Pneumatic Soft Actuator with Anisotropic Soft and Rigid Restraints for Pure in-Plane Bending Motion
Pneumatic Soft Actuator with Anisotropic Soft and Rigid Restraints for Pure in-Plane Bending Motion
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具有各向异性软质和刚性约束的气动软质执行器，用于纯平面内弯曲运动
DOI：
10.3390/app9152999
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发表时间：
2019
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Zhu Haifei
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Su Manjia;Xie Rongzhen;Zhang Yihong;Kang Xiaopan;Huang Dongyu;Guan Yisheng;Zhu Haifei
近年来，各种具有应用前景的软体机器人被开发出来。软作动器作为软机器人的关键部件，起着至关重要的作用，必须根据应用要求进行精心设计。由于纯软材料的各向同性，如果不施加约束，软体可能会向不希望的方向变形。对于一些软机器人，如一寸虫型两足爬行机器人，必须通过适当的软执行器结构设计来约束其驱动方向。提出了一种具有各向异性软硬约束的纯平面内弯曲气动软执行器。采用金属铰链带嵌入柔性材料的复合材料结构，研制了平面弯曲气动软执行器（2D-PSA）。本文详细介绍了其设计方法、材料选择和制作工艺。根据弯曲角度或力与输入气压之间的关系，进行了2D-PSA驱动性能测试。动态响应也用激光跟踪仪测量。在此基础上，进行了2D-PSA与一般PSA的对比实验，验证了2D-PSA的有效性。设计了一个由两个连续连接的2D-PSA和三个气动吸盘组成的机器人，该机器人可以模仿蛇的运动在平面上爬行，作为2D-PSA的应用演示。其运动能力体现了2D-PSA的平面内性能和机动性。
A variety of soft robots with prospective applications has been developed in recent years. As a key component of a soft robot, the soft actuator plays a critical role and hence must be designed carefully according to application requirements. The soft body may deform in undesired directions if no restraint is endued, due to the isotropy of the pure soft material. For some soft robots such as an inchworm-like biped climbing robot, the actuation direction must be constrained with the appropriate structure design of the soft actuator. This study proposes a pneumatic soft actuator (PSA) to achieve pure in-plane bending motion with anisotropic soft and rigid restraints. The in-plane bending pneumatic soft actuator (2D-PSA) is developed with a composite structure where a metal hinge belt is embedded into the soft material. The design method, material choice, and fabrication process are presented in detail in this paper. Tests are conducted to measure the actuating performance of 2D-PSA in terms of the relationship between the bending angle or force and the input air pressure. Dynamic response is also measured with a laser tracker. Furthermore, a comparative experiment is carried out between the presented 2D-PSA and a general PSA, with results verifying the effectiveness of the presented 2D-PSA. A robot consisting of two serially-connected 2D-PSAs and three pneumatic suckers, which can climb on a flat surface mimicking a snake’s locomotion, is developed as an application demo of the presented 2D-PSA. Its locomotion capability presents the in-plane performance and mobility of 2D-PSA.