Abstract
This paper characterizes the ability of soft pneumatic actuators and robots to resist mechanical insults that would irreversibly damage or destroy hard robotic systems—systems fabricated in metals and structural polymers, and actuated mechanically—of comparable sizes. The pneumatic networks that actuate these soft machines are formed by bonding two layers of elastomeric or polymeric materials that have different moduli on application of strain by pneumatic inflation; this difference in strain between an extensible top layer and an inextensible, strain‐limiting, bottom layer causes the pneumatic network to expand anisotropically. While all the soft machines described here are, to some extent, more resistant to damage by compressive forces, blunt impacts, and severe bending than most corresponding hard systems, the composition of the strain‐limiting layers confers on them very different tensile and compressive strengths.
Highlights
Robots based on rigid structural elements—metallic skeletons, electrical motors, conventional mechanical actuators, and mechanical joints—can be superb at performing tasks that require high precision, rapid movement, or application of high levels of force or power
We have described the design of the soft robotic structures previously
We fabricated multi-channel structures molded in a flexible silicone elastomer (Ecoflex 00-30, Smooth-on, http://www.smooth-on.com) using standard soft lithographic techniques.[22]
Summary
Robots based on rigid structural elements—metallic skeletons, electrical motors, conventional mechanical actuators, and mechanical joints—can be superb at performing tasks that require high precision, rapid movement, or application of high levels of force or power. These “hard” robots are, often heavy, costly, and difficult (and expensive) to control.[1,2,3] Hard robots designed to be lightweight and capable of performing delicate operations are vulnerable to damage by impact or by compression; joints and sensors are especially vulnerable to bending, collisions, and blunt impacts, since even small deformations can lead to incorrect positioning of their components and to failure.[4, 5]. We tested the resistance of these actuators to uniaxial forces, compressive loads, severe bending, transient pressures (impacts) and blunt impacts
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