Rotary Actuators Based on Pneumatically Driven Elastomeric Structures

Gong, Xiangyu; Yang, Ke; Xie, Jingjin; Wang, Yanjun; Kulkarni, Parth; Hobbs, Alexander S.; Mazzeo, Aaron D.

doi:10.1002/adma.201600660

Cited by 56 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…It is useful to compare the cVAM with the related device described by Mazzeo et al 22 cycles and the actuation remained unchanged, as seen in Figure S12). cVAMs exhibit three limitations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soft, Rotating Pneumatic Actuator

et al. 2017

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This paper describes a soft pneumatic actuator that generates cyclical motion. The actuator consists of several (three, four, or five) chambers (arranged around the circumference of a circle surrounding a central rod) that can be actuated independently using negative pressure (or partial vacuum). Sequential actuation of the four-chamber device using reduced pressure moves the central rod cyclically in an approximately square path. We characterize the trajectory of the actuator and the force exerted by it, as we vary the material used for fabrication, the number of chambers, and the size of the actuator. We demonstrate two applications of this actuator: to deliver fluid while stirring (by replacing the central rod with a needle), and for locomotion that mimics a reptilian gait (by combining four actuators together).

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“…It is useful to compare the cVAM with the related device described by Mazzeo et al 22 cycles and the actuation remained unchanged, as seen in Figure S12). cVAMs exhibit three limitations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mazzeo et al have recently described a system that is related in concept, although different in execution and application. 22 Prior work 4,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] on soft actuators has suggested a number of approaches related to what we describe here. Wait et al developed a spherical rolling robot using inflatable rubber bladders.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft, Rotating Pneumatic Actuator

et al. 2017

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“…Pressurized air has been widely used as the main power source for soft actuators to achieve twisting or rotary motion, although an overpressure risk needs to be carefully considered in actuator design . Lee et al, Morin et al, and Lazarus et al designed a range of twisting actuators powered by positive pressure with twisting angles of less than 62°.…”

Section: Combinations Of V‐sptas To Achieve Various Motionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the actuator is not suitable for the development of soft robots due to its inherent sheet‐like structure. A continuous rotary actuator driven by pressurized air was proposed by Gong et al who designed a pneumatic rotary actuator based on peristaltic motion of elastomeric materials. The actuator consisted of an inflatable stator that was paired with a rotor.…”

Section: Combinations Of V‐sptas To Achieve Various Motionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They applied the cVAMs to deliver fluid while stirring the fluid with a speed of 750 rpm and prototyped a quadrupedal soft robot that mimicked a reptilian gait with a speed of 5 mm s −1 . The cVAMs were able to rotate faster than other similar positive‐pressure drive actuators, although they are not directly suitable for driving an axle or wheel because the central rod of a cVAM does not rotate, since the actuators follow an approximately square trajectory.…”

Section: Combinations Of V‐sptas To Achieve Various Motionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vacuum‐Powered Soft Pneumatic Twisting Actuators to Empower New Capabilities for Soft Robots

Zhang

Chen

Zou

et al. 2018

Adv Materials Technologies

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working. With the development of fabrication technology of soft robots, entirely flexible manipulator [9][10][11][12][13] and gripper [14][15][16][17][18] have been achieved. However, none of the existing soft actuators are appropriate for entirely flexible joint. Therefore, flexible twisting actuators with diverse functions and easy manufacture are needed to be designed.Pressurized air has been widely used as the main power source for soft actuators to achieve twisting or rotary motion, although an overpressure risk needs to be carefully considered in actuator design. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Lee et al., [19] Morin et al., [20] and Lazarus et al. [21] designed a range of twisting actuators powered by positive pressure with twisting angles of less than 62°. To improve performance, Connolly et al. [22] developed soft fluidic actuators reinforced by fibers, which can rotate up to 180°. They combined the actuators with different fiber angles in series to create a wormlike soft robot that could navigate through a pipe and insert prongs into holes. However, the actuator length needs to be increased to achieve larger twisting angles, which limits their application as flexible joints, since such structure requires a short length. Gorissen et al. [23] proposed a new soft actuator based on angled pneumatic balloon actuator arrays that can perform a large twisting angle of 71° without compromising an increase of actuator length. Four actuators were used to create a two degrees of freedom (DoFs) tilting mirror platform, which could turn at angles of ±25° and ± 29°. However, the actuator is not suitable for the development of soft robots due to its inherent sheet-like structure. A continuous rotary actuator driven by pressurized air was proposed by Gong et al. [24] who designed a pneumatic rotary actuator based on peristaltic motion of elastomeric materials. The actuator consisted of an inflatable stator that was paired with a rotor. A four-wheeled vehicle, which used a combination of the actuators, was prototyped and achieved a speed of 37 mm s −1 . The vehicle could travel over irregular terrains and survive high mechanical impact loads. The actuator was completely soft, but the cyclic fatigue behavior of the elastomeric bladders and delamination at the bonded interfaces were not clear and requires further investigation.Recently, pioneering studies employed the use of vacuum power to achieve torsional motion. [26][27][28] Yang et al. [26] exploited an elastomeric structure which contained a number of elastic beams and interconnected deformable cavities sealed within a Vacuum-powered soft pneumatic actuators (V-SPAs) are a promising enabling technology for a wide range of emerging applications, including artificial muscles, programmable locomotion, and flexible grippers. This is due to their flexible deformation, clean power supply, safe interaction with users, and high reliability compared with alternative actuators. A new vacuum-powered soft pneumatic twisting actuator (V-SPTA) is designed, which has a single seamless...

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Elastomeric Prepregs for Soft Robotics Applications

Wienzek

Seibel

2019

Adv Eng Mater

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Typically, soft robots that are driven with compressed air consist of two parts which are bonded together, a top and a strain‐limiting bottom part. This communication describes the possibility to simplify the manufacturing process by using textile semi‐finished products preimpregnated with liquid elastomer (prepregs) as the strain‐limiting part, which can be stored at low temperatures with significant slower cross‐linking reaction. For this, in long‐term tests, three typical elastomers (Elastosil M 4601, Ecoflex 00–30, and Sylgard 184) are stored at −25 °C, and in a weekly cycle over 12 weeks, the viscosity is measured to determine the curing characteristics. It turns out that Elastosil M 4601 and Sylgard 184 are suitable for this application. For comparison, short‐term viscosity measurements are conducted at room temperature in a 10 min cycle. The impregnability of several textiles (polyester/cotton blended fabric, nylon fabric, fleece, and flax fabric) is tested with the suitable elastomers. The applicability of prepregs for soft robotic applications is demonstrated by manufacturing soft bending actuators with various textile‐elastomer combinations.

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Rotary Actuators Based on Pneumatically Driven Elastomeric Structures

Cited by 56 publications

References 35 publications

Soft, Rotating Pneumatic Actuator

Soft, Rotating Pneumatic Actuator

Vacuum‐Powered Soft Pneumatic Twisting Actuators to Empower New Capabilities for Soft Robots

Elastomeric Prepregs for Soft Robotics Applications

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