Hybrid fluidic actuation for a foam-based soft actuator
Jan Peters, Bani Anvari, Cheng Chen, Zara Lim, Helge A Wurdemann
Abstract
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 paper presents the novel idea of employing hybrid fluidic - hydraulic and pneumatic - actuation for soft robotic systems. The concept and design of the hybrid actuation system as well as the fabrication of the soft actuator are presented: Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) foam is embedded inside a casted, reinforced silicone chamber. A hydraulic and pneumatic robotic syringe pump are connected to the base and top of the soft actuator. We found that a higher percentage of hydraulics resulted in a higher output force. Hydraulic actuation further is able to change displacements at a higher rate compared to pneumatic actuation. Changing between Hydraulic:Pneumatic (HP) ratios shows how stiffness properties of a soft actuator can be varied.
BibTeX
@inproceedings{iros2020_hybridfluidicact,
title = {Hybrid fluidic actuation for a foam-based soft actuator},
author = {Jan Peters and Bani Anvari and Cheng Chen and Zara Lim and Helge A Wurdemann},
booktitle = {IROS 2020},
year = {2020}
}