Design of Generalized Fiber-reinforced Elasto-fluidic Systems.

Soft Robot;Inflatable Robot;Fiber Reinforced;Fluidic Mechanism;Distributed Compliance;Pneumatic Artificial Muscle;Mechanical Engineering;Engineering;Mechanical Engineering

Bishop-Moser, Joshua L.Remy, C. David ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Soft Robot;    Inflatable Robot;    Fiber Reinforced;    Fluidic Mechanism;    Distributed Compliance;    Pneumatic Artificial Muscle;    Mechanical Engineering;    Engineering;    Mechanical Engineering;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/107202/joshbm_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

From nature to engineered solutions, the metrics of mechanical systems are often strength, power density, resilience, adaptability, safety, scalability, and the ability to generate the necessary forces, motions, and forms. The use of fluidic structures with fiber reinforcement to realize these metrics is seen throughout nature; however, these structures are rarely used by engineers, in part due to the absence of a generalized understanding of their kinematics and forces. Fiber-reinforced elasto-fluidic systems use fluid pressure to actuate an envelope with tuned compliance to provide desired motion, forces, flexibility, and transmission of energy. These structures combine the high strain energy utilization and flexibility of fibers, the versatility and compressive load abilities of fluids, and the continuum nature of soft materials, exploiting the best features of each. This dissertation discovered a vast array of previously unknown fiber-reinforced elasto-fluidic systems, models their mechanical behavior, experimentally verifies the models, creates methods for easy design synthesis, and applies this knowledge to multiple practical applications.Only a small subset of elasto-fluidic systems, popularly known as McKibben actuators, has been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, a vast design space of possible structures with multiple sets of fibers and different orientations yielding a rich array of functionality were yet to be investigated and applied to a wealth of applications. This dissertation develops the mechanics of generalized fiber-reinforced elasto-fluidic systems by first modeling the relationship of volume change and fiber orientation to motion kinematics and force generation. The kinematics of motions including translation, rotation, screw, bending, and helical were all modeled. Fiber configurations spanning the design space were tested to experimentally verify the predicted forces and motion. The force and kinematics were combined to form a design synthesis tool that maps the desired motions, freedoms, and constraints to fiber configurations. Synthesis methods were created for parallel combination of fiber-reinforced structures using discretized force and freedom directions. Lastly, novel applications were created using these fiber-reinforced elasto-fluidic structures, including an orthosis device for arm rotation contractures, a soft hexapod robot with an actuated flexible spine, and a structure for anchoring within pipes.