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Design and Manufacturing of Tendon-Driven Soft Foam Robots

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2019

Nikolas Kastor ,
Ritwika Mukherjee ,
Eliad Cohen ,
Vishesh Vikas ,
Barry A. Trimmer  and
Robert D. White
Nikolas Kastor*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA. E-mail: r.white@tufts.edu
Ritwika Mukherjee
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA. E-mails: Ritwika.Mukherjee@tufts.edu, Barry.Trimmer@tufts.edu
Eliad Cohen
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA. E-mail: eliadcohen@gmail.com
Vishesh Vikas
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA. E-mail: vvikas@eng.ua.edu
Barry A. Trimmer
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA. E-mails: Ritwika.Mukherjee@tufts.edu, Barry.Trimmer@tufts.edu
Robert D. White
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA. E-mail: r.white@tufts.edu
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: nkastor@gmail.com
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Summary

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A design and manufacturing method is described for creating a motor tendon–actuated soft foam robot. The method uses a castable, light, and easily compressible open-cell polyurethane foam, producing a structure capable of large (~70% strain) deformations while requiring low torques to operate (<0.2 N·m). The soft robot can change shape, by compressing and folding, allowing for complex locomotion with only two actuators. Achievable motions include forward locomotion at 13 mm/s (4.3% of body length per second), turning at 9◦/s, and end-over-end flipping. Hard components, such as motors, are loosely sutured into cavities after molding. This reduces unwanted stiffening of the soft body. This work is the first demonstration of a soft open-cell foam robot locomoting with motor tendon actuators. The manufacturing method is rapid (~30 min per mold), inexpensive (under $3 per robot for the structural foam), and flexible, and will allow a variety of soft foam robotic devices to be produced.

Keywords

Soft roboticsFoamPrototypingPolyurethane foamManufacturing
Type
Articles
Information
Robotica , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , January 2020 , pp. 88 - 105
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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