Enabling Technologies for Actuated Continuum Surfaces Undergoing Large Deformations

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Controllable Large Displacement Continuum Surfaces, LCDS, hold the potential for application across a diverse range of applications including the highly dexterous manipulation of parts in manufacturing environments, soft/flexible exoskeleton systems in healthcare, and jointless surface control in the aerospace, automotive, energy and food processing industries. Another application with immediate benefit across multiple industries would be to replace conventional mould surfaces used in the development of bespoke carbon fibre components with a single, reconfigurable surface capable of forming on-demand to desired mould profiles from digital files. Currently low volume production line moulds are produced through expensive (hand carved, milling, turning, and more recently 3D printing) methods that can account for upwards of 20% of a component's manufacturing cost. The use of LCDS systems to form on-demand mould shapes for low volume parts would result in massive savings to the production of such components. The problem is that to date LDCS operate in 'open loop' with little or no sensor feedback capability to maintain desired curvature under changing conditions, or consideration as to how external forces might best be accounted for. Additionally, placement of actuation elements on the surface to achieve complex profiles is largely accomplished through user intuition and experience, limiting efficiency at the design stage. This results in 'trial and error' methods to LDCS design and control that increase production costs and reduce surface performance under operation. To move beyond 'trial by error' design and control of LDCS undergoing large elastic deformations, accurate, yet computationally efficient, methodologies to model and simulate in both the kinematic and dynamic domains are required.This project will advance the use of LDCS into the next realm by providing the tools necessary to enable robust procedures for their design and control based not on 'trial and error', but physical model information within an accurate and efficient structure. This will not only make direct, meaningful contributions to the use of LDCS in carbon fibre production. But open further applications of LDCS to areas such as the highly dexterous manipulation of parts in manufacturing environments, soft/flexible exoskeleton systems in healthcare, and deformable surface control in the aerospace, automotive, energy and food processing industries.