Soft robotics最新文献

{"title":"A Reconfigurable Soft Helical Actuator with Variable Stiffness Skeleton.","authors":"Pei Jiang, Teng Ma, Ji Luo, Yang Yang, Chao Yin, Yong Zhong","doi":"10.1089/soro.2024.0040","DOIUrl":"10.1089/soro.2024.0040","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Due to their exceptional adaptability, inherent compliance, and high flexibility, soft actuators have significant advantages over traditional rigid actuators in human-machine interaction and in grasping irregular or fragile objects. Most existing soft actuators are designed using preprogramming methods, which schedule complex motions into flexible structures by correctly designing deformation constraints. These constraints restrict undesired deformation, allowing the actuator to achieve the preprogrammed motion when stimulated. Therefore, these actuators can only achieve a certain type of motion, such as extension, bending, or twisting, since it is impossible to adjust the deformation constraints once they are embedded into the structures. In this study, we propose the use of variable stiffness materials, such as shape memory polymer (SMP), in the structural design of soft actuators to achieve variable stiffness constraints. A reconfigurable soft helical actuator with a variable stiffness skeleton is developed based on this concept. The skeleton, made of SMP, is encased at the bottom of a fiber-reinforced chamber. In its high-stiffness state, the SMP constrains the deformation toward the skeleton when the actuator is pressurized. This constraint is removed once the SMP skeleton is heated, endowing the actuator with the ability to switch between bending and helical motion in real-time. A theoretical model is proposed to predict the behavior of the actuator when driven by pressure, and experiments are conducted to verify the model's accuracy. In addition, the influence of different design parameters is investigated based on experimental results, providing reference guidelines for the design of the actuator.</p>","PeriodicalId":94210,"journal":{"name":"Soft robotics","volume":" ","pages":"68-80"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141977596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Acknowledgment of Reviewers 2024.","authors":"","doi":"10.1089/soro.2024.11234.revack","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1089/soro.2024.11234.revack","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94210,"journal":{"name":"Soft robotics","volume":"12 1","pages":"156-158"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143451333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exo-Glove Shell: A Hybrid Rigid-Soft Wearable Robot for Thumb Opposition with an Under-Actuated Tendon-Driven System.","authors":"Byungchul Kim, Hyungmin Choi, Kyubum Kim, Sejin Jeong, Kyu-Jin Cho","doi":"10.1089/soro.2023.0089","DOIUrl":"10.1089/soro.2023.0089","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Usability and functionality are important when designing hand-wearable robots; however, satisfying both indicators remains a challenging issue, even though researchers have made important progress with state-of-the-art robot components. Although hand-wearable robots require sufficient actuators and sensors considering their functionality, these components complicate the robot. Further, robot compliance should be carefully considered because it affects both indicators. For example, a robot's softness makes it compact (improving usability) but also induces inaccurate force transmission (impacting functionality). To address this issue, we present in this paper a tendon-driven, hybrid, hand-wearable robot, named Exo-Glove Shell. The proposed robot assists in three primitive motions (i.e., thumb opposition motion, which is known as one of the most important hand functions, and flexion/extension of the index/middle fingers) while employing only four actuators by using an under-actuation mechanism. The Exo-Glove Shell was designed by combining a soft robotic body with rigid tendon router modules. The use of soft garments enables the robot to be fitted well to users without customization or adjustment of the mechanisms; the metal routers facilitate accurate force transmission. User tests conducted with an individual with a spinal cord injury (SCI) found that the robot could sufficiently and reliably assist in three primitive motions through its four actuators. The research also determined that the robot can assist in various postures with sufficient stability. Based on the grasp stability index proposed in this paper, user stability-when assisted by the proposed robot-was found to be 4.75 times that of an SCI person who did not use the Exo-Glove Shell.</p>","PeriodicalId":94210,"journal":{"name":"Soft robotics","volume":" ","pages":"22-33"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141972454","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimal Sensor Placement for Motion Tracking of Soft Wearables Using Bayesian Sampling.","authors":"DongWook Kim, Seunghoon Kang, Yong-Lae Park","doi":"10.1089/soro.2024.0044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1089/soro.2024.0044","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Soft sensors integrated or attached to robots or human bodies enable rapid and accurate estimation of the physical states of the target systems, including position, orientation, and force. While the use of a number of sensors enhances precision and reliability in estimation, it may constrain the movement of the target system or make the entire system complex and bulky. This article proposes a rapid, efficient framework for determining where to place the sensors on the system given the limited number of available sensors. In particular, given <math><mi>m</mi></math> candidates in location for sensor placement, the algorithm recommends <math><mrow><mrow><msub><mi>m</mi><mn>0</mn></msub></mrow></mrow></math> locations that guarantee the maximal estimation performance, based on Bayesian sampling. The sampling and optimization method aims to maximize the log-likelihood in nonparametric regression between the measured values of the selected sensors and the target references. The proposed approach for the optimal sensor placement is validated through two scenarios: full-body motion sensing with a soft wearable sensor suit and fingertip position tracking with a motion-capture system. The proposed algorithm successfully determines the sensor locations close to the optimum within 20 min of learning for both cases.</p>","PeriodicalId":94210,"journal":{"name":"Soft robotics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142886606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Rolling Soft Robot Driven by Local Snap-Through Buckling.","authors":"Pengfei Yang, Yuqing Mao, Hong Liu, Luyu Gao, Feng Huang, Fei Dang","doi":"10.1089/soro.2024.0115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1089/soro.2024.0115","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Previous rolling soft robots have difficulty in balancing the locomotion speed with energy efficiency and have limited terrain adaptability. This work proposes a rolling soft robot driven by local snap-through buckling, which employs the fast response and configuration maintenance of the bistable structure to enhance the locomotion performance of the soft robot. A theory based on bifurcation and the energy principle is established to analyze the rolling mechanism. The influences of loading position and geometric parameters on the rolling performance are investigated and verified experimentally. The soft robot shows good locomotion speed (0.95 body length per second, BL/s) and small energy loss due to the almost unchanged configuration during the rolling process. The soft robot adapts to complex terrains, including a step with the height of 15 mm, a slope with the angle of 18.36°, and a broken bridge with the gap length of 90 mm (0.443 BL). The proposed rolling soft robot not only has good application prospects in land exploration missions and medical applications but also provides inspiration for the development of rolling soft robots.</p>","PeriodicalId":94210,"journal":{"name":"Soft robotics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142820485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Toward Damage-Less Robotic Fragile Fruit Grasping: A Closed-Loop Force Control Method for Pneumatic-Driven Soft Gripper.","authors":"Qingyu Wang, Youchao Zhang, Wei Liu, Qiang Li, Jianwei Zhang, Alois Knoll, Mingchuan Zhou, Huanyu Jiang, Yibin Ying","doi":"10.1089/soro.2023.0217","DOIUrl":"10.1089/soro.2023.0217","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Fragile fruit uploading and packaging are labor-intensive and time-consuming steps in postharvest industry. With the aging of the global population, it is supposed to develop robotic grasping systems to replace manual labor. However, damage-less grasping of fragile fruit is the key problem in robotization. Inappropriate grasping force will result in damage, early-stage bruise, or slip. Benefits from the advantages of softness and compliance of a pneumatic-driven soft gripper have been widely adopted for agricultural product and food manipulation. Nevertheless, pneumatic gripper is a complex, multivariable, nonlinear, and long time-delay control system, which is difficult to achieve robust closed-loop grasping force control. In this study, we aim to solve this problem and developed a robotic grasping force control system with pneumatic gripper and matrix force sensor. The force distribution condition was explored to tackle the problem in changing of the main contact point. A double closed-loop control method was proposed based on Kalman filter (KF) and proportion integration differentiation controller with dead band. The external and internal control loops were force controller and air pressure of the pump controller, respectively. The double closed-loop controller with dead band achieved robust grasping force control through air pressure. The experimental results validated the effectiveness of the KF method for denoising and the matrix force visualization method for exploring grasping mechanism. Ablation studies were carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the multiple grasping force sensing units in matrix form and the dead band in the controller. The maximum steady-state error was 0.07 N. In addition, the generalization performance and the antidisturbance ability of the grasping force control system was also validated. In summary, the problem in closed-loop control of the grasping force for pneumatic gripper has been solved in our study, and the method in this research is potential to be deployed in fruit postharvest industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":94210,"journal":{"name":"Soft robotics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142796691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Novel and Accurate BiLSTM Configuration Controller for Modular Soft Robots with Module Number Adaptability.","authors":"Zixi Chen, Matteo Bernabei, Vanessa Mainardi, Xuyang Ren, Gastone Ciuti, Cesare Stefanini","doi":"10.1089/soro.2024.0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1089/soro.2024.0015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Modular soft robots (MSRs) exhibit greater potential for sophisticated tasks compared with single-module robots. However, the modular structure incurs the complexity of accurate control and necessitates a control strategy specifically for modular robots. In this article, we introduce a data collection strategy tailored for MSR and a bidirectional long short-term memory (biLSTM) configuration controller capable of adapting to varying module numbers. Simulation cable-driven robots and real pneumatic robots have been included in experiments to validate the proposed approaches. Experimental results have demonstrated that MSRs can explore a larger space, thanks to our data collection method, and our controller can be leveraged despite an increase or decrease in module number. By leveraging the biLSTM, we aim to mimic the physical structure of MSRs, allowing the controller to adapt to module number change. Future work may include a planning method that bridges the task, configuration, and actuation spaces. We may also integrate online components into this controller.</p>","PeriodicalId":94210,"journal":{"name":"Soft robotics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142796686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shape Reconstruction of Extensible Continuum Manipulator Based on Soft Sensors.","authors":"Pengyuan Wang, Yaqing Feng, Zheng Zheng, Zhiguang Xing, Jianwen Zhao","doi":"10.1089/soro.2023.0094","DOIUrl":"10.1089/soro.2023.0094","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Continuum manipulators can improve spatial adaptability and operational flexibility in constrained environments by endowing them with contraction and extension capabilities. There are currently desired requirements to quantify the shape of an extensible continuum manipulator for strengthening its obstacle avoidance capability and end-effector position accuracy. To address these issues, this study proposes a methodology of using silicone rubber strain sensors (SRSS) to estimate the shape of an extensible continuum manipulator. The way is to measure the strain at specific locations on the deformable body of the manipulator, and then reconstruct the shape by integrating the information from all sensors. The slender sensors are fabricated by a rolling process that transforms planar silicone rubber sensors into cylindrical structures. The proprioceptive model relationship between the strain of the sensor and the deformation of the manipulator is established with considering the phenomenon of torsion of the manipulator caused by compression. The physically extensible continuum manipulator equipped with three driving tendons and nine SRSS was designed. Comprehensive evaluations of various motion trajectories indicate that this method can accurately reconstruct the shape of the manipulator, especially under end-effector loads. The experimental results demonstrate that the mean (maximum) absolute position error of the endpoint is 1.61% (3.45%) of the manipulator length.</p>","PeriodicalId":94210,"journal":{"name":"Soft robotics","volume":" ","pages":"994-1007"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141089548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soft Robotics: A Route to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity in Robotics.","authors":"Simona Aracri, Josie Hughes, Cosimo Della Santina, Jovana Jovanova, Sam Hoh, Ditzia Susana Garcia Morales, Rosangela Barcaro, Yu Jun Tan, Vera G Kortman, Aimée Sakes, Alix J Partridge, Matteo Cianchetti, Cecilia Laschi, Barbara Mazzolai, Adam A Stokes, Pablo Valdivia Alvarado, Chen Hua Yeow, Angelo Odetti, Valentina Lo Gatto, Lucio Pisacane, Massimo Caccia","doi":"10.1089/soro.2023.0225","DOIUrl":"10.1089/soro.2023.0225","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Robotics is entering our daily lives. The discipline is increasingly crucial in fields such as agriculture, medicine, and rescue operations, impacting our food, health, and planet. At the same time, it is becoming evident that robotic research must embrace and reflect the diversity of human society to address these broad challenges effectively. In recent years, gender inclusivity has received increasing attention, but it still remains a distant goal. In addition, awareness is rising around other dimensions of diversity, including nationality, religion, and politics. Unfortunately, despite the efforts, empirical evidence shows that the field has still a long way to go before achieving a sufficient level of equality, diversity, and inclusion across these spectra. This study focuses on the soft robotics community-a growing and relatively recent subfield-and it outlines the present state of equality and diversity panorama in this discipline. The article argues that its high interdisciplinary and accessibility make it a particularly welcoming branch of robotics. We discuss the elements that make this subdiscipline an example for the broader robotic field. At the same time, we recognize that the field should still improve in several ways and become more inclusive and diverse. We propose concrete actions that we believe will contribute to achieving this goal, and provide metrics to monitor its evolution.</p>","PeriodicalId":94210,"journal":{"name":"Soft robotics","volume":" ","pages":"903-910"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141176893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Woven Fabric Muscle for Soft Wearable Robotic Application Using Two-Dimensional Zigzag Shape Memory Alloy Actuator.","authors":"Dongsu Shin, Kihyeon Kim, Sang Yul Yang, Jae Hyeong Park, Young Jin Gong, Hyouk Ryeol Choi","doi":"10.1089/soro.2023.0171","DOIUrl":"10.1089/soro.2023.0171","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this study, we propose a fabric muscle based on the Zigzag Shape Memory Alloy (ZSMA) actuator. Soft wearable robots have been gaining attention due to their flexibility and the ability to provide significant power support to the user without hindering their movement and mobility. There has been an increasing focus on the research and development of fabric muscles, which are crucial components of these robots. This article introduces a high-performance fabric muscle utilizing zigzag-shaped shape memory alloy (SMA), ZSMA, a new form of SMA actuator. Through modeling and experimentation of the ZSMA actuator, we identified an optimized actuator design and detailed the fabric muscle fabrication process. The proposed fabric actuator, weighing only 7.5 g, demonstrated the impressive capability to lift a weight of 2 kg with a contraction displacement of 40%. This significant achievement paves the way for future research possibilities in soft wearable robotics.</p>","PeriodicalId":94210,"journal":{"name":"Soft robotics","volume":" ","pages":"1008-1019"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140892997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}