Motion Analysis of Planar, Closed-Chain, and Tendon-Driven Soft Robots in MATLAB Simscape

Abstract

Soft robots have received great attention from researchers due to their inherent properties of imitating the bionic motion we see in nature. Robots incorporating soft members deform when subjected to loading with enhanced motion capabilities and possess a simple manufacturing process compared to their rigid counterparts. However, despite their superiorities, it remains a challenging task to obtain the dynamic model of complex soft robots. In this study, we designed two closed-chain soft robots and developed the physical models as a single piece using a dual extruder 3D printer and created MATLAB Simscape models with a mask to enable the user interface so the user change geometry and material properties. The Simscape models of a simple soft link and tendon-driven revolute-soft-revolute (RSR) are validated using image processing.