18 accepted papers
Soft eversion robots have demonstrated significant advantages in navigating within confined spaces with minimal friction, making them promising candidates for various intraluminal applications in medical, industrial, and exploratory domains. While these type of growing robots enable frictionless mov
Soft shape-morphing technologies are explored in fields such as soft robotics, metamaterials and design, enabling systems to adapt dynamically through elastic deformations. Applied in mobile devices, actuators, interactive objects and environments, these systems can respond to functional needs and e
Balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV), a minimally invasive procedure to alleviate aortic valve stenosis, commonly employs rapid ventricular pacing (RVP) for balloon stabilization. However, the repeated and extended operation time associated with this technique poses potential complications. This lette
Some applications, such as surgical interventions, require that potential soft robots have the capability to alter their shape and enhance their force output on demand. This paper presents an antagonistic stiffening mechanism combining pneumatic actuation with tendon locking to achieve configuration
In this paper, we study the effectiveness of using a rigid movable palm for grasping varied objects, on a caging inspired gripper with three flexible fingers. This rigid palm extends to actively exert downwards force on objects, in contrast with existing methods, which combine movable palms with neg
This letter presents the design, prototype and kinematic model of a new adaptive underactuated finger with an articulated skin/surface that is able to bend and, at the same time, provides active rolling motion along its central axis while keeping the finger configuration (see Fig. 1). The design is
A dynamic model of a soft fibre-reinforced fluidic elastomer is presented and experimentally verified, which can be used for model-based controller design. Due to the inherent visco-(hyper)elastic characteristics and nonlinear time-dependent behaviour of soft fluidic elastomer robots, analytic dynam…
Soft robotic manipulators have been created and investigated for a number of applications due to their advantages over rigid robots. In minimally invasive surgery, for instance, soft robots have successfully demonstrated a number of benefits due to the compliant and flexible nature of the material t…
Actuation means for soft robotic structures are manifold: despite actuation mechanisms such as tendon-driven manipulators or shape memory alloys, the majority of soft robotic actuators are fluidically actuated - either purely by positive or negative air pressure or by hydraulic actuation only. This…
With the advent of service robots in public places (e.g., in airports and shopping malls), understanding socio-psychological interactions between humans and robots is of paramount importance. On the one hand, traditional robotic navigation systems consider humans and robots as moving obstacles and f…
Collaborative robots open up new avenues in the field of industrial robotics and physical Human-Robot Interaction (pHRI) as they are suitable to work in close approximation with humans. The integration and control of variable stiffness elements allow inherently safe interaction: Apart from notable w
Soft material robots offer a number of advantages over traditional rigid robots in applications including human-robot interaction, rehabilitation and surgery. These robots can navigate around obstacles, elongate, squeeze through narrow openings or be squeezed - and they are considered to be inherent…
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is a minimally invasive surgical technique to treat aortic heart valve diseases. According to current clinical guidelines, the implanted prosthetic valve replacing the native one is selected based on pre-operative size assessment of the aortic annulus t…
Soft robotic structures might play a major role in the 4th industrial revolution. Researchers have successfully demonstrated advantages of soft robotics over traditional robots made of rigid links and joints in several application areas including manufacturing, healthcare and surgical interventions.…
Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is a minimally invasive approach for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) treatment. Compared to open surgery, the benefits of EVAR include faster recovery and shorter time in hospital as well as no general anesthesia (in most cases). Though EVAR has become a preferred…
Nowadays, the field of industrial robotics focuses particularly on collaborative robots that are able to work closely together with a human worker in an inherently safe way. To detect and prevent harmful collisions, a number of solutions both from the actuation and sensing sides have been suggested.…
There is an emerging trend toward soft robotics due to its extended manipulation capabilities compared to traditionally rigid robot links, showing promise for an extended applicability to new areas. However, as a result of the inherent property of soft robotics being less rigid, the ability to contr
This paper proposes a soft, inflatable manipulator that is antagonistically actuated by tendons and pneumatics. The combination of the two actuation mechanisms in this antagonistic robot structure is inspired by the octopus which uses its longitudinal and transversal muscles to steer, elongate, shri…