Interaction Forces of Soft Fiber Reinforced Bending Actuators
Interaction Forces of Soft Fiber Reinforced Bending Actuators
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DOI：
10.1109/tmech.2016.2638468
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发表时间：
2017-04-01
影响因子：
6.4
通讯作者：
Walsh, Conor J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Wang, Zheng;Polygerinos, Panagiotis;Walsh, Conor J.
柔性弯曲执行器具有内在的柔顺性、紧凑性和轻量级。与刚性执行器相比，它们更适合用于从物理人类交互到精细对象操作的机器人应用。然而，由于材料的非线性和可能产生的复杂运动，表征和预测它们的行为是具有挑战性的。本文研究了一种使用单气室和纤维增强材料的软弯曲执行器的设计。此外，执行机构的设计还结合了感应层，以实现实时弯曲角测量，以进行分析和控制。为了研究软材料与环境相互作用时的弯曲和受力特性，建立了基于软材料施加的内压和拉伸产生的弯矩的准静态分析模型。相比之下，针对相同的执行器设计建立了有限元模型。分析模型和有限元模型均用于纤维增强分析和制作执行器的验证实验。实验结果表明，该分析模型较好地反映了供气压力、舵机弯曲角和舵机尖端作用力之间的关系。此外，研究表明，在本研究中，将现成的弯曲角传感器集成到执行器中，可以提供实时的力估计，从而不需要力传感器。
Soft-bending actuators are inherently compliant, compact, and lightweight. They are preferable candidates over rigid actuators for robotic applications ranging from physical human interaction to delicate object manipulation. However, characterizing and predicting their behaviors are challenging due to the material nonlinearities and the complex motions they can produce. This paper investigates a soft-bending actuator design that uses a single air chamber and fiber reinforcements. Additionally, the actuator design incorporates a sensing layer to enable real-time bending angle measurement for analysis and control. In order to study the bending and force exertion characteristics when interacting with the environment, a quasi-static analytical model is developed based on the bending moments generated from the applied internal pressure and stretches of the soft materials. Comparatively, a finite-element method model is created for the same actuator design. Both the analytical model and the finite-element model are used in the fiber reinforcement analysis and the validation experiments with fabricated actuators. The experimental results demonstrate that the analytical model captures the relationships of supplied air pressure, actuator bending angle, and interaction force at the actuator tip. Moreover, it is shown that an off-the-shelf bend angle sensor integrated to the actuator in this study could provide real-time force estimation, thus eliminating the need for a force sensor.