Design,Actuation And Modeling Of A Soft Robotic Surface

Traditional discrete robots are typically manipulated with high precision due to rigid links and joints,but also with finite degrees of freedom(DOFs)and limited capacity and safety to interact with the environment.In recent years soft robotics inspired by soft biological structure such as the tongue,the octopus tentacle are of significant interests due to their inherently compliance.These soft systems not only can change their shape with flexibility and dexterity to achieve the desired motion(such as bending,twist,elongation),but also can sustain and absorb major energy impact,and thus are suitable for delicate work in complicated and unstructured environment.However,the actuator design and control of soft robots is still lacking of theoretical direction.Aiming at such problems,this thesis designed a novel soft actuator operated pneumatically which can achieve bending motion.The structure of soft actuator has a variety of characteristics: simple,reliable,easy to miniaturization and good in resistance to fatigue which can restore the initial state after repeated bending motion.A mathematical model is presented using the geometrical analysis and principle of virtual work based on the systematic analysis of the structure and bending principle of the soft actuator.The proposed model is then validated through the finite element model and experimental data on the prototype,which provides foundation for optimal design and control of the soft actuator.On the basis of the work on the soft actuators,this thesis also combines soft actuators with the surface constructed by compliant material to design a novel soft robotic surface which can generate bending motion in several directions.In order to predict deformation of the surface under different pressure,a quasi-steady-state model is developed utilizing the principle of minimum potential energy considering the motion characteristic generated by the embedded actuators and the geometry of the soft surface.Then the analytical model is validated by the simulation analysis and experiment on the prototype,and excellent bending performance of the soft robotic surface is presented.