A Resilient, Untethered Soft Robot

Tolley, Michael T.; Shepherd, Robert F.; Mosadegh, Bobak; Galloway, Kevin C.; Wehner, Michael; Karpelson, Michael; Wood, Robert J.; Whitesides, George M.

doi:10.1089/soro.2014.0008

Cited by 897 publications

(564 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…Moreover, a soft body is a perfect means by which to implement continuous motion without multicomponent mechanisms; peristaltic waves, bending limbs and elongations could be easily implemented with simple actuation, exploiting elastic properties of the body. Finally, crawling soft robots show potential to work in harsh conditions, being resilient to impacts [24] and severe compressions [29].…”

Section: Exploitation Of Deformable Components Formentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fundamentals of soft robot locomotion

Calisti

Picardi

Laschi

2017

J. R. Soc. Interface.

219

129

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Soft robotics and its related technologies enable robot abilities in several robotics domains including, but not exclusively related to, manipulation, manufacturing, human -robot interaction and locomotion. Although field applications have emerged for soft manipulation and human-robot interaction, mobile soft robots appear to remain in the research stage, involving the somehow conflictual goals of having a deformable body and exerting forces on the environment to achieve locomotion. This paper aims to provide a reference guide for researchers approaching mobile soft robotics, to describe the underlying principles of soft robot locomotion with its pros and cons, and to envisage applications and further developments for mobile soft robotics.

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Section: Exploitation Of Deformable Components Formentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In these cases, there are qualitative advantages related to reduction of damage [29], deformability to access congested environments [145], and intrinsically safe interaction with the environment [27].…”

Section: Conclusion and Further Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fundamentals of soft robot locomotion

Calisti

Picardi

Laschi

2017

J. R. Soc. Interface.

219

129

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“…For example, this robot could be a robot arm that moves along a certain path or a wearable robot that assists with motion of a limb. For conventional hard robots, methods have been developed to describe the forward kinematics (i.e., for given actuator inputs, what will the configuration of the robot be) and inverse kinematics (i.e., for a desired configuration of the robot, what should the actuator inputs be) (1-4).Recently, there has been significant progress in the field of soft robotics, with the development of many soft grippers (5, 6), locomotion robots (7,8), and assistive devices (9). Although their inherent compliance, easy fabrication, and ability to achieve complex output motions from simple inputs have made soft robots very popular (10, 11), there is growing recognition that the development of methods for efficiently designing actuators for particular functions is essential to the advancement of the field.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, there has been significant progress in the field of soft robotics, with the development of many soft grippers (5, 6), locomotion robots (7,8), and assistive devices (9). Although their inherent compliance, easy fabrication, and ability to achieve complex output motions from simple inputs have made soft robots very popular (10, 11), there is growing recognition that the development of methods for efficiently designing actuators for particular functions is essential to the advancement of the field.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Automatic design of fiber-reinforced soft actuators for trajectory matching

Connolly

Walsh

Bertoldi

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

381

247

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Soft actuators are the components responsible for producing motion in soft robots. Although soft actuators have allowed for a variety of innovative applications, there is a need for design tools that can help to efficiently and systematically design actuators for particular functions. Mathematical modeling of soft actuators is an area that is still in its infancy but has the potential to provide quantitative insights into the response of the actuators. These insights can be used to guide actuator design, thus accelerating the design process. Here, we study fluid-powered fiberreinforced actuators, because these have previously been shown to be capable of producing a wide range of motions. We present a design strategy that takes a kinematic trajectory as its input and uses analytical modeling based on nonlinear elasticity and optimization to identify the optimal design parameters for an actuator that will follow this trajectory upon pressurization. We experimentally verify our modeling approach, and finally we demonstrate how the strategy works, by designing actuators that replicate the motion of the index finger and thumb.soft robotics | fiber-reinforced actuators | customized actuators I n the field of robotics, it is essential to understand how to design a robot such that it can perform a particular motion for a target application. For example, this robot could be a robot arm that moves along a certain path or a wearable robot that assists with motion of a limb. For conventional hard robots, methods have been developed to describe the forward kinematics (i.e., for given actuator inputs, what will the configuration of the robot be) and inverse kinematics (i.e., for a desired configuration of the robot, what should the actuator inputs be) (1-4).Recently, there has been significant progress in the field of soft robotics, with the development of many soft grippers (5, 6), locomotion robots (7,8), and assistive devices (9). Although their inherent compliance, easy fabrication, and ability to achieve complex output motions from simple inputs have made soft robots very popular (10, 11), there is growing recognition that the development of methods for efficiently designing actuators for particular functions is essential to the advancement of the field. To this end, some research groups have begun focusing their efforts on modeling and characterizing soft actuators (12-20). In particular, significant progress has been made on solving the forward kinematics problem (16-19) and even on using dynamic modeling to perform motion planning (14). However, the practical problem of designing a soft actuator to achieve a particular motion remains an issue. Finite element (FE) analysis has previously been used as a design tool to find the optimal geometric parameters for a soft pneumatic actuator, given some design criteria (15). Although this procedure yields some nice results, only basic motions (linear or bending) were studied, because the method is computationally intensive. An alternative approach is to use analytical modeling...

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“…Although it has been demonstrated that the nonlinear response of soft structures can be exploited to design machines capable of performing surprisingly sophisticated functions on actuation (1,2,9), their high intrinsic dissipation has prevented the design of completely soft machines. Sensing and control functionalities, which require transmission of a signal over a distance, still typically rely on the integration of stiff electronic components within the soft material (10,11), introducing interfaces that are often a source of mechanical failure.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable propagation of mechanical signals in soft media using stored elastic energy

Raney

Nadkarni

Daraio

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

276

184

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Soft structures with rationally designed architectures capable of large, nonlinear deformation present opportunities for unprecedented, highly tunable devices and machines. However, the highly dissipative nature of soft materials intrinsically limits or prevents certain functions, such as the propagation of mechanical signals.Here we present an architected soft system composed of elastomeric bistable beam elements connected by elastomeric linear springs. The dissipative nature of the polymer readily damps linear waves, preventing propagation of any mechanical signal beyond a short distance, as expected. However, the unique architecture of the system enables propagation of stable, nonlinear solitary transition waves with constant, controllable velocity and pulse geometry over arbitrary distances. Because the high damping of the material removes all other linear, small-amplitude excitations, the desired pulse propagates with high fidelity and controllability. This phenomenon can be used to control signals, as demonstrated by the design of soft mechanical diodes and logic gates.soft | mechanical signal | stable propagation | instability S oft, highly deformable materials have enabled the design of new classes of tunable and responsive systems and devices, including bioinspired soft robots (1, 2), self-regulating microfluidics (3), adaptive optics (4), reusable energy-absorbing systems (5, 6), structures with highly programmable responses (7), and morphological computing paradigms (8). However, their highly deformable and dissipative nature also poses unique challenges. Although it has been demonstrated that the nonlinear response of soft structures can be exploited to design machines capable of performing surprisingly sophisticated functions on actuation (1, 2, 9), their high intrinsic dissipation has prevented the design of completely soft machines. Sensing and control functionalities, which require transmission of a signal over a distance, still typically rely on the integration of stiff electronic components within the soft material (10, 11), introducing interfaces that are often a source of mechanical failure.The design of soft control and sensing systems (and, consequently, completely soft machines) requires the ability to propagate a stable signal without distortion through soft media. There are two limiting factors intrinsic to materials that work against this: dispersion (signal distortion due to frequency-dependent phase velocity) and dissipation (loss of energy over time as the wave propagates through the medium). Dispersion can be controlled or eliminated through nonlinear effects produced via the control of structure in the medium (12). For example, periodic systems based on Hertzian contact (13-15), tensegrity structures (16), rigid bars and linkages (17), and bistable elastic elements (18) can behave as nondispersive media, with the nonlinearity of their local mechanical response canceling out the tendency for the signal to disperse at sufficiently large amplitudes. However, dissipation is still an ov...

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A Resilient, Untethered Soft Robot

Cited by 897 publications

References 23 publications

Fundamentals of soft robot locomotion

Fundamentals of soft robot locomotion

Automatic design of fiber-reinforced soft actuators for trajectory matching

Stable propagation of mechanical signals in soft media using stored elastic energy

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