Soft Robotics

doi:10.1007/978-3-662-44506-8

Cited by 63 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 2 publications

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“…Soft robots represent a blend of biologically-inspired actuation, sensory, and cognitive functions, combined with a design that promotes safe, intuitive, and sensitive interactions [45]. While conventional robots are frequently constructed using high-stiffness materials like steel, aluminum, titanium, or stainless steel, soft robots are primarily made of hyperelastic materials, such as polymers, rubber, or silicone.…”

Section: B Soft Roboticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimenting With Soft Robotics in Education: A Systematic Literature Review From 2006 to 2022

Cayetano-Jiménez,

Martinez-Ríos,

Bustamante-Bello

et al. 2024

IEEE Trans. Learning Technol.

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Educational robotics (ER) is a discipline of applied robotics focused on teaching robot design, analysis, application, and operation. Traditionally, ER has favored rigid robots, overlooking the potential of soft robots (SRs). While rigid robots offer insights into dynamics, kinematics, and control, they have limitations in exploring the depths of mechanical design and material properties. In this regard, SRs present an opportunity to expand educational topics and activities in robotics through their unique bioinspired properties and accessibility. Despite their promise, there is a notable lack of research on SRs as educational tools, limiting the identification of research avenues that could promote their adoption in educational settings. This study conducts a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to elucidate the impact of SRs across academic levels, pedagogical strategies, prevalent artificial muscles, educational activities, and assessment methods. The findings indicate a significant focus on K-12 workshops utilizing soft pneumatic actuators. Furthermore, SRs have fostered the development of fabrication and mechanical design skills beyond mere programming tasks. However, there is a shortage of studies analyzing their use in higher education or their impact on learning outcomes, suggesting a critical need for comprehensive evaluations to determine their effectiveness, rather than solely relying on surveys for student feedback. Thus, there is an opportunity to explore and evaluate the use of SRs in more advanced settings and multidisciplinary activities, urging for rigorous assessments of their influence on learning outcomes. By undertaking this, we aim to provide a foundation for integrating SRs into the educational robotics curriculum, potentially transforming teaching methodologies and enriching students' learning experiences.

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Section: B Soft Roboticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimenting With Soft Robotics in Education: A Systematic Literature Review From 2006 to 2022

Cayetano-Jiménez,

Martinez-Ríos,

Bustamante-Bello

et al. 2024

IEEE Trans. Learning Technol.

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Zero‐Power Shape Retention in Soft Pneumatic Actuators with Extensional and Bending Multistability

Rahman

Elmi

et al. 2023

Adv Funct Materials

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Power‐free shape retention enables soft pneumatic robots to reduce energy cost and avoid unexpected collapse due to burst or puncture. Existing strategies for pneumatic actuation cannot attain motion locking for trajectories combining extension and bending, one of the most common modes of operation. Here, a design paradigm is introduced for soft pneumatic actuators to enable zero‐power locking for shape retention in both extension and bending. The underpinning mechanism is the integration of a pneumatic transmitter and a multistable guider, which are programmed to interact for balanced load transfer, flexural and extension steering, and progressive snapping leading to state locking. Through theory, simulations, and experiments on proof‐of‐concept actuators, the existence of four distinct regimes of deformation is unveiled, where the constituents first interact during inflation to attain locking in extension and bending, and then cooperate under vacuum to enable fully reversible functionality. Finally, the design paradigm is demonstrated to realize a soft robotic arm capable to lock at desired curvature states at zero‐power, and a gripper that safely operates with puncture resistance to grasp and hold objects of various shapes and consistency. The study promises further development for zero‐power soft robots endowed with multiple deformation modes, sequential deployment, and tunable multistability.

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Actuating Textiles: Next Generation of Smart Textiles

Persson

Martínez

Zhong

et al. 2018

Adv Materials Technologies

124

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geotextiles, airbags, safety belts, reinforcements for composites, many types of medical implants, etc.). A paradigm has for long been that among technical artefacts [4] textiles are passive (no need for power to perform its function), which could be compared with items from other technical spheres such as computers, radios, or cars, that are regarded as active, i.e., needing power, electrical, or otherwise, to perform their function. The dichotomy passiveactive is often used in electronics [5,6] and control theory to classify components. Passive components [7] (conductors, chassis, resistors, etc.) are those that are not intended to impact any signal or energy transferred through it, whereas active ones (batteries, fans, storage device, transistors, diodes, integrated circuits, etc.) are there exactly for doing this. The smart textile community is at a meeting point between textiles and electronics and the distinction of active and passive as used in electronics is mixed with a general common-language one, where active means "doing something." Any mechanical impact on the surrounding, such as moving a mass spatially, is deemed to exert work, i.e., utilize energy. In this text we stipulate as active such artefacts that are able to move any masses, either of the artefact itself or outside of it. As more and more instances accumulate showing that also textile artefacts could be given this property, also textiles are entering into the domain of being regarded as active. In retrospect, there are some early examples of what today could be defined as active textiles. One such example is the Ventile fabric [8] from the 1940s that was used as a waterproof protecting layer. This fabric operated by the swelling ability of cotton yarn hindering water to penetrate beyond the amount used for the very swelling. However, it was not until the 1980s that textiles-especially garments-were "discovered" as a potential arena for enrichment by other kinds of technologies such as sensorics for measuring the wearer as well as monitoring the surrounding. These have interchangeably been denoted as smart textiles, [9] intelligent textiles, [10] or electronic textiles. [11] This "(re)discovery" of textiles as an interesting field for new technical developments is in parallel with the "(re)discovery" of paper, which, although started later moved at a faster pace and printed electronics, [12] paper electronics, [13] or smart papers [14] now have emerged as branches on their own. Both textiles and papers are polymeric, fiber-based, cheap, pliable, flexible, large area (semi) 2D materials that take part in everyday activities of humans and by this being ubiquitous ever present. Textiles and papers have their respective benefits; textiles for Smart textiles have been around for some decades. Even if interactivity is central to most definitions, the emphasis so far has been on the stimuli/ input side, comparatively little has been reported on the responsive/output part. This study discusses the actuating, mechanical, output side in what could be ...

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Soft Robotics

Cited by 63 publications

References 2 publications

Experimenting With Soft Robotics in Education: A Systematic Literature Review From 2006 to 2022

Experimenting With Soft Robotics in Education: A Systematic Literature Review From 2006 to 2022

Zero‐Power Shape Retention in Soft Pneumatic Actuators with Extensional and Bending Multistability

Actuating Textiles: Next Generation of Smart Textiles

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