Inflatable L-shaped prisms as soft actuators for soft exogloves

Jung, Ju Cheol; Jang, Jae Hyuck; Rodrigue, Hugo

doi:10.1088/2631-8695/ab4ac8

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Soft wearable robotic technologies have seen tremendous research efforts in the past decade as an attractive solution for human mobility assistance and rehabilitation [1][2][3]. The use of soft materials that conform to the human body and are compliant when exposed to external forces has led to the gradual advancement from rigid exoskeletons to lighter weight soft wearable alternatives [4][5][6][7][8]. Namely, garment-like textile-based fluidic actuators demonstrated promising potential towards increased user comfort and safety [9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Machine-Knitted Seamless Pneumatic Actuators for Soft Robotics: Design, Fabrication, and Characterization

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Computerized machine knitting offers an attractive fabrication technology for incorporating wearable assistive devices into garments. In this work, we utilized, for the first time, whole-garment knitting techniques to manufacture a seamless fully knitted pneumatic bending actuator, which represents an advancement to existing cut-and-sew manufacturing techniques. Various machine knitting parameters were investigated to create anisotropic actuator structures, which exhibited a range of bending and extension motions when pressurized with air. The functionality of the actuator was demonstrated through integration into an assistive glove for hand grip action. The achieved curvature range when pressurizing the actuators up to 150 kPa was sufficient to grasp objects down to 3 cm in diameter and up to 125 g in weight. This manufacturing technique is rapid and scalable, paving the way for mass-production of customizable soft robotics wearables.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Machine-Knitted Seamless Pneumatic Actuators for Soft Robotics: Design, Fabrication, and Characterization

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Fluid-powered fibre-reinforced actuators [21] have been devised, mirroring the intricate movements of the index finger and thumb. Numerous researchers [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] have made significant contributions in various areas, showcasing their remarkable work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental investigation on enhancement in pure axial deformation of soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) with cap ring reinforcement

Mehta,

Chauhan,

Sanghvi

et al. 2024

Eng. Res. Express

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bio-inspired soft-robots are nowadays found their place in many applications due to its flexibility, compliance and adaptivity to unstructured environment. The main intricate part of such bio-inspired soft robots are soft pneumatic actuators (SPA) which replicate or mimic the limbs and muscles. The soft actuators are pneumatically actuated and provide bending motion in most cases. However, many engineering and medical applications need axially expanding soft pneumatic actuators to deal with delicate objects. Various studies have put forward designs for SPA with axial deformation, but the majority of them have limited axial deformation, constraining motion and less overall efficacy which limit the scope of utilization. The common practice to enhance the axial deformation of SPA is by incorporating directionally customized reinforcement using fibres or by other means like yarns, fabrics, etc. These types of reinforcements are generally embedded to SPA during fabrication and may not have capability for any correction or modification later on hence lack the customization. This paper presents a novel method of radial reinforcement for the enhancement of axial deformation of SPAs with provision of customization. The present study aims to enhance and/or customize the axial deformation of SPA by incorporating external and detachable reinforcement in the form of annulus shaped cap ring. The investigation encompasses the design and attachment of four distinct cap ring geometries to SPA at different locations. Experimental results affirm that cap ring reinforcement bolster the radial stiffness, curbing lateral deformation while permitting axial deformation of soft pneumatic actuators. Out of 64 distinct configurations, the one with full reinforcement, featuring four cap rings of maximum size, yields a remarkable 169% increase in pure axial deformation compared to unreinforced cases. It is also observed that by varying the number and placement locations of cap rings the pure axial deformation can be customized. This novel insight not only propels soft pneumatic actuation technology but also heralds prospects for highly agile and versatile robotic systems which can be used in medical, prosthetics, pharmaceutical and other industries.

show abstract

“…Pneumatic actuators made of films can be classified into the following types: The first involves fabricating a simple balloon chamber and using its expansion and contraction as actuators. It has advantages including simple structure, high stability, and large displacement by stacking [25][26][27]. The second is an actuator that combines a simple balloon structure with another structure to convert the motion of the chamber.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of a Polyimide Film Pneumatic Actuator by Molding and Welding Processes

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The bellows pneumatic actuator, which is made by folding a non-stretch film, has been proposed for various applications because it is easy to fabricate and is extremely thin and light. However, it has subpar durability performance, especially in the folded part of the film. In this study, we propose an actuator with a pod structure that possesses high design flexibility and is free from folding. A method of molding a pod structure on a polyimide film was established and a pneumatic actuator was successfully fabricated by using PI films. Two types of PI film pneumatic actuators with the same curvature, bellows type, and pod type were fabricated. Both were confirmed to have equivalent output characteristics. The bending angle and generated torque of the pod-structure actuator were 34° and 3.3 mNm, respectively. In addition, the pod structure has approximately twice the durability of the bellows structure. By using the fabrication method proposed in this paper, it is possible to realize an air chamber (i.e., an actuator) that has both high durability and bending motion.

show abstract

Inflatable L-shaped prisms as soft actuators for soft exogloves

Cited by 7 publications

References 35 publications

Machine-Knitted Seamless Pneumatic Actuators for Soft Robotics: Design, Fabrication, and Characterization

Machine-Knitted Seamless Pneumatic Actuators for Soft Robotics: Design, Fabrication, and Characterization

Experimental investigation on enhancement in pure axial deformation of soft pneumatic actuator (SPA) with cap ring reinforcement

Fabrication of a Polyimide Film Pneumatic Actuator by Molding and Welding Processes

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About