a 10 year systematic review and bibliometric analysis

Cornejo,

Sierra-Garcia,

Gomez-Gil

et al. 2024

Bioinspir. Biomim.

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This research presents a 10-year systematic review based on bibliometric analysis of the bio-inspired design of hard-bodied mobile robot mechatronic systems considering the anatomy of arthropods. These are the most diverse group of animals whose flexible biomechanics and adaptable morphology, thus, it can inspire robot development. Papers were reviewed from two international databases (Scopus and Web of Science) and one platform (Aerospace Research Central), then they were classified according to: year of publication (January 2013 to April 2023), arthropod group, published journal, conference proceedings, editorial publisher, research teams, robot classification according to the name of arthropod, limb’s locomotion support, number of legs/arms, number of legs/body segments, limb’s degrees of freedom, mechanical actuation type, modular system, and environment adaptation. During the screening, more than 33000 works were analyzed. Finally, a total of 174 studies (90 journal-type, 84 conference-type) were selected for in-depth study: Insecta - hexapod (53,8%), Arachnida - octopods (20.7%), Crustacea - decapods (16,1%), and Myriapoda – centipedes and millipedes (9,2%). The study reveals that the most active editorials are the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., Springer, MDPI, and Elsevier, while the most influential researchers are located in the USA, China, Singapore, and Japan. Most works pertained to spiders, crabs, caterpillars, cockroaches, and centipedes. We conclude that “arthrobotics” research, which merges arthropods and robotics, is constantly growing and includes a high number of relevant studies with findings that can inspire new methods to design biomechatronic systems.

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Bioinspired Soft Robotics: State of the Art, Challenges, and Future Directions

Cited by 9 publications

References 241 publications

Repetitive Learning Control for Body Caudal Undulation with Soft Sensory Feedback

Repetitive Learning Control for Body Caudal Undulation with Soft Sensory Feedback

Seahorse-Tail-Inspired Soft Pneumatic Actuator: Development and Experimental Characterization

Bio-inspired design of hard-bodied mobile robots based on arthropod morphologies: a 10 year systematic review and bibliometric analysis

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