An Air Recirculation System Based on Bioinspired Soft Re-Air Valve for Highly Efficient Pneumatic Actuation

Lee, Sinyoung; Lee, Dong‐Un; Shin, Dong-Chun

doi:10.1089/soro.2020.0007

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Moreover, we introduce a dynamic model of m-SPAs to guide the analysis of our IEAR mechanism, with theoretical predictions that reasonably agree with the experimental measurements. Building on previous studies that examined the dynamics of pneumatic actuators with a single chamber Lee et al, 2021;Xavier et al, 2020), our dynamic model is valid for actuators with multiple pneumatic chambers.…”

Section: Movie S1 the Traditional Dido Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For higher energy efficiency, an optional method is to reduce the input work of the system by improving the inlet pressure of a pump (Chou and Hannaford, 1996). For example, an air pump can recompress the exhaust air with residual pressure to a target pressure through an external exhaust air recirculation (EEAR, Figure 1a) mechanism Lee et al, 2021), where an extra pneumatic buffer (e.g., Re-Air valve) can be used to reduce severe pressure fluctuation (Lee et al, 2021). However, a key limitation is that this mechanism depends on the incorporation of pumps that typically have low electrical-to-mechanical energy conversion efficiency and, therefore, consume excess energy when recompressing the exhaust air.…”

Section: Movie S1 the Traditional Dido Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the lightweight of most soft actuators Lee et al, 2021;Xavier et al, 2020), we ignore the actuator mass and hypothesize that the volume is a function of air pressures. In this manner, we can express V i as a function of the internal pressures…”

Section: The Dynamic Model Of M-spasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…50 mL/min) make them unfeasible to build a compacted low-power system for practical applications Stergiopulos et al, 2014). Therefore, achieving high-speed and low-energy actuation of m-SPAs remains an open challenge (Table S1 and Figure S1a) (Marchese et al, 2014;Drotman et al, 2021;Shepherd et al, 2011;Aubin et al, 2022;Lee et al, 2021;Gong et al, 2016;de Pascali et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High-speed and Low-energy Actuation for Pneumatic Soft Robots With Internal Exhaust Air Recirculation

Feng

Yang

Majidi

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Multi-chamber soft pneumatic actuators (m-SPAs) have been widely used in soft robotic systems to achieve versatile grasping and locomotion. However, existing m-SPAs have slow actuation speed and are either limited by a finite air supply or require energy-consuming hardware to continuously supply compressed air. Here, we address these shortcomings by introducing an internal exhaust air recirculation (IEAR) mechanism for high-speed and low-energy actuation of m-SPAs. This mechanism recirculates the exhaust compressed air and recovers the energy by harnessing the rhythmic actuation of multiple chambers. We develop a theoretical model to guide the analysis of the IEAR mechanism, which agrees well with the experimental results. Comparative experimental results of several sets of m-SPAs show that our IEAR mechanism significantly improves the actuation speed by more than 82.4% and reduces the energy consumption per cycle by more than 47.7% under typical conditions. We further demonstrate the promising applications of the IEAR mechanism in various pneumatic soft machines and robots such as a robotic fin, fabric-based finger, and quadruped robot. Corresponding author(s) Email: guguoying@sjtu.edu.cn

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Section: Movie S1 the Traditional Dido Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Movie S1 the Traditional Dido Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Dynamic Model Of M-spasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

High-speed and Low-energy Actuation for Pneumatic Soft Robots With Internal Exhaust Air Recirculation

Feng

Yang

Majidi

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…Moreover, pneumatic actuators generally necessitate excessive overheads for input energy sources (compressed air), such as large air compressors, regulators, etc. These characteristics of PAMs further complicate their applicability for mobile soft robots [18,19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Power-Efficient Soft Pneumatic Actuator Using Spring-Frame Collateral Compression Mechanism

Kim

Lee

et al. 2022

Actuators

Self Cite

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With the ongoing research on soft robots, the performance of soft actuators needs to be enhanced for more wide robotic applications. Currently, most soft robots based on pneumatic actuation are capable of assisting small systems, but they are not fully suited for supporting joints requiring large force and range of motion. This is due to the actuation characteristics of the pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM); they are relatively slow, inefficient, and experience a significant force reduction when the PAM contracts. Hence, we propose a novel PAM based on a spring-frame collateral compression mechanism. With only a single compressed air source, the external mesh-covered and inner spring-frame actuators of the proposed PAM operate simultaneously to generate considerable force. Additionally, the design of the internal actuator within the void space of PAM reduces the air consumption and consequently improves the actuator’s operating speed and efficiency. We experimentally confirmed that the proposed PAM exhibited 31.2% greater force, was 25.6% faster, and consumed 21.5% lower air compared to the conventional McKibben muscles. The performance enhancement of the proposed PAM improves the performance of soft robots, allowing the development of more compact robots with greater assistive range.

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High‐Speed and Low‐Energy Actuation for Pneumatic Soft Robots with Internal Exhaust Air Recirculation

Feng

Yang

Majidi

et al. 2023

Advanced Intelligent Systems

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Multichamber soft pneumatic actuators (m‐SPAs) are widely used in soft robotic systems to achieve versatile grasping and locomotion. However, existing m‐SPAs have slow actuation speed and are either limited by a finite air supply or require energy‐consuming hardware to continuously supply compressed air. Herein, these shortcomings by introducing an internal exhaust air recirculation (IEAR) mechanism for high‐speed and low‐energy actuation of m‐SPAs are addressed. This mechanism recirculates the exhaust compressed air and recovers the energy by harnessing the rhythmic actuation of multiple chambers. A theoretical model to guide the analysis of the IEAR mechanism, which agrees well with the experimental results, is developed. Comparative experimental results of several sets of m‐SPAs show that the IEAR mechanism significantly improves the actuation speed by more than 82.4% and reduces the energy consumption per cycle by more than 47.7% under typical conditions. The promising applications of the IEAR mechanism in various pneumatic soft machines and robots such as a robotic fin, fabric‐based finger, and quadruped robot are further demonstrated. An interactive preprint version of the article can be found at: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.166428178.80668101/v1.

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An Air Recirculation System Based on Bioinspired Soft Re-Air Valve for Highly Efficient Pneumatic Actuation

Cited by 8 publications

References 15 publications

High-speed and Low-energy Actuation for Pneumatic Soft Robots With Internal Exhaust Air Recirculation

High-speed and Low-energy Actuation for Pneumatic Soft Robots With Internal Exhaust Air Recirculation

Power-Efficient Soft Pneumatic Actuator Using Spring-Frame Collateral Compression Mechanism

High‐Speed and Low‐Energy Actuation for Pneumatic Soft Robots with Internal Exhaust Air Recirculation

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