The science of soft robot design: A review of motivations, methods and enabling technologies

Stella, Francesco Vincenzo; Hughes, Josie

doi:10.3389/frobt.2022.1059026

Cited by 29 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…This could be achieved by using lighter materials or by tapering the arm diameter and mass along its length. In addition, pneumatic actuation is not practical for all applications, so alternative actuation and stiffening technologies could be explored, such as dielectric elastomer actuators (55,56), twisted string actuators (57,58), and cable-driven approaches (35,59).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although there are many examples of structures and actuators that enable robots to actively vary the compliance of their bodies, there is a need for principled modeling, design, and control approaches for effectively implementing variable compliance to achieve desired performance goals. Toward that aim, Stella et al ( 35 ) presented a strategy for controlling the pose and physical stiffness of a soft robot arm to achieve a desired compliance at the point of contact with the environment. The approach was validated in simulation and on a real tendon-driven variable stiffness manipulator, enabling the robot to successfully perform a peg-insertion task.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increasing the payload capacity of soft robot arms by localized stiffening

Bruder,

Graule,

Teeple

et al. 2023

Sci. Robot.

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Soft robot arms offer safety and adaptability due to their passive compliance, but this compliance typically limits their payload capacity and prevents them from performing many tasks. This paper presents a model-based design approach to effectively increase the payload capacity of soft robot arms. The proposed approach uses localized body stiffening to decrease the compliance at the end effector without sacrificing the robot’s range of motion. This approach is validated on both a simulated and a real soft robot arm, where experiments show that increasing the stiffness of localized regions of their bodies reduces the compliance at the end effector and increases the height to which the arm can lift a payload. By increasing the payload capacity of soft robot arms, this approach has the potential to improve their efficacy in a variety of tasks including object manipulation and exploration of cluttered environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing the payload capacity of soft robot arms by localized stiffening

Bruder,

Graule,

Teeple

et al. 2023

Sci. Robot.

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“…Shi et al (2019) showed a soft robot for MIS embedded with responsive materials that can be remotely controlled to perform delicate procedures, reducing invasiveness and recovery time 12). Advances in sustainable manufacturing, design, and materials are driving soft robotics toward impactful solutions to achieve SDGs and aid the climate transition (Stella and Hughes, 2023).…”

Section: Sustainable Manufacturing Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft robotics towards sustainable development goals and climate actions

2023

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Soft robotics technology can aid in achieving United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement through development of autonomous, environmentally responsible machines powered by renewable energy. By utilizing soft robotics, we can mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change on human society and the natural world through fostering adaptation, restoration, and remediation. Moreover, the implementation of soft robotics can lead to groundbreaking discoveries in material science, biology, control systems, energy efficiency, and sustainable manufacturing processes. However, to achieve these goals, we need further improvements in understanding biological principles at the basis of embodied and physical intelligence, environment-friendly materials, and energy-saving strategies to design and manufacture self-piloting and field-ready soft robots. This paper provides insights on how soft robotics can address the pressing issue of environmental sustainability. Sustainable manufacturing of soft robots at a large scale, exploring the potential of biodegradable and bioinspired materials, and integrating onboard renewable energy sources to promote autonomy and intelligence are some of the urgent challenges of this field that we discuss in this paper. Specifically, we will present field-ready soft robots that address targeted productive applications in urban farming, healthcare, land and ocean preservation, disaster remediation, and clean and affordable energy, thus supporting some of the SDGs. By embracing soft robotics as a solution, we can concretely support economic growth and sustainable industry, drive solutions for environment protection and clean energy, and improve overall health and well-being.

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“…Rigid robots excel at precision and repetitive tasks but typically fall short in environments where compliance, robustness to disturbances, or energy efficiency is crucial ( 1 ). Therefore, researchers aim to mimic natural organisms, which are well adapted to operate effectively in unstructured environments ( 2 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-voltage electrohydraulic actuators for untethered robotics

Gravert,

Varini,

Kazemipour

et al. 2024

Sci. Adv.

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Rigid robots can be precise but struggle in environments where compliance, robustness to disturbances, or energy efficiency is crucial. This has led researchers to develop biomimetic robots incorporating soft artificial muscles. Electrohydraulic actuators are promising artificial muscles that perform comparably to mammalian muscles in speed and power density. However, their operation requires several thousand volts. The high voltage leads to bulky and inefficient driving electronics. Here, we present hydraulically amplified low-voltage electrostatic (HALVE) actuators that match mammalian skeletal muscles in average power density (50.5 watts per kilogram) and peak strain rate (971% per second) at a 4.9 times lower driving voltage (1100 volts) compared to the state of the art. HALVE actuators are safe to touch, are waterproof, and exhibit self-clearing properties. We characterize, model, and validate key performance metrics of our actuator. Last, we demonstrate the utility of HALVE actuators on a robotic gripper and a soft robotic swimmer.

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The science of soft robot design: A review of motivations, methods and enabling technologies

Cited by 29 publications

References 58 publications

Increasing the payload capacity of soft robot arms by localized stiffening

Increasing the payload capacity of soft robot arms by localized stiffening

Soft robotics towards sustainable development goals and climate actions

Low-voltage electrohydraulic actuators for untethered robotics

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