Vine Robots

Coad, Margaret M.; Blumenschein, Laura H.; Cutler, Sadie; Zepeda, Javier A. Reyna; Naclerio, Nicholas D.; El-Hussieny, Haitham; Mehmood, Usman; Ryu, Jee-Hwan; Hawkes, Elliot W.; Okamura, Allison M.

doi:10.1109/mra.2019.2947538

Cited by 143 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…With the addition of actuators such as cables or pneumatic artificial muscles [4], [5] that reversibly shorten different sides of the wall of the robot body, the robot tip position and the force exerted on the environment can be controlled in three degrees of freedom during growth. Steering actuators control the two degrees of freedom of lateral movement and/or force application of the robot tip, and eversion controls the third degree of freedom independent from steering.…”

Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To understand how to prevent buckling during retraction, we measured retraction behavior using the base presented in [5] and developed a model to predict whether a soft robot body will buckle or invert. Our model assumes that a robot of a given length, pressure, and curvature will either invert or buckle, depending on which behavior requires the lowest force applied on the tail.…”

Section: Modeling and Experimental Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using actuation, like pneumatic artificial muscles, to asymmetrically shorten or lengthen the exterior surface of the soft robot body allows for motion and/or force application in three degrees of freedom during growth [4]. Pneumatically everting soft robots have been deployed for exploration and videography in an previously unexplored archaeological environment [5], and a hydraulic system was recently developed, showing promise for underwater applications such as exploration of coral reefs [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Retraction of Soft Growing Robots Without Buckling

Coad

Thomasson

Blumenschein

et al. 2020

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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Tip-extending soft robots that "grow" via pneumatic eversion of their body material have demonstrated applications in exploration of cluttered environments. During growth, the motion and force of the robot tip can be controlled in three degrees of freedom using actuators that direct the tip in combination with extension. However, when reversal of the growth process is attempted by retracting the internal body material from the base, the robot body often responds by buckling rather than inverting the body material, making control of tip motion and force impossible. We present and validate a model to predict when buckling occurs instead of inversion, and we present an electromechanical device that can be added to a tip-extending soft robot to prevent buckling during retraction, restoring the ability of steering actuators to control the robot's motion and force during inversion. Using our retraction device, we demonstrate three previously impossible tasks: exploring different branches of a forking path, reversing growth while applying minimal force on the environment, and bringing back environment samples to the base.

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Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Modeling and Experimental Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Retraction of Soft Growing Robots Without Buckling

Coad

Thomasson

Blumenschein

et al. 2020

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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“…Because of its compliance, the eversion robot is able to navigate cluttered environments simply by extending its length and being redirected by the interaction with fixed objects in the environment. Recently, bending capability of inflatable structure has been reported, such as using an antagonistic principle between tendons and pneumatic actuations [10], [11], helically-arranged pneumatically-actuated pouches [12], and longitudinally-arranged pneumatically-actuated pouches [13]. An important characteristic of the fabric-based eversion robot when compared to silicone-based soft robots is the eversion robot's ability to modify its structural stiffness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite these interesting properties which make the eversion robot a promising candidate for applications involving cluttered environments and tight spaces (such as the exploration of an archaeological site [13], laparoscopic surgery [14], nuclear decommissioning, and underfloor exploration), motion control of this type of robot has not been fully investigated. This is mainly caused by the difficulty in modelling the highly nonlinear characteristics of the soft robotic structure in comparison to the well-established modelling of its rigid-link counterparts [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Model-Based Pose Control of Inflatable Eversion Robot With Variable Stiffness

Ataka

Abrar

Putzu

et al. 2020

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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Plant-inspired inflatable eversion robots with their tip growing behaviour have recently emerged. Because they extend from the tip, eversion robots are particularly suitable for applications that require reaching into remote places through narrow openings. Besides, they can vary their structural stiffness. Despite these essential properties which make the eversion robot a promising candidate for applications involving cluttered environments and tight spaces, controlling their motion especially laterally has not been investigated in depth. In this paper, we present a new approach based on model-based kinematics to control the eversion robot's tip position and orientation. Our control approach is based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory which takes into account the effect of the internal inflation pressure to model each robot bending segment for various conditions of structural stiffness. We determined the parameters of our bending model by performing a least-square technique based on the pressure-bending data acquired from an experimental study. The model is then used to develop a pose controller for the tip of our eversion robot. Experimental results show that the proposed control strategy is capable of guiding the tip of the eversion robot to reach a desired position and orientation whilst varying its structural stiffness.

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Bio‐Mimic, Fast‐Moving, and Flippable Soft Piezoelectric Robots

Chen

Yang

et al. 2023

Advanced Science

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Cheetahs achieve high‐speed movement and unique athletic gaits through the contraction and expansion of their limbs during the gallop. However, few soft robots can mimic their gaits and achieve the same speed of movement. Inspired by the motion gait of cheetahs, here the resonance of double spiral structure for amplified motion performance and environmental adaptability in a soft‐bodied hopping micro‐robot is exploited. The 0.058 g, 10 mm long tethered soft robot is capable of achieving a maximum motion speed of 42.8 body lengths per second (BL/s) and a maximum average turning speed of 482° s−1. In addition, this robot can maintain high speed movement even after flipping. The soft robot's ability to move over complex terrain, climb hills, and carry heavy loads as well as temperature sensors is demonstrated. This research opens a new structural design for soft robots: a double spiral configuration that efficiently translates the deformation of soft actuators into swift motion of the robot with high environmental adaptability.

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Vine Robots

Cited by 143 publications

References 16 publications

Retraction of Soft Growing Robots Without Buckling

Retraction of Soft Growing Robots Without Buckling

Model-Based Pose Control of Inflatable Eversion Robot With Variable Stiffness

Bio‐Mimic, Fast‐Moving, and Flippable Soft Piezoelectric Robots

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