Investigation of self-healing compliant actuators for robotics

Terryn, Seppe; Mathijssen, Glenn; Brancart, Joost; Assche, Guy Van; Vanderborght, Bram; Lefeber, Dirk

doi:10.1109/icra.2015.7139009

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Self-healing polymers have been investigated intensively since they were introduced in 2001 [19], which has led to the development of a diverse range of SH-polymers, relying on different SH-mechanisms [20]. The PPAMs are constructed from Diels-Alder (DA) polymer networks in which the cross-links consist of (thermo-) reversible Diels-Alder bonds [21][22][23] [24]. The DA-reaction is an equilibrium reaction.…”

Section: Self-healing: Diels-alder Polymersmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Pneumatic Artificial Muscle Manufactured Out of Self-Healing Polymers That Can Repair Macroscopic Damages

Terryn

Brancart

Lefeber

et al. 2018

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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Pneumatic muscles are mostly constructed out of flexible membranes and are implemented in a wide range of robotic applications. In these soft materials, perforations are often caused by overpressuring of the muscles and wear. In many cases this leads to limited numbers of actuation cycles. In this paper, pleated pneumatic artificial muscles were developed, whose membrane is constructed out of self-healing polymer. This allows for the complete healing of microscopic and macroscopic damages through a mild heat treatment. Two prototypes were designed, manufactured and experimentally characterized. The self-healing was validated by repairing relatively large cuts in the muscle membrane completely. Even when repeatedly damaging and healing the muscles, the mechanical properties were recovered in a reversible and repeatable fashion through the self-healing procedure.

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Section: Self-healing: Diels-alder Polymersmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Pneumatic Artificial Muscle Manufactured Out of Self-Healing Polymers That Can Repair Macroscopic Damages

Terryn

Brancart

Lefeber

et al. 2018

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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“…For this work, the length of the Jeffamine spacer used for synthesizing the furan-functionalized building block (Fig. 2A) was varied (15,29,40). For shorter spacer lengths (400 g mol −1 ), a polymer network (J400) (Fig.…”

Section: Thermal and Mechanical Properties Of The Diels-alder Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-healing soft pneumatic robots

et al. 2017

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Inspired by the compliance found in many organisms, soft robots are made almost entirely out of flexible, soft material, making them suitable for applications in uncertain, dynamic task-environments, including safe human-robot interactions. Their intrinsic compliance absorbs shocks and protects them against mechanical impacts. However, the soft materials used for their construction are highly susceptible to damage, like cuts and perforations caused by sharp objects present in the uncontrolled and unpredictable environments they operate in. In this research we propose to construct soft robotics entirely out of self-healing elastomers. Based on healing capacities found in nature, these polymers are given the ability to heal microscopic and macroscopic damage. Diels-Alder polymers, being thermoreversible covalent networks, were used to develop three applications of self-healing soft pneumatic actuators; a soft gripper, a soft hand, and artificial muscles. Soft pneumatic actuators commonly experience perforations and leaks due to excessive pressures or wear during operation. All three prototypes were designed, using finite element modelling, and mechanically characterized. The manufacturing method of the actuators exploits the self-healing behaviour of the materials, which can be recycled. Realistic macroscopic damage could be healed entirely using a mild heat treatment. At the location of the scar, no weak spots were created and the full performance of the actuators was nearly completely recovered after healing.

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“…If the polymer is damaged or cut it can self-heal and retain its original properties after being heat treated; however, the actuating cable is not self-healing. Terryn et al (2015) also utilised Diels-Alder polymers in an earlier application to make a self-healing mechanical fuse to prevent overloading and a simple cube pneumatic actuator, in later work, this is also used in a robotic gripper (Terryn et al (2017)). In these examples, healing and damage are controlled by the paper authors.…”

Section: Self-healingmentioning

confidence: 99%