“…3C and Supporting Video). The obtained HFAM has a small size and large aspect ratio of 5000:1 that is extremely high compared to existing hydraulic or pneumatic SAMs reported in the literature [40,59,63].…”
Section: A Fabrication Methods and Materials Choice For A High Aspect Ratio Hfammentioning
The use of soft artificial muscles (SAMs) is rapidly increasing in various domains such as haptics, robotics, and medicine. There is a huge need for a SAM that is highly compliant and facile to fabricate with performance characteristics similar to human muscles. This paper introduces bio-inspired soft hydraulic filament artificial muscles (HFAMs) that can be extended and contracted under fluid pressures. The HFAMs, which have a high aspect ratio of at least 5000, use a simple and low-cost fabrication method of insertion, enabling scalability and mass-production while increasing its generated force via a stiff constrained helical layer and an adjustable stretch ratio of their inner silicone microtube. The developed muscles can produce a high elongation of 246.8% and a high energy efficiency of 62.7%. In addition, the HFAMs can generate a higher contraction force compared to existing state-of-the-art devices via their constrained hollow layer and the adjustable stretch ratio of the inner microtube, enabling a tunable force capability. Experiments are carried out to validate the HFAM performance including durability, lifting, frequency response and energy efficiency tests. The HFAM capabilities are demonstrated via various experiments, offering a potential substitute for the conventional tendon-driven mechanisms with less friction loss and stable energy efficiency while working against long and tortuous paths. A HFAMs-driven soft exoskeleton glove that could assist in grasping multiple objects is developed and evaluated. The new muscles open great opportunities for research and commercial sectors including emerging applications such as soft wearable devices and flexible surgical robots.INDEX TERMS fluid-driven artificial muscles, soft actuators, soft exoskeletons, soft robotics, tendondriven mechanisms, wearable devices.
“…3C and Supporting Video). The obtained HFAM has a small size and large aspect ratio of 5000:1 that is extremely high compared to existing hydraulic or pneumatic SAMs reported in the literature [40,59,63].…”
Section: A Fabrication Methods and Materials Choice For A High Aspect Ratio Hfammentioning
The use of soft artificial muscles (SAMs) is rapidly increasing in various domains such as haptics, robotics, and medicine. There is a huge need for a SAM that is highly compliant and facile to fabricate with performance characteristics similar to human muscles. This paper introduces bio-inspired soft hydraulic filament artificial muscles (HFAMs) that can be extended and contracted under fluid pressures. The HFAMs, which have a high aspect ratio of at least 5000, use a simple and low-cost fabrication method of insertion, enabling scalability and mass-production while increasing its generated force via a stiff constrained helical layer and an adjustable stretch ratio of their inner silicone microtube. The developed muscles can produce a high elongation of 246.8% and a high energy efficiency of 62.7%. In addition, the HFAMs can generate a higher contraction force compared to existing state-of-the-art devices via their constrained hollow layer and the adjustable stretch ratio of the inner microtube, enabling a tunable force capability. Experiments are carried out to validate the HFAM performance including durability, lifting, frequency response and energy efficiency tests. The HFAM capabilities are demonstrated via various experiments, offering a potential substitute for the conventional tendon-driven mechanisms with less friction loss and stable energy efficiency while working against long and tortuous paths. A HFAMs-driven soft exoskeleton glove that could assist in grasping multiple objects is developed and evaluated. The new muscles open great opportunities for research and commercial sectors including emerging applications such as soft wearable devices and flexible surgical robots.INDEX TERMS fluid-driven artificial muscles, soft actuators, soft exoskeletons, soft robotics, tendondriven mechanisms, wearable devices.
“…McKibben muscles can have low bandwidth for certain human movements (Wehner et al 2012) and can cause discomfort related to friction from the constantly varying surface area when in contact with the body (Davis et al 2003). Figure 2.This figure provides a brief overview of different actuation methods used in soft exosuits: (a) Improved McKibben-type actuators braided into a mesh for higher contraction, lower profile, and a wider range of bending mechanics (Hiramitsu et al 2019), (b) an elastomeric actuator that can be mechanically programmed to achieve different types of bending (Yap et al 2015a), (c) a stiffening beam textile actuator designed to resisted bending and buckling (Miller-Jackson et al 2019a), (d) new fabrication methodologies to create fabric-based inflatable actuators (Yang and Asbeck 2018), (e) shows fabric-based inflatables based on fiber reinforcement to induce different types of motions (Cappello et al 2018a), and (f) a cable-driven soft wearable robot (SWR) device using Bowden cables to provide assistance (Awad et al 2017b). …”
Section: Actuation Methods and Materials For Swrsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…McKibben muscles can have low bandwidth for certain human movements (Wehner et al 2012) and can cause discomfort related to friction from the constantly varying surface area when in contact with the body (Davis et al 2003). Some PAM actuators address these issues by decreasing the overall size for more effective operation (Hiramitsu et al 2019) and increasing the types of motions that the actuators can achieve (Sasaki et al 2005a;Hassanin et al 2017;Funabora 2018). These new approaches are opening doors to biologically inspired exosuits that have the high force-to-weight ratio of a McKibben muscle (Bilodeau et al 2018) but with less weight, bulk, lower operating pressures, and a higher degree of transparency and flexibility for the user (Abe et al 2018;Hiramitsu et al 2019).…”
This review meta-analysis combines and compares the findings of previously published works in the field of soft wearable robots (SWRs) that provide active methods of actuation for assistive and augmentative purposes. A thorough investigation of major contributions in the field of an SWR is made to analyze trends in the field focused on fluidic and cable-driven systems, prevalent and successful approaches, and identify the future direction of SWRs and active actuation strategies. Types of soft actuators used in wearables are outlined, as well as general practices for fabrication methods of soft actuators and considerations for human–robot interface designs of garment-like exosuits. An overview of well-known and emerging upper body (UB)- and lower body (LB)-assistive technologies is categorized by the specific joints and degree of freedom (DoF) assisted and which actuator methodology is provided. Different use cases for SWRs are addressed, as well as implementation strategies and design applications.
“…Their pressure dependent stiffness properties are determined in isobaric quasistatic experiments on a tensile test setup consisting of a COMS PM80B-50X linear precision stage, Nidec-Shimpo FGP-50 digital force gauge, AN-EST IWATA SLP-07EED air compressor and a CKD RP1000-8-07 precision regulator. This setup is identical to the one used in [15], [16] and [18]. Aside from measurements within the normal operating range, additional measurements for 0 and 0.5 MPa are conducted to determine the stiffness beyond the fully extended state.…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In addition, they stay flexible when pressurized, allowing them to bend while contracting [14]. These features make them exceptionally suitable for use in wearable soft robotic devices, as they enable alignment very close to the body, distribution of actuation across the body surface and organization into larger structures, such as bundles [14], braids [15], weaves [16] and active textiles [17], [18]. Their application to upper-limb soft exosuits was previously shown by Abe et al [16], [19].…”
A compact McKibben muscle based bending actuator for close-to-body application in assistive wearable robots Tschiersky, Martin; Hekman, Edsko E.G.; Brouwer, Dannis M.; Herder, Just L.; Suzumori, Koichi
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