Design, modeling and control of a pneumatically actuated manipulator inspired by biological continuum structures

Kang, Rongjie; Branson, David T.; Zheng, Tianjiang; Guglielmino, Emanuele; Caldwell, Darwin G.

doi:10.1088/1748-3182/8/3/036008

Cited by 127 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…5 The topology of the actuators should be inspired by the muscular anatomy of the octopus and their number chosen as a trade-off between required dexterity and engineering constraints. 22,39,40 In engineering prototypes, either three or four longitudinal muscles could be applied to achieve the same motions. However, the use of four longitudinal muscles in an engineered octopus arm is kinematically redundant.…”

Section: Mechanical Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, current actuator systems are still too large and heavy to be implemented into a continuum robot while the output force and range are still too small for on-board operations. 5,16,17,22 At the same time, the measurement and control of a compliant structure with hyper-redundant (.7) degrees of freedom (DOF) remain challenging. The aim of this article is to provide a possible way to relate the biological insights of octopuses to the design and construction of a real robotic arm, while respecting engineering constraints.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Embodiment design of soft continuum robots

Kang

Zullo

Branson

et al. 2016

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

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This article presents the results of a multidisciplinary project where mechatronic engineers worked alongside biologists to develop a soft robotic arm that captures key features of octopus anatomy and neurophysiology. The concept of embodiment (the dynamic coupling between sensory-motor control, anatomy, materials and environment that allows for the animal to achieve adaptive behaviours) is used as a starting point for the design process but tempered by current engineering technologies and approaches. In this article, the embodied design requirements are first discussed from a robotic viewpoint by taking into account real-life engineering limitations; then, the motor control schemes inspired by octopus nervous system are investigated. Finally, the mechanical and control design of a prototype is presented that appropriately blends bio-inspiration and engineering limitations. Simulated and experimental results show that the developed continuum robotic arm is able to reproduce octopus-like motions for bending, reaching and grasping.

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Section: Mechanical Requirementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Embodiment design of soft continuum robots

Kang

Zullo

Branson

et al. 2016

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Self Cite

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“…Its skin on its tentacles contains suckers which also behave as multi-spot stiffeners and are connected as crosslinking stiffeners to the network of helical ±45 o fibers [22] in the octopus tentacles skin underlayer ( Figure 5(a)). In the core of the tentacle there is the muscular hydrostat, which for the octopus consists of a system of 12 radial and longitudinal antagonistic fibers for elongation, shortening and bending of tentacles while the ±45 o oriented muscular fibers in the skin underlayer cause torsion.…”

Section: Designs and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Skins and Sleeves for Soft Robotics: Inspiration from Nature and Architecture

et al. 2015

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This paper is on the design, fabrication and testing of skins and sleeves for soft robotics with the focus on the mechanical features of the microstructure of these skins, drawing inspiration from nature and architecture. Biological inspirations drawn from animals are used for designing skin membranes or skin structures for soft robotic actuators, in particular pneumatic actuators, that protect, guide and contribute to the development of the actuated shape. The results presented in this paper will be a new step towards advancing the state-of-the-art of biologically inspired soft robots for minimally invasive surgery. Inspirations from architecture are of particular interest in the areas of formability of design and continuous flow. The report presents a trade-off study using various skin and sleeve technologies of innovative fiber structures and combinations of different materials in different innovative designs, surrounding a pneumatically actuated, soft robot of variable stiffness.3

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“…Theoretically, they are able to take any shape in the working environment. Therefore, these types of robots are also named as hyper-redundant since they have a very large number (or infinite) of active degrees of freedom (DOF) (Chirikjian and Burdick, 1994;Kang et al, 2013). An advantage of having a deformable low-stiffness backbone is that these types of robots generate little resistance to compressive forces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and evaluation of a continuum robot with extendable balloons

Yarbasi

Samur

2018

Mech. Sci.

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Abstract. This article presents the design and preliminary evaluation of a novel continuum robot actuated by two extendable balloons. Extendable balloons are utilized as the actuation mechanism of the robot, and they are attached to the tip from their slack sections. These balloons can extend very much in length without having a significant change in diameter. Employing two balloons in an axially extendable, radially rigid flexible shaft, radial strain becomes constricted, allowing high elongation. As inflated, the balloons apply a force on the wall of the tip, pushing it forward. This force enables the robot to move forward. The air is supplied to the balloons by an air compressor and its flow rate to each balloon can be independently controlled. Changing the air volumes differently in each balloon, when they are radially constricted, orients the robot, allowing navigation. Elongation and force generation capabilities and pressure data are measured for different balloons during inflation and deflation. Afterward, the robot is subjected to open field and maze-like environment navigation tests. The contribution of this study is the introduction of a novel actuation mechanism for soft robots to have extreme elongation (2000 %) in order to be navigated in substantially long and narrow environments.

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Design, modeling and control of a pneumatically actuated manipulator inspired by biological continuum structures

Cited by 127 publications

References 34 publications

Embodiment design of soft continuum robots

Embodiment design of soft continuum robots

Skins and Sleeves for Soft Robotics: Inspiration from Nature and Architecture

Design and evaluation of a continuum robot with extendable balloons

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