OmniSkins: Robotic skins that turn inanimate objects into multifunctional robots

Booth, Joran W.; Shah, Dylan; Case, Jennifer M.; White, Edward L.; Yuen, Michelle C.; Cyr-Choinière, Olivier; Kramer‐Bottiglio, Rebecca

doi:10.1126/scirobotics.aat1853

Cited by 123 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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those found in biological systems. [2,[4][5][6][7] Moreover, these lightweight and versatile machines can find utility in aerospace and marine engineering, industrial processing and automation, and active camouflaging. [2,[4][5][6][7] Moreover, these lightweight and versatile machines can find utility in aerospace and marine engineering, industrial processing and automation, and active camouflaging.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

An Easy‐to‐Implement Toolkit to Create Versatile and High‐Performance HASEL Actuators for Untethered Soft Robots

et al. 2019

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For soft robots to have ubiquitous adoption in practical applications they require soft actuators that provide well‐rounded actuation performance that parallels natural muscle while being inexpensive and easily fabricated. This manuscript introduces a toolkit to rapidly prototype, manufacture, test, and power various designs of hydraulically amplified self‐healing electrostatic (HASEL) actuators with muscle‐like performance that achieve all three basic modes of actuation (expansion, contraction, and rotation). This toolkit utilizes easy‐to‐implement methods, inexpensive fabrication tools, commodity materials, and off‐the‐shelf high‐voltage electronics thereby enabling a wide audience to explore HASEL technology. Remarkably, the actuators created from this easy‐to‐implement toolkit achieve linear strains exceeding 100%, a specific power greater than 150 W kg −1 , and ≈20% strain at frequencies above 100 Hz. This combination of large strain, extreme speed, and high specific power yields soft actuators that jump without power‐amplifying mechanisms. Additionally, an efficient fabrication technique is introduced for modular designs of HASEL actuators, which is used to develop soft robotic devices driven by portable electronics. Inspired by the versatility of elephant trunks, the above capabilities are combined to create an untethered continuum robot for grasping and manipulating delicate objects, highlighting the wide potential of the introduced methods for soft robots with increasing sophistication.

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confidence: 99%

An Easy‐to‐Implement Toolkit to Create Versatile and High‐Performance HASEL Actuators for Untethered Soft Robots

et al. 2019

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“…One of its drawbacks is that it is difficult to control due to the non-linearity of the actuator. Considering the unpredictable and unstructured nature of the space environment, Booth et al proposed a multi-functional robotic skin to enable complex motions and functions [89].…”

Section: B Actuators For Collaborative Robotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(b) The robotic skins can be wrapped around deformable objects to produce different forms of deformetions as shown in (c). (d) Multiple robotic skins can be wrapped on a deformable object to produce complex motions [89]. Difficult to control due to the non-linearity of the actuator.…”

Section: B Actuators For Collaborative Robotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical Human–Robot Collaboration: Robotic Systems, Learning Methods, Collaborative Strategies, Sensors, and Actuators

Ogenyi

Liu

Yang

et al. 2021

IEEE Trans. Cybern.

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This paper presents a state-of-the-art survey on robotic systems, sensors, actuators and collaborative strategies for Physical Human-Robot Collaboration (pHRC). The paper starts with an overview of some robotic systems with cuttingedge technologies (sensors and actuators) suitable for pHRC operations and the intelligent assist devices employed in pHRC. Sensors being among the essential components to establish communication between a human and a robotic system are surveyed. The sensor supplies the signal needed to drive the robotic actuators. The survey reveals that the design of new generation collaborative robots and other intelligent robotic systems has paved the way for sophisticated learning techniques and control algorithms to be deployed in pHRC. Furthermore, it revealed relevant components needed to be considered for effective pHRC to be accomplished. Finally, a discussion of the major advances made, some research directions, and future challenges are presented.

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“…One configuration comprised assemblies of McKibben muscles within fabric layers. 2 Another consisted of thin McKibben muscles that were woven into fabric structures. 54 When driven to produce contraction along the axis of each muscle, the actuators in such devices expand, causing undesired increases in thickness, adversely affecting potential conformable or wearable applications and reducing efficiency.…”

Section: Sheet-like Soft Actuatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluidic Fabric Muscle Sheets for Wearable and Soft Robotics

et al. 2020

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Conformable robotic systems are attractive for applications in which they can be used to actuate structures with large surface areas, to provide forces through wearable garments, or to realize autonomous robotic systems. We present a new family of soft actuators that we refer to as Fluidic Fabric Muscle Sheets (FFMS). They are composite fabric structures that integrate fluidic transmissions based on arrays of elastic tubes. These sheet-like actuators can strain, squeeze, bend, and conform to hard or soft objects of arbitrary shapes or sizes, including the human body. We show how to design and fabricate FFMS actuators via facile apparel engineering methods, including computerized sewing techniques. Together, these determine the distributions of stresses and strains that can be generated by the FFMS. We present a simple mathematical model that proves effective for predicting their performance. FFMS can operate at frequencies of 5 Hertz or more, achieve engineering strains exceeding 100%, and exert forces greater than 115 times their own weight. They can be safely used in intimate contact with the human body even when delivering stresses exceeding 10 6 Pascals. We demonstrate their versatility for actuating a variety of bodies or structures, and in configurations that perform multi-axis actuation, including bending and shape change. As we also show, FFMS can be used to exert forces on body tissues for wearable and biomedical applications. We demonstrate several potential use cases, including a miniature steerable robot, a glove for grasp assistance, garments for applying compression to the extremities, and devices for actuating small body regions or tissues via localized skin stretch.forces upon, or generate shape changes in complex or compliant structures. 1-3 Wearable soft robotic devices interfaced with the human body may prove valuable for rehabilitation, movement assistance, or virtual reality. [4][5][6] Soft actuators are also of interest for controlling motion in distributed or deformable structures. They can be used for tasks such as grasping, terrestrial locomotion, surgery, or underwater operation. 7-9 Such applications span systems of greatly varying length scales, ranging from millimeter-scale biomedical robots to large, deployable structures. 10,11 Biological systems provide a rich source of information to guide the design of soft robots. 12 The motile capabilities of animals are enabled by composite systems of muscle, connective, and other tissues. The forces and motions they can produce depend on the properties of individual muscle fibers, the arrangement of fibers, and the muscle morphology and attachments. Muscle morphologies vary widely. There are fusiform shapes like the human biceps brachii, that produce large-amplitude motion. There are also fan shapes, such as the pectoralis major, that yield larger forces, sphincter morphologies that contract, and layered muscle sheets, like the transverse abdominis (Fig. 1A), that compress or transfer forces around the torso. 13 The great variety of biologica...

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OmniSkins: Robotic skins that turn inanimate objects into multifunctional robots

Cited by 123 publications

References 40 publications

An Easy‐to‐Implement Toolkit to Create Versatile and High‐Performance HASEL Actuators for Untethered Soft Robots

An Easy‐to‐Implement Toolkit to Create Versatile and High‐Performance HASEL Actuators for Untethered Soft Robots

Physical Human–Robot Collaboration: Robotic Systems, Learning Methods, Collaborative Strategies, Sensors, and Actuators

Fluidic Fabric Muscle Sheets for Wearable and Soft Robotics

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