A Modular and Self‐Contained Fluidic Engine for Soft Actuators

Bell, Michael A.; Gorissen, Benjamin; Bertoldi, Katia; Weaver, James C.; Wood, Robert J.

doi:10.1002/aisy.202100094

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The musculoskeletal system achieved ∼68% energy efficiency for executing high bending motion from a straight configuration to a 158 mm radius. Our energy efficiency exceeded that of soft actuators reported in the literature, which ranged from 2.5% to 30% [ 41 , 42 , 43 ]. The nonlinear compliance of the musculoskeletal system allowed us to eliminate the need for mechanical motors at the joints by leveraging the moments applied at the ribs.…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Hybrid Compliant Musculoskeletal System for Fast Actuation in Robots

et al. 2022

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A nature-inspired musculoskeletal system is designed and developed to examine the principle of nonlinear elastic energy storage–release for robotic applications. The musculoskeletal system architecture consists of elastically rigid segments and hyperelastic soft materials to emulate rigid–soft interactions in limbless vertebrates. The objectives are to (i) improve the energy efficiency of actuation beyond that of current pure soft actuators while (ii) producing a high range of motion similar to that of soft robots but with structural stability. This paper proposes a musculoskeletal design that takes advantage of structural segmentation to increase the system’s degrees of freedom, which enhances the range of motion. Our findings show that rigid–soft interactions provide a remarkable increase in energy storage and release and, thus, an increase in the undulation speed. The energy efficiency achieved is approximately 68% for bending the musculoskeletal system from the straight configuration, compared to 2.5–30% efficiency in purely soft actuators. The hybrid compliance of the musculoskeletal system under investigation shows promise for alleviating the need for actuators at each joint in a robot.

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Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Hybrid Compliant Musculoskeletal System for Fast Actuation in Robots

et al. 2022

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“…properties of liquid and air 20 . For instance, soft pneumatic and hydraulic actuators are widely employed in practical applications such as soft grippers [21][22][23][24][25][26] , soft haptic devices 27 , and bioinspired robots 9,[28][29][30] . However, pressurizing the pneumatic and hydraulic fluids requires pumps and fluid chambers that are usually too bulky and heavy to be integrated into the soft robot.…”

Section: Diverse Types Of Soft Actuating Methods and Their Operating ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Untethered soft actuators for soft standalone robotics

Jung,

Kwon,

Lee

et al. 2024

Nat Commun

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Soft actuators produce the mechanical force needed for the functional movements of soft robots, but they suffer from critical drawbacks since previously reported soft actuators often rely on electrical wires or pneumatic tubes for the power supply, which would limit the potential usage of soft robots in various practical applications. In this article, we review the new types of untethered soft actuators that represent breakthroughs and discuss the future perspective of soft actuators. We discuss the functional materials and innovative strategies that gave rise to untethered soft actuators and deliver our perspective on challenges and opportunities for future-generation soft actuators.

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“…[559] Another notable publication details a modular fluidic engine for soft actuators. [560] While the fluidic medium seems to be representative of the field, the electrical medium is the most commonly utilized overall. This medium accounts for the vast majority of soft robotic components, especially in sensors, controllers, and power schemes (actuators are more diverse).…”

Section: Function Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

A Data‐Driven Review of Soft Robotics

Jumet

Bell

Sánchez

et al. 2021

Advanced Intelligent Systems

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The past decade of soft robotics has delivered impactful and promising contributions to society and has seen exponentially increasing interest from scientists and engineers. This interest has resulted in growth of the number of researchers participating in the field and the quantity of their resulting contributions, stressing the community's ability to comprehend and build upon the literature. In this work, a data‐driven review is presented that addresses the recent surge of research by providing a quantitative snapshot of the field. Relevant data are catalogued with three levels of analysis. First, publication‐level analysis explores high‐level trends in the field and bibliometric relationships across the more detailed analyses. Second, device‐level analysis examines the tethering of robots and the incorporation of component types (actuators, sensors, controllers, power sources) into each robot. Finally, component‐level analysis investigates the compliances, material compositions, and “function media” (energetic methods by which components operate) of each soft robotic component in the analyzed literature. The reported data indicate a significant reliance on elastomeric materials, electrical and fluidic media, and physical tethering; meanwhile, controllers and power sources remain underdeveloped relative to actuators and sensors. These gaps in the surveyed literature are elaborated upon, and promising future directions for the field of soft robotics are identified.

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A Modular and Self‐Contained Fluidic Engine for Soft Actuators

Cited by 13 publications

References 32 publications

Hybrid Compliant Musculoskeletal System for Fast Actuation in Robots

Hybrid Compliant Musculoskeletal System for Fast Actuation in Robots

Untethered soft actuators for soft standalone robotics

A Data‐Driven Review of Soft Robotics

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