scholarly journals Softer is Harder: What Differentiates Soft Robotics from Hard Robotics?

MRS Advances ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (28) ◽  
pp. 1557-1568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gursel ALICI
Keyword(s):  
Smart Materials ◽  
Control Algorithm ◽  
Soft Materials ◽  
Power Source ◽  
Stretchable Electronics ◽  
Power Requirement ◽  
Soft Robots ◽  
Hard Materials ◽  
Morphological Computation ◽  
Bulk Elastic Modulus

ABSTRACTThis paper reports on what differentiates the field of soft (i.e. soft-bodied) robotics from the conventional hard (i.e. rigid-bodied) robotics. The main difference centres on seamlessly combining the actuation, sensing, motion transmission and conversion mechanism elements, electronics and power source into a continuum body that ideally holds the properties of morphological computation and programmable compliance (i.e. softness). Another difference is about the materials they are made of. While the hard robots are made of rigid materials such as metals and hard plastics with a bulk elastic modulus of as low as 1 GPa, the monolithic soft robots should be fabricated from soft and hard materials or from a strategic combination of them with a maximum elasticity modulus of 1 GPa. Soft smart materials with programmable mechanical, electrical and rheological properties, and conformable to additive manufacturing based on 3D printing are essential to realise soft robots. Selecting the actuation concept and its power source, which is the first and most important step in establishing a robot, determines the size, weight, performance of the soft robot, the type of sensors and their location, control algorithm, power requirement and its associated flexible and stretchable electronics. This paper outlines how crucial the soft materials are in realising the actuation concept, which can be inspired from animal and plant movements.

scholarly journals A soft matter computer for soft robots

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (33) ◽  
pp. eaaw6060 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Garrad ◽  
G. Soter ◽  
A. T. Conn ◽  
H. Hauser ◽  
J. Rossiter
Keyword(s):  
Smart Materials ◽  
Soft Matter ◽  
Autonomous Robots ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Input Parameter ◽  
Soft Materials ◽  
Soft Robots ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Bending Actuator ◽  
Two Degree Of Freedom

Despite the growing interest in soft robotics, little attention has been paid to the development of soft matter computational mechanisms. Embedding computation directly into soft materials is not only necessary for the next generation of fully soft robots but also for smart materials to move beyond stimulus-response relationships and toward the intelligent behaviors seen in biological systems. This article describes soft matter computers (SMCs), low-cost, and easily fabricated computational mechanisms for soft robots. The building block of an SMC is a conductive fluid receptor (CFR), which maps a fluidic input signal to an electrical output signal via electrodes embedded into a soft tube. SMCs could perform both analog and digital computation. The potential of SMCs is demonstrated by integrating them into three soft robots: (i) a Softworm robot was controlled by an SMC that generated the control signals necessary for three distinct gaits; (ii) a soft gripper was given a set of reflexes that could be programmed by adjusting the parameters of the CFR; and (iii) a two–degree of freedom bending actuator was switched between three distinct behaviors by varying only one input parameter. SMCs are a low-cost way to integrate computation directly into soft materials and an important step toward entirely soft autonomous robots.

scholarly journals A Pneumatic Generator Based on Gas-Liquid Reversible Transition for Soft Robots

Actuators ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Guolong Zhang ◽  
Guilin Yang ◽  
Yimin Deng ◽  
Tianjiang Zheng ◽  
Zaojun Fang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Smart Materials ◽  
Load Capacity ◽  
Angular Displacement ◽  
Quadratic Function ◽  
Air Cooling ◽  
Soft Robots ◽  
Reversible Transformation ◽  
Exponential Term ◽  
Reversible Transition ◽  
Gas Volume

The soft robots actuated by pressure, cables, thermal, electrosorption, combustion and smart materials are usually faced with the problems of poor portability, noise, weak load capacity, small deformation and high driving voltages. In this paper, a novel pneumatic generator for soft robots based on the gas-liquid reversible transition is proposed, which has the advantages of large output force, easy deformation, strong load capacity and high flexibility. The pressure of the pneumatic generator surges or drops flexibly through the reversible transformation between liquid and gas phase, making the soft actuator stretch or contract regularly, without external motors, compressors and pressure-regulating components. The gas-liquid reversible-transition actuation process is modeled to analyze its working mechanism and characteristics. The pressure during the pressurization stage increases linearly with a rate regulated by the heating power and gas volume. It decreases exponentially with the exponential term as a quadratic function of time at the fast depressurization stage, while with the exponential term as a linear function of time at the slow depressurization stage. The drop rate can be adjusted by changing the gas volume and cooling conditions. Furthermore, effectiveness has been verified through experiments of the prototype. The pressure reaches 25 bar with a rising rate of +3.935 bar/s when 5 mL weak electrolyte solution is heated at 800 W, and the maximum depressurization rate in air cooling is –3.796 bar/s. The soft finger actuated by the pneumatic generator can bend with an angular displacement of 67.5°. The proposed pneumatic generator shows great potential to be used for the structure, driving and sensing integration of artificial muscles.

scholarly journals Research on Design of Management System for Power Source Equalizing Charge based on FPGA control

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Haifeng Lin ◽  
Ruili Mao
Keyword(s):  
High Power ◽  
High Capacity ◽  
Power Source ◽  
Super Capacitor ◽  
Power Requirement ◽  
Design Scheme ◽  
Charging Mode ◽  
New Type ◽  
Mixed Power ◽  
Peak Value

The accumulator can store the energy in high capacity, and the super capacitor can charge and discharge in high power. The mixed power source composed by the accumulator and super capacitor not only has the characteristics for both of them but also meets the high-power requirement of high capacity and peak value. How to perform the equalizing charging for multiple power packs is a emphasis in the industry currently. On the basis of analysis for multiple equalizing charging methods, a new type of design scheme based on DC/DC and switch matrix is raised in this project, the thinking of intermittent charging mode is adopted and four BCAP0350 is served as the charging sample to perform the charging and discharging experiment as well as verify the composite charging design scheme is provided with the feasibility.

Tem Specimen Preparation by Mechanical Microthinning

1987 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. K. Plummer ◽  
S. Shinozaki
Keyword(s):  
Soft Materials ◽  
Diamond Powder ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Ion Milling ◽  
Thin Specimen ◽  
Basic Premise ◽  
Mechanical Abrasion ◽  
Hard Materials ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Lathe Tool

ABSTRACTMechanical abrasion has been used by the authors to prepare a variety of materials, mainly ceramics, which have been thinned to electron transparency. The basic premise of this technique is the rotation of a spherically shaped wood tool at right angles to a rotating 3mm specimen disk (∼100 μm thick). A slurry of 1/2 μm diamond powder in a glycerin vehicle thins the specimen and carries away the abraded matter. In addition to the wood tool other materials such as brass, teflon and polyethylene have been tried without success. Abrasion “marks” left on the thin specimen surface can be ignored in some situations or removed by a touch up ion milling at 3 keV for ∼1/2 hr. Recently, attempts to thin N+ implanted Al from the un-implanted side using a wood tool were found to be extremely time consuming, i.e. 60 hr or more. It was found that a spherical stainless steel tool produced a suitably thin transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimen using glycerin as the vehicle and no diamond powder. Depending upon the pressure applied to the tool these specimens could be thinned in as little as 3 hr. The turning marks left by the lathe tool proved to be sufficient to thin the soft aluminum. From this result It appears that soft tools will thin hard materials and hard tools can be used to thin soft materials efficiently. A number of other specimens recently prepared using mechanical microthinning will also be presented.

Factors influencing the Action of Dust Insecticides

1950 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. L. David ◽  
B. O. C. Gardiner
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Soft Materials ◽  
Experimental Procedure ◽  
Hard Materials ◽  
Dust Clouds ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sudan Iii ◽  
Insecticidal Action ◽  
Gain Access

The methods used to investigate the properties of dusts are described and, in a theoretical section, the relevance of the various physical properties to insecticidal action are considered.In order to investigate the effect of toxic and non-toxic dusts on insects the experimental procedure was simplified to eliminate all difficulties associated with the formation of uniform dust clouds and deposits. In problems relating to the adherence of the dusts to insects the actual quantity of dust was measured either by weighing the insects before and after dusting or by dyeing the dust with Sudan III and determining the quantity colorimetrically. The experiments were all conducted under known conditions of temperature and humidity.Non-toxic dusts killed insects by causing them to lose water. Not all non-toxic powders were equally effective when conditioned to the same relative humidity. All were without effect at saturated humidity and became progressively more rapid in action as the humidity at which the test was carried out was decreased (p. 32).The non-toxic dusts caused the insects to lose water by abrading certain areas of the cuticle ; the more extensive the abrasion the more quickly the insects died (p. 27).To be effective as an abrasive the dust must be hard and finely ground and, perhaps also, sharply angular. Thus materials which ranked high in Moh's scale of hardness were in general more effective than soft materials and hard materials became quite ineffective unless they contained material below about 10 μ, diameter. Presumably the coarser materials could not gain access to the articulations, etc., where abrasion usually occurred. This effect can be seen clearly with carborundum powders. Sharply angular glass was more effective than the same powder converted into rounded spheres (pp. 25–31).

Multi-Functional Soft Smart Materials and their Applications

2011 ◽  
Vol 410 ◽  
pp. 25-25
Author(s):  
Jin Song Leng
Keyword(s):  
Smart Materials ◽  
Ph Value ◽  
Shape Memory Polymer ◽  
Soft Materials ◽  
Aerospace Engineering ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Automobile Engineering ◽  
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems ◽  
Morphing Aircraft ◽  
Space Deployable Structures

Stimulus-active polymers can change their shapes with respect to configuration or dimension upon exposure to a particular stimulus such as heat, electricity, light, magnetic, solvent and pH value. These unique characteristics enable stimulus-active polymers to be used in a myriad of fields, including clothing manufacturing, automobile engineering, medical treatment, and aerospace engineering. Stimulus-active polymers can be applied in smart textiles and apparels, intelligent medical instruments and auxiliaries, artificial muscles, biomimetic devices, heat shrinkable materials for electronics packaging, micro-electro-mechanical systems, self-deployable sun sails in spacecrafts, miniature manipulator, actuators and sensors, and many more. This paper presents some recent progress of soft smart materials and their applications. Special emphasis is focused upon shape memory polymer (SMP), electro-active polymer (EAP) for aerospace engineering such as space deployable structures and morphing aircraft, which has highlighted the need for development of these materials. A detailed overview of development in these smart soft materials, of which the undergoing and future applications are used in adaptive structures and active control, is presented. The paper concludes with a short discussion for multi-functional soft smart materials and their composites that are expected to extend the range of development and applications available to the related researches and engineers.

scholarly journals Evaluasi Nilai Fungsional dan Estetika Taman Maccini Sombala Kota Makassar sebagai Taman Hortikultura

2015 ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
CRI WAHYUNI BRAHMI YANTI ◽  
NURFAIDA NURFAIDA ◽  
A KAISAR ALRIAN A KAISAR ALRIAN
Keyword(s):  
Performance Index ◽  
Soft Materials ◽  
Hard Material ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Hard Materials ◽  
Garden Education ◽  
Material Condition ◽  
Key Performance Index ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis

ABSTRACT Evaluation of Functional and Aesthetic Value of Park Maccini Sombala of Makassar City as Horticultural Parks This study aims to evaluate the functional and aesthetic value of Park Maccini Sombala, Makassar as a horticultural park and make recommendations based on the evaluation. The research phases consisted of an inventory phase, analysis, and synthesis. The inventory phase was conducted to collect data on the physical, biophysical and social. The analysis phase was conducted based on descriptive and qualitative analysis on the data collected and KPI (Key Performance Index) assessment for the physical components, the quality of the park, soft materials, hard materials, as well as visitors. Synthesis phase was carried out to make a recommendation of allocation of the park as park horticulture. Evaluation of the functional and aesthetic value indexes of Park Maccini Sombala as horticultural garden result in KPI total value of all components of 0.70 on a scale of 0 - 1. The proposed recommendations are divided into general recommendations and the specific recommendations. Addition and improvement of soft and hard material condition are given as the general recommendation, whereas specific recommendations is specified for the allocation of the park as horticultural parks, namely the development of the park's horticultural experimental garden, seed, garden education and research, as well as horticultural tourist park.   Keywords : key performance index, functional and aesthetic evaluation, hortikultura park

scholarly journals A highly shape-adaptive, stretchable design based on conductive liquid for energy harvesting and self-powered biomechanical monitoring

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. e1501624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Yi ◽  
Xiaofeng Wang ◽  
Simiao Niu ◽  
Shengming Li ◽  
Yajiang Yin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Power Source ◽  
Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽  
Stretchable Electronics ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Conductive Liquid ◽  
Power Sources ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Self Powered

The rapid growth of deformable and stretchable electronics calls for a deformable and stretchable power source. We report a scalable approach for energy harvesters and self-powered sensors that can be highly deformable and stretchable. With conductive liquid contained in a polymer cover, a shape-adaptive triboelectric nanogenerator (saTENG) unit can effectively harvest energy in various working modes. The saTENG can maintain its performance under a strain of as large as 300%. The saTENG is so flexible that it can be conformed to any three-dimensional and curvilinear surface. We demonstrate applications of the saTENG as a wearable power source and self-powered sensor to monitor biomechanical motion. A bracelet-like saTENG worn on the wrist can light up more than 80 light-emitting diodes. Owing to the highly scalable manufacturing process, the saTENG can be easily applied for large-area energy harvesting. In addition, the saTENG can be extended to extract energy from mechanical motion using flowing water as the electrode. This approach provides a new prospect for deformable and stretchable power sources, as well as self-powered sensors, and has potential applications in various areas such as robotics, biomechanics, physiology, kinesiology, and entertainment.

scholarly journals Precise SEM Cross Section Polishing via Argon Beam Milling

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Erdman ◽  
R. Campbell ◽  
S. Asahina
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Soft Materials ◽  
Mechanical Polishing ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Staining Procedure ◽  
Fibrous Materials ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Hard Materials ◽  
Composite Samples

SEM observation of a specimen cross section can provide important information for research and development as well as failure analysis. In most cases, surface observation alone cannot provide information concerning the cross sectional structure of granular materials, layered materials, fibrous materials, and powders. Preparing highly-polished cross sections of these materials is both a science and an art.Typically, a cross section is prepared using mechanical means like conventional mechanical polishing methods or a microtome. The sample is first embedded in a holder or device, and then polished to achieve a flat cross section. In some cases, a staining procedure is used to highlight a specific component of the sample. Such methods can be lengthy procedures that require a great deal of skill, and can introduce artifacts into soft materials, deform the material around voids, or compress layers of soft and hard materials in composite samples. Mechanical polishing can miss fine details such as the presence of hairline cracks, and present a challenge to water-soluble phases.

scholarly journals Review of machine learning methods in soft robotics

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0246102
Author(s):  
Daekyum Kim ◽  
Sang-Hun Kim ◽  
Taekyoung Kim ◽  
Brian Byunghyun Kang ◽  
Minhyuk Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Soft Materials ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Machine Learning Techniques ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Learning Methods ◽  
Soft Robots ◽  
Machine Learning Methods ◽  
Wearable Robots ◽  
Soft Actuators

Soft robots have been extensively researched due to their flexible, deformable, and adaptive characteristics. However, compared to rigid robots, soft robots have issues in modeling, calibration, and control in that the innate characteristics of the soft materials can cause complex behaviors due to non-linearity and hysteresis. To overcome these limitations, recent studies have applied various approaches based on machine learning. This paper presents existing machine learning techniques in the soft robotic fields and categorizes the implementation of machine learning approaches in different soft robotic applications, which include soft sensors, soft actuators, and applications such as soft wearable robots. An analysis of the trends of different machine learning approaches with respect to different types of soft robot applications is presented; in addition to the current limitations in the research field, followed by a summary of the existing machine learning methods for soft robots.

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