Name
Abstract | ||
|---|---|---|
A key advantage to Fluidic Elastomer Actuators (FEA) is that they permit easy fabrication of robots capable of sophisticated manipulation and mobility. This advantage arises primarily from the continuous stretching and relaxation of elastomeric material that defines an active degree of freedom (DOF), prescribed during the manufacturing process. While the low elastic moduli of the soft material allows for infinite passive DOFs, each active DOF typically requires a valve and/or pump. On-board valving adds weight and size to the robots, and off-board valving requires tubing that imparts resistance to flow and requires higher pressure differentials for reasonable actuation velocities. In contrast to these methods, the work presented here exploits fluidic resistance in poroelastic foam actuators to create a traveling wave using only a single valve and pressure inlet. This concept is evaluated with respect to foam volume and fluid viscosity, and further demonstrated in a three-legged robot capable of millipede-inspired locomotion. The robot is capable of traveling at ∼1.1 mm/s, with individual legs (closest to the inlet) extending 41.28, 27.36, and 12.95 mm. These results represents an important step towards increasingly complex behavior in soft robots that remain simple to fabricate and control. |
Year | DOI | Venue |
|---|---|---|
2018 | 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8405371 | 2018 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft) |
Keywords | Field | DocType |
soft material,pressure differentials,actuation velocities,elastic moduli,three-legged robot,active degree of freedom,millipede-inspired locomotion,manufacturing process,elastomeric material,continuous stretching relaxation,Fluidic Elastomer Actuators,fluid resistance,soft robots,fluid viscosity,foam volume,pressure inlet,single valve,poroelastic foam actuators,fluidic resistance,imparts resistance,off-board valving,On-board valving,active DOF,infinite passive DOFs,velocity 1.1 mm/s,size 41.28 mm,size 27.36 mm,size 12.95 mm | Fluidics,Drag,Computer science,Flow (psychology),Mechanical engineering,Soft robotics,Finite element method,Poromechanics,Robot,Actuator | Conference |
ISBN | Citations | PageRank |
978-1-5386-4517-8 | 0 | 0.34 |
References | Authors | |
1 | 5 | |
Name | Order | Citations | PageRank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chaim C. Futran | 1 | 0 | 0.34 |
| Steven Ceron | 2 | 1 | 2.09 |
| Benjamin Mac Murray | 3 | 3 | 1.11 |
| Robert F. Shepherd | 4 | 19 | 5.22 |
| Kirstin Petersen | 5 | 6 | 4.94 |