Development of a Soft Robotics Module for Active Control of Sitting Comfort

Abstract

Sitting comfort is an important factor for passengers in selecting cars, airlines, etc. This paper proposes a soft robotic module that can be integrated into the seat cushion to provide better comfort experiences to passengers. Building on rapid manufacturing technologies and a data-driven approach, the module can be controlled to sense the applied force and the displacement of the top surface and actuate according to four designed modes. A total of 2 modules were prototyped and integrated into a seat cushion, and 16 subjects were invited to test the module’s effectiveness. Experiments proved the principle by showing significant differences regarding (dis)comfort. It was concluded that the proposed soft robotics module could provide passengers with better comfort experiences by adjusting the pressure distribution of the seat as well as introducing a variation of postures relevant for prolonged sitting.

Design Consideration Investigation of Soft-Valve Pipe

“…Similar to snakes [1], fish [2] and many other creatures, soft robots can realize various bionic movements by their deformation, which enables them to grab complex objects, such as eggs [3,4], light bulbs [5], mushrooms [6] and coral reef [7], and perform many other flexible operations, such as human-machine interaction [8][9][10]. With specialized materials, a soft robot can also accommodate lots of external environments with characteristics such as high pressure [11], high temperature [12] or narrow space [13][14][15].…”