Modular Soft Robotics: Modular Units, Connection Mechanisms, and Applications

Zhang, Chao; Zhu, Pingan; Lin, Yangqiao; Zhang, Jiao; Zou, Jun

doi:10.1002/aisy.201900166

Cited by 71 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…As demonstrated by Miyashita et al, modularization is a low-cost, simple, and rapid strategy for small-scale robots to enhance their robustness via active reconfiguration of their morphology. [213] While such concepts have only been demonstrated by rigid small-scale robots, [213][214][215][216][217] miniature soft robots can potentially also benefit from these strategies in the future. Furthermore, if each of these modules can be programmed to respond to different types of actuation, the dexterity of miniature soft robots can be further enhanced.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Locomotion of Miniature Soft Robots

Tan

et al. 2020

Advanced Materials

105

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as prospective aerial vehicles that can significantly enhance the efficiency of search-and-rescue missions, [16][17][18] perform dangerous operations in hazardous environments, [18] and function as miniature nodes in sensor networks. [18] Because miniature robots are expected to operate in various types of environments, it is essential for them to possess effective locomotive gaits to navigate well in such terrains. [19,20] This will be especially true if the robots have to negotiate across highly unstructured environments such as within the human body or at disaster sites. [5,10,21,22] Of the miniature robots, the soft robots are significantly more promising than their rigid counterparts in developing dexterous gaits because their degrees of freedom and adaptability are considerably higher. [23][24][25] By having the ability to generate a series of time-varying shapes, miniature soft robots have shown to be able to perform various types of locomotion, which allow them to negotiate across complicated obstacles in their environments. [19,26] In addition to using such locomotion for navigation purposes, these gaits could also be beneficial for studying the locomotion of various small organisms. [4,13] In this report, we review the locomotion producible by miniature soft robots. The scope of this report is therefore different from reviews and commentaries that focus on the actuation, [3] applications, [2,21] or design [27] of miniature soft robots. It is also significantly different from reviews that focus on the applications of miniature robots, [1,10,11] and others that review the general principles [24,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] or locomotion [34,36,37] of macro-scale soft robots. To facilitate our discussion, here we categorize the locomotion of the miniature soft robots into terrestrial, aquatic, and aerial locomotion (Figure 1). Under each category, we will highlight their key advancements, as well as their open challenges and future outlook. Except for the aerial robots that are in the centimeter-scale, our discussions will focus on soft robots that are in the micro/millimeter length scales. It is noteworthy that the discussions in this report will be restricted to synthetic materials. For miniature bio-robots based on natural materials, interested readers may refer to other reviews on biomolecular, biohybrid actuation, or microorganism-driven systems. [38][39][40][41][42][43] The report is organized as follows: Section 2 provides a brief discussion about the general actuation principles of miniature soft robots. This is followed by Sections 3-5 in which we discuss the advancements of miniature soft robots in their Miniature soft robots are mobile devices, which are made of smart materials that can be actuated by external stimuli to realize their desired functionalities. Here, the key advancements and challenges of the locomotion producible by miniature soft robots in micro-to centimeter length scales are highlighted. It is highly desirable to endow these small machines with dexterous locomotive gaits a...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Locomotion of Miniature Soft Robots

Tan

et al. 2020

Advanced Materials

105

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“…Recently there is a rise in popularity of modular [204] and selfreconfigurable robotic systems. [205,206] These approaches will facilitate self-repair in robotic systems [207] by replacing failed modules with new ones completely autonomously.…”

Section: Reassembly Of Modular Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Processing of Self‐Healing Polymers for Soft Robotics

et al. 2021

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Soft robots are, due to their softness, inherently safe and adapt well to unstructured environments. However, they are prone to various damage types. Self‐healing polymers address this vulnerability. Self‐healing soft robots can recover completely from macroscopic damage, extending their lifetime. For developing healable soft robots, various formative and additive manufacturing methods have been exploited to shape self‐healing polymers into complex structures. Additionally, several novel manufacturing techniques, noted as (re)assembly binding techniques that are specific to self‐healing polymers, have been created. Herein, the wide variety of processing techniques of self‐healing polymers for robotics available in the literature is reviewed, and limitations and opportunities discussed thoroughly. Based on defined requirements for soft robots, these techniques are critically compared and validated. A strong focus is drawn to the reversible covalent and (physico)chemical cross‐links present in the self‐healing polymers that do not only endow healability to the resulting soft robotic components, but are also beneficial in many manufacturing techniques. They solve current obstacles in soft robots, including the formation of robust multi‐material parts, recyclability, and stress relaxation. This review bridges two promising research fields, and guides the reader toward selecting a suitable processing method based on a self‐healing polymer and the intended soft robotics application.

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“…In Equation (18), ∆l(ξ) represents the cable length change caused by nonlinear spring deformation, which can be obtained according to the geometric relationship of the mechanism, and which satisfies Equation (14). Equation (13) deduces the relationship between the cable force F c and ξ when the friction is neglected.…”

Section: Active Contraction Force Control 41 Modeling Of the Actuatormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the driving voltage is high (10-100 V)/µm), and the hysteresis is obvious [12]. Although the driving voltage of an IPMC is low, the power density and the electric stress are small [13]. At present, the artificial muscles with new driving principles have their own advantages, but they are still immature, and there is a gap in the comprehensive performance level of biological muscles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Control of a Nonlinear Series Elastic Cable Actuator Based on the Hill Muscle Model

Zou²,

et al. 2022

Actuators

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The bionic design of muscles is a research hotspot at present. Many researchers have designed bionic elastic actuators based on the Hill muscle model, and most of them include an active contraction element, passive contraction element and series elastic element, but they need more parametric design of mechanical structure and control under the guidance of Hill muscle model. In this research, a nonlinear series elastic cable actuating mechanism is designed in which the parameters of the elastic mechanism are optimized based on the Hill muscle model to fit the nonlinear passive elasticity of a muscle. Through the force–position relationship determined by the Hill muscle model, the output force and position of a nonlinear series elastic cable actuator are controlled to simulate the active contraction performance of a muscle. The experiments show that the proposed design and control method can make the nonlinear cable actuator have good muscle-like output force–displacement characteristics.

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Modular Soft Robotics: Modular Units, Connection Mechanisms, and Applications

Cited by 71 publications

References 92 publications

Locomotion of Miniature Soft Robots

Locomotion of Miniature Soft Robots

Processing of Self‐Healing Polymers for Soft Robotics

Design and Control of a Nonlinear Series Elastic Cable Actuator Based on the Hill Muscle Model

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