Untethered soft actuators for soft standalone robotics

Jung, Yeongju; Kwon, Kangkyu; Lee, Jinwoo; Ko, Seung Hwan

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-47639-0

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 197 publications

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“…Compared with traditional rigid robots, soft robots are more flexible, effective, and safe because they are inherently soft and capable of producing great deformations. Normally, soft robots are driven by soft actuators [27][28][29][30][31][32], so a series of driving mechanisms has been developed to manufacture soft actuators. Soft fluidic actuators [33][34][35][36] are the most widely used type of actuators in soft robots, including the pneumatic and hydraulic drive methods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft Electrohydraulic Bending Actuators for Untethered Underwater Robots

Lin,

Chen,

Tang

2024

Actuators

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Traditional underwater rigid robots have some shortcomings that limit their applications in the ocean. In contrast, because of their inherent flexibility, soft robots, which have gained popularity recently, offer greater adaptability, efficiency, and safety than rigid robots. Among them, the soft actuator is the core component to power the soft robot. Here, we propose a class of soft electrohydraulic bending actuators suitable for underwater robots, which realize the bending motion of the actuator by squeezing the working liquid with an electric field. The actuator consists of a silicone rubber film, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films, soft electrodes, silicone oils, an acrylic frame, and a soft flipper. When a square wave voltage is applied, the actuator can generate continuous flapping motions. By mimicking Haliclystus auricula, we designed an underwater robot based on six soft electrohydraulic bending actuators and constructed a mechanical model of the robot. Additionally, a high-voltage square wave circuit board was created to achieve the robot’s untethered motions and remote control using a smart phone via WiFi. The test results show that 1 Hz was the robot’s ideal driving frequency, and the maximum horizontal swimming speed of the robot was 7.3 mm/s.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft Electrohydraulic Bending Actuators for Untethered Underwater Robots

Lin,

Chen,

Tang

2024

Actuators

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Laser‐Printed All‐Carbon Responsive Material and Soft Robot

Yu,

Zhao,

Zhu

et al. 2024

Advanced Materials

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Responsive materials and actuators are the basis for the development of various leading‐edge technologies but have so far mostly been designed based on polymers, incurring key limitations related to sensitivity and environmental tolerance. This work reports a new responsive material, laser‐printed carbon film (LPCF), produced via direct laser transformation of a liquid organic precursor and consists of graphitic and amorphous carbons. The high activity of amorphous carbon combined with the dual‐gradient structure enables the LPCF to have a actuation speed of 9400° s−1 in response to the stimulus of organic vapor. LPCF exhibits a conductivity of 950 S m−1 and excellent resistance to various extreme environmental conditions, which are unachievable for polymer‐based materials. Additionally, an LPCF‐based all‐carbon soft robot that can mimic the complex continuous backward somersaulting motions without manual intervention is constructed. The locomotion velocity of the robot reaches a value of 1.19 BL s−1, which is almost one to two orders of magnitude faster than that of reported soft robots. This work not only offers a new paradigm for highly responsive materials but also provides a great design and engineering example for the next generation of biomimetic robots with life‐like performance.

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