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

Polymers

卷:10

Seiji Engelkemier¹  Stephan Rudykh²  PavelI. Galich³  Dmitry Vladimirsky³  Viacheslav Slesarenko³  Gregory Klein³ 

[1] Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA;

[2] Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA;

[3] Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32003, Israel;

关键词: polymer actuator;    soft robotics;    soft machines;    3D printing;    cable-driven actuation;    gripper;    soft composites;    digital materials;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym10080846

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

Unknown