A variable structure pneumatic soft robot

Huang, Wenmei; Xiao, Junlong; Xu, Zhipeng

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-75346-5

Cited by 35 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…Note that in Scenario B there is only one set of actuation forces (f a,left = f a,right = 1.0), namely a set of forces specifically geared for pulling the object toward the palm. We computed (13) for each grasper in Scenario A and compared the best design to that for Scenario B, for a given object in O.…”

Section: B Manipulation Metricmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A vacuum actuated palm allowed the grasper to cage objects of various sizes and achieve favorable contact points on irregular objects [12]. Other graspers have featured fingers that could slide toward and away from the center of the palm, effectively changing the palm width in order to grasp a variety of object sizes [13], [14]. Variable transmission ratios, which relate the actuation torque to joint torques, are also paramount; secure power grasps can be achieved by varying the transmission ratio as the pulley radii change [15], and force isotropy can be maintained throughout a grasping sequence given certain contact locations [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Designing Underactuated Graspers with Dynamically Variable Geometry Using Potential Energy Map Based Analysis

Yako¹,

Yuan²,

Salisbury³

2022

Preprint

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In this paper we present a potential energy map based approach that provides a framework for the design and control of a robotic grasper. Unlike other potential energy map approaches, our framework is able to consider friction for a more realistic perspective on grasper performance. Our analysis establishes the importance of including variable geometry in a grasper design, namely with regards to palm width, link lengths, and transmission ratio. We demonstrate the use of this method specifically for a two-phalanx tendon-pulley underactuated grasper, and show how various design parameterspalm width, link lengths, and transmission ratios -impact the grasping and manipulation performance of a specific design across a range of object sizes and friction coefficients. Optimal grasping designs have palms that scale with object size, and transmission ratios that scale with the coefficient of friction. Using a custom manipulation metric we compared a grasper that only dynamically varied its geometry to a grasper with a variable palm and distinct actuation commands. The analysis revealed the advantage of the compliant reconfiguration ability intrinsic to underactuated mechanisms; by varying only the geometry of the grasper, manipulation of a wide range of objects could be performed.

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Section: B Manipulation Metricmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing Underactuated Graspers with Dynamically Variable Geometry Using Potential Energy Map Based Analysis

Yako¹,

Yuan²,

Salisbury³

2022

Preprint

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“…Fluid‐driven soft manipulator: (a) PneuArm (Sanan, 2013), (b) OctArm (Mcmahan et al, 2006), (c) HPN (Jiang et al, 2016), (d) BHA (Mahl et al, 2014), (e) underwater soft manipulator (Gong et al, 2021), (f) multimodule (Cianchetti, Ranzani, et al, 2014), (g) fluidic elastomer (Marchese et al, 2015), (h) pressure‐driven lengthening (Hawkes et al, 2017), (i) omnidirectional bending (H. Dong, 2016), (j) soft robots consisting of dual‐morphing M‐ori (W. Kim, Byun, et al, 2019), (k) helical contractile PAMs (Guan et al, 2020), (l) flexible hybrid pneumatic actuator (X. Liu et al, 2021), (m) spring reinforced actuator (Fu et al, 2020), (n) a soft parallel robot (Y. Wang & Xu, 2021), (o) Octobot (Wehner et al, 2016), (p) soft hydraulic robot (Zatopa et al, 2018), (q) soft‐legged untethered quadruped robot (Drotman et al, 2021), (r) inflatable humanoid robot named King Louie (Best et al, 2021), (s) a variable structure pneumatic soft robot (W. Huang et al, 2020), (t) multisegment soft robotic fingers (Teeple et al, 2020), (u) underwater robotic manipulator (Shen et al, 2020), (v) nanofiber‐reinforced soft robotic actuators (Sinatra et al, 2019), (w) fabric‐based versatile and stiffness‐tunable soft gripper (Fei et al, 2019), (x) three‐finger soft pneumatic gripper (Tawk et al, 2018), (y) soft pneumatic microactuators (Konishi & Hirata, 2019), (z) robotic continuum manipulator driven by pMA (Kang et al, 2013) [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

Section: Research Status Of Soft Manipulatormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Killpack et al (Best et al, 2021) designed and developed an inflatable humanoid robot named King Louie, who had two pneumatic soft arms, as shown in Figure 3r. W. Huang et al (2020) proposed a variable structure pneumatic soft robot, whose structure was variable in that when it grasped irregular objects, it could adapt to different sizes by active expansion or contraction, as shown in Figure 3s. Teeple et al (2020) designed soft robotic fingers for robust precision grasping, as shown in Figure 3t.…”

Section: Fluid-driven Modementioning

confidence: 99%

A review of soft manipulator research, applications, and opportunities

Chen

Zhang

Huang

et al. 2021

Journal of Field Robotics

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Soft manipulator is a kind of special manipulator that uses soft material or flexible structure to perform manipulation task under the specific drive mode inspired by the soft tissue. It is developing gradually as an important component of the soft robot. In this paper, the typical design cases of the soft manipulators as well as the related research teams are firstly investigated. The characteristics of different drive modes are compared and analyzed. Based on these investigations, the enabling technologies are systematically summarized in five aspects, such as kinematic and dynamic modeling, motion control, shape detection, dynamic tactile perception, and stiffening method. Currently, the research on soft manipulator has initially formed a technical system, although it is still in the primary stage. With the development of the soft manipulator, its overall technology maturity will be gradually improved. Currently, the applications of the soft manipulator lie mainly in the fields of the ground rescue, the underwater grabbing, the medical operation, the assist maintenance, the man–machine interaction, the space manipulation and so on. The application fields, such as origami soft manipulator, biomimetic soft microrobots, self‐healing soft robot, space soft manipulator and so on, emerge new opportunities and challenges for the soft manipulators.

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“…The gripping posture can be increased by increasing the number of the finger. By rotating the four fingers and changing the distance between the fingers, the gripping posture and size of the soft gripper could be continuously adjusted to grip objects of different shapes, postures and sizes (Huang et al , 2020). However, the rotation of the four fingers is controlled by four servos, which enormously increases the structure and control complexity of the gripper.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel soft gripper with enhanced gripping adaptability based on spring-reinforced soft pneumatic actuators

Cheng

Yan

et al. 2022

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Purpose Soft grippers have safer and more adaptable human–machine and environment–machine interactions than rigid grippers. However, most soft grippers with single gripping postures have a limited gripping range. Therefore, this paper aims to design a soft gripper with variable gripping posture to enhance the gripping adaptability. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes a novel soft gripper consisting of a conversion mechanism and four spring-reinforced soft pneumatic actuators (SSPAs) as soft fingers. By adjusting the conversion mechanism, four gripping postures can be achieved to grip objects of different shapes, sizes and weights. Furthermore, a quasi-static model is established to predict the bending deformation of the finger. Finally, the bending angle of the finger is measured to validate the accuracy of the quasi-static model. The gripping force and gripping adaptability are tested to explore the gripping performance of the gripper. Findings Through experiments, the results have shown that the quasi-static model can accurately predict the deformation of the finger; the gripper has the most significant gripping force under the parallel posture, and the gripping adaptability of the gripper is highly enhanced by converting the four gripping postures. Originality/value By increasing the gripping posture, a novel soft gripper with enhanced gripping adaptability is proposed to enlarge the gripping range of the soft gripper with a single posture. Furthermore, a quasi-static model is established to analyze the deformation of SSPA.

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A variable structure pneumatic soft robot

Cited by 35 publications

References 23 publications

Designing Underactuated Graspers with Dynamically Variable Geometry Using Potential Energy Map Based Analysis

Designing Underactuated Graspers with Dynamically Variable Geometry Using Potential Energy Map Based Analysis

A review of soft manipulator research, applications, and opportunities

A novel soft gripper with enhanced gripping adaptability based on spring-reinforced soft pneumatic actuators

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