The smart Peano fluidic muscle: a low profile flexible orthosis actuator that feels pain

Veale, Allan Joshua; Anderson, Iain A.; Xie, Shane

doi:10.1117/12.2084130

Cited by 11 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Elastomers such as these have the intriguing possibility of serving as both sensor and actuator [41], [42]. The authors of this work have found no published record of experiments testing the use of dielectric elastomers in a fiber-reinforced actuator (though dielectric elastomers have been used as an external transducer for the actuators [25], [26]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Contraction Sensing With Smart Braid McKibben Muscles

Felt

Chin

Remy

2016

IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The inherent compliance of soft fluidic actuators makes them attractive for use in wearable devices and soft robotics. Their flexible nature permits them to be used without traditional rotational or prismatic joints. Without these joints, however, measuring the motion of the actuators is challenging. Actuator-level sensors could improve the performance of continuum robots and robots with compliant or multi-degree-of-freedom joints. We make the reinforcing braid of a pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM or McKibben muscle) “smart” by weaving it from conductive, insulated wires. These wires form a solenoid-like circuit with an inductance that more than doubles over the PAM contraction. The reinforcing and sensing fibers can be used to measure the contraction of a PAM actuator with a simple, linear function of the measured inductance. Whereas other proposed self-sensing techniques rely on the addition of special elastomers or transducers, the technique presented in this work can be implemented without modifications of this kind. We present and experimentally validate two models for Smart Braid sensors based on the long solenoid approximation and the Neumann formula, respectively. We test a McKibben muscle made from a Smart Braid in quasistatic conditions with various end-loads and in dynamic conditions. We also test the performance of the Smart Braid sensor alongside steel.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Park et al have shown how the resistance of conductive microchannels can be used to measure fiber-reinforced actuator contraction [23]. Others simply measure the distance between the end-pieces with various established transducers [24]–[26]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contraction Sensing With Smart Braid McKibben Muscles

Felt

Chin

Remy

2016

IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As in our previous work 18 , we chose to mimic biological muscles' proprioception by embedding strain and DE pressure sensors into a fluidic muscle and using a model to estimate muscle force. This approach is preferred over direct force measurement as muscle pressure measurement is also useful for their control, eliminating the need for redundant sensors.…”

Section: Dielectric Sensors For Proprioceptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previously, fluidic muscles have used optical 11 , resistive 12 , ultrasonic 13 , and inductive 14,15 sensors, but it is capacitive dielectric elastomer (DE) sensors that have the unique combination of a soft, solidstate, and flexible form with good repeatability 16 17 and in 2015 we reported the use of a DE strain sensor as part of a force estimation system for fluidic muscles 18 . Nakamoto et al has also described the use of a DE strain sensor to measure the length of fluidic muscles 19 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…DE sensors designed to measure out-of-plane forces are not naturally suited to measuring the tensile forces produced by most fluidic muscles. In one instance, they could be used to measure fluid pressure, and along with a strain sensor, estimate muscle force 15,18 . Very sensitive DE sensors for measuring compressive forces have been made with profiled electrodes, microscale patterned dielectrics, and foam dielectrics by Böse et al 20 , Mannsfeld et al 21 , and Vandeparre et al 22 respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Dielectric elastomer strain and pressure sensing enable reactive soft fluidic muscles

2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wearable assistive devices are the future of rehabilitation therapy and bionic limb technologies. Traditional electric, hydraulic, and pneumatic actuators can provide the precise and powerful around-the-clock assistance that therapists cannot deliver. However, they do so in the confines of highly controlled factory environments, resulting in actuators too rigid, heavy, and immobile for wearable applications. In contrast, biological skeletal muscles have been designed and proven in the uncertainty of the real world. Bioinspired artificial muscle actuators aim to mimic the soft, slim, and selfsensing abilities of natural muscle that make them tough and intelligent.Fluidic artificial muscles are a promising wearable assistive actuation candidate, sharing the high-force, inherent compliance of their natural counterparts. Until now, they have not been able to self-sense their length, pressure, and force in an entirely soft and flexible system. Their use of rigid components has previously been a requirement for the generation of large forces, but reduces their reliability and compromises their ability to be comfortably worn.We present the unobtrusive integration of dielectric elastomer (DE) strain and pressure sensors into a soft Peano fluidic muscle, a planar alternative to the relatively bulky McKibben muscle. Characterization of these DE sensors shows they can measure the full operating range of the Peano muscle: strains of around 18% and pressures up to 400 kPa with changes in capacitance of 2.4 and 10.5 pF respectively. This is a step towards proprioceptive artificial muscles, paving the way for wearable actuation that can truly feel its environment.

show abstract

Easy Undressing with Soft Robotics

Helps

Taghavi

Manns

et al. 2018

Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dexterity impairments affect many people worldwide, limiting their ability to easily perform daily tasks and to be independent. Difficulty getting dressed and undressed is commonly reported. Some research has been performed on robot-assisted dressing, where an external device helps the user put on and take off clothes. However, no wearable robotic technology or robotic assistive clothing has yet been proposed that actively helps the user dress. In this article, we introduce the concept of Smart Adaptive Clothing, which uses Soft Robotic technology to assist the user in dressing and undressing. We discuss how Soft Robotic technologies can be applied to Smart Adaptive Clothing and present a proof of concept study of a Pneumatic Smart Adaptive Belt. The belt weighs only 68 g, can expand by up to 14% in less than 6 s, and is demonstrated aiding undressing on a mannequin, achieving an extremely low undressing time of 1.7 s.

show abstract

The smart Peano fluidic muscle: a low profile flexible orthosis actuator that feels pain

Cited by 11 publications

References 21 publications

Contraction Sensing With Smart Braid McKibben Muscles

Contraction Sensing With Smart Braid McKibben Muscles

Dielectric elastomer strain and pressure sensing enable reactive soft fluidic muscles

Easy Undressing with Soft Robotics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About