Electrically Activated Soft Robots: Speed Up by Rolling

Li, Wenbo; Wen-ming, Zhang; Gao, Qiu‐Hua; Guo, Qiwei; Wu, Song; Zou, Hong‐Xiang; Meng, Guang

doi:10.1089/soro.2020.0012

Cited by 33 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Inspired by the movements of soft living tissues, hydrogel-based soft actuators that can mimic biological functions have been an active area of research and discussion. − The mechanical actuation of hydrogels is usually achieved by volume change through absorbing and releasing water in and out of their networks in response to external stimuli. Along this line, diverse elegant hydrogel actuators have been created under the control of environmental parameters like pH, − temperature, − light, − electric field, − ions, − and magnetic field. − However, so far, the vast majority of the reported examples are switched between different thermodynamic equilibrium states by sequentially turning on/off the external stimuli, , showing limited autonomous capability. ,, In stark contrast, the actuation of soft living tissues is highly autonomous, which is usually realized by nonequilibrium chemical reaction networks (CRNs) powered by high-energy biomolecules, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). For example, muscles contract by consuming the energy released by the conversion of ATP into adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and spontaneously relax to the original state once ATP is used (Figure a). , Thus, access to autonomous hydrogel actuators powered by chemical fuels, analogous to living tissues, would be extremely advantageous for lifelike soft robotics yet remains a formidable task.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioinspired Self-Resettable Hydrogel Actuators Powered by a Chemical Fuel

Bai

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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The movements of soft living tissues, such as muscle, have sparked a strong interest in the design of hydrogel actuators; however, so far, typical manmade examples still lag behind their biological counterparts, which usually function under nonequilibrium conditions through the consumption of high-energy biomolecules and show highly autonomous behaviors. Here, we report on self-resettable hydrogel actuators that are powered by a chemical fuel and can spontaneously return to their original states over time once the fuels are depleted. Self-resettable actuation originates from a chemical fuel-mediated transient change in the hydrophilicity of the hydrogel networks. The actuation extent and duration can be programmed by the fuel levels, and the self-resettable actuation process is highly recyclable through refueling. Furthermore, various proof-of-concept autonomous soft robots are created, resembling the movements of soft-bodied creatures in nature. This work may serve as a starting point for the development of lifelike soft robots with autonomous behaviors.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioinspired Self-Resettable Hydrogel Actuators Powered by a Chemical Fuel

Bai

et al. 2022

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…Caterpillar locomotion also inspired Li et al, who developed a soft unconnected robot with a dielectric elastomer-based drive that moves at a speed of 100 mm/s [ 31 ]. Li et al also developed a series of robots with actuators based on dielectric elastomers that can move at a speed of 0.65 m/s with a diameter of 106 mm [ 32 ]. Jung-Hwan et al in their review discussed the applications of soft-actuated robots based on dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA).…”

Section: State Of the Art In Soft Roboticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft Robotics: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis

et al. 2023

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In recent years, soft robotics has developed considerably, especially since the year 2018 when it became a hot field among current research topics. The attention that this field receives from researchers and the public is marked by the substantial increase in both the quantity and the quality of scientific publications. In this review, in order to create a relevant and comprehensive picture of this field both quantitatively and qualitatively, the paper approaches two directions. The first direction is centered on a bibliometric analysis focused on the period 2008–2022 with the exact expression that best characterizes this field, which is “Soft Robotics”, and the data were taken from a series of multidisciplinary databases and a specialized journal. The second direction focuses on the analysis of bibliographic references that were rigorously selected following a clear methodology based on a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria. After the selection of bibliographic sources, 111 papers were part of the final analysis, which have been analyzed in detail considering three different perspectives: one related to the design principle (biologically inspired soft robotics), one related to functionality (closed/open-loop control), and one from a biomedical applications perspective.

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“…A vast number of shape-changing rolling robots have been created using these types of motions, e.g. [56][57][58][59]. Panel b shows three successive snapshots of a body performing a tanktreading motion.…”

Section: Simple Theoretical Motionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficient bending and lifting patterns in snake locomotion

Alben

2022

Proc. R. Soc. A.

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We optimize three-dimensional snake kinematics for locomotor efficiency. We assume a general space-curve representation of the snake backbone with small-to-moderate lifting off the ground and negligible body inertia. The cost of locomotion includes work against friction and internal viscous dissipation. When restricted to planar kinematics, our population-based optimization method finds the same types of optima as a previous Newton-based method. With lifting, a few types of optimal motions prevail. We have an s-shaped body with alternating lifting of the middle and ends at small-to-moderate transverse friction. With large transverse friction, curling and sliding motions are typical at small viscous dissipation, replaced by large-amplitude bending at large viscous dissipation. With small viscous dissipation, we find local optima that resemble sidewinding motions across friction coefficient space. They are always suboptimal to alternating lifting motions, with average input power 10–100% higher.

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Electrically Activated Soft Robots: Speed Up by Rolling

Cited by 33 publications

References 36 publications

Bioinspired Self-Resettable Hydrogel Actuators Powered by a Chemical Fuel

Bioinspired Self-Resettable Hydrogel Actuators Powered by a Chemical Fuel

Soft Robotics: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Efficient bending and lifting patterns in snake locomotion

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