Strategies to Control Performance of 3D-Printed, Cable-Driven Soft Polymer Actuators: From Simple Architectures to Gripper Prototype.

Viacheslav Slesarenko,Gregory Klein,Seiji Engelkemier,Dmitry Vladimirsky,Pavel Galich,Stephan Rudykh

doi:10.3390/polym10080846

Abstract

The following is a study of the performance of soft cable-driven polymer actuators produced by multimaterial 3D printing. We demonstrate that the mechanical response of the polymer actuator with an embedded cable can be flexibly tuned through the targeted selection of actuator architecture. Various strategies, such as the addition of discrete or periodic stiff inserts, the sectioning of the actuator, or the shifting of the cable channel are employed to demonstrate ways to achieve more controllable deformed shape during weight lifting or reduce the required actuation force. To illustrate these concepts, we design and manufacture a prototype of the soft polymer gripper, which is capable of manipulating small, delicate objects. The explored strategies can be utilized in other types of soft actuators, employing, for instance, actuation by means of electroactive polymers.

Highlights

On par with conventional robots, which are made of metals and plastics and are capable of lifting heavy weights or assembling cars and planes in factories, new types of so-called “soft”polymer-based robots made of more delicate materials have gained considerable attention from scientific and engineering communities in the last two decades [1]
In order to understand how composite geometry of the actuator defines the deformed shape, we explore different geometrical and material inhomogeneities in the form of inserts, notches, and stiff tubular elements
We emphasize that the main goal of this study is to provide an overview of possible ways to control their performance through smart selection of geometry and materials

Summary

Introduction

On par with conventional robots, which are made of metals and plastics and are capable of lifting heavy weights or assembling cars and planes in factories, new types of so-called “soft”polymer-based robots made of more delicate materials have gained considerable attention from scientific and engineering communities in the last two decades [1]. On par with conventional robots, which are made of metals and plastics and are capable of lifting heavy weights or assembling cars and planes in factories, new types of so-called “soft”. Due to fundamentally new concepts, soft continuous robots and machines require a revision of the conventional actuation and control principles [2,3]. Soft robots and machines may employ a variety of actuation mechanisms, such as cable-driven actuation (CDA) [4], pneumatic actuation (PA) [5], or actuation based on electroactive polymers (EAPs) [6,7,8]. Electronic EAPs require high actuation voltages, but they can produce much larger strains and respond faster compared to ionic EAPs. The most pronounced disadvantage

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