A Soft Robot Driven by a Spring-Rolling Dielectric Elastomer Actuator with Two Bristles
Confined space searches such as pipeline inspections are widely demanded in various scenarios, where lightweight soft robots with inherent compliance to adapt to unstructured environments exhibit good potential. We proposed a tubular soft robot with a simple structure of a spring-rolled dielectric e...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Micromachines |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/3/618 |
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| author | Yangyang Du Xiaojun Wu Jiasheng Xue Xingyu Chen Chongjing Cao Xing Gao |
| author_facet | Yangyang Du Xiaojun Wu Jiasheng Xue Xingyu Chen Chongjing Cao Xing Gao |
| author_sort | Yangyang Du |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Confined space searches such as pipeline inspections are widely demanded in various scenarios, where lightweight soft robots with inherent compliance to adapt to unstructured environments exhibit good potential. We proposed a tubular soft robot with a simple structure of a spring-rolled dielectric elastomer (SRDE) and compliant passive bristles. Due to the compliance of the bristles, the proposed robots can work in pipelines with inner diameters both larger and smaller than the one of the bristles. Firstly, the nonlinear dynamic behaviors of the SRDE were investigated experimentally. Then, we fabricated the proposed robot with a bristle diameter of 19 mm and then studied its performance in pipelines on the ground with inner diameters of 18 mm and 20 mm. When the pipeline’s inner diameter was less than the outer diameter of the bristles, the bristles remained in the state of bending and the robot locomotion is mainly due to anisotropic friction (1.88 and 0.88 body lengths per second horizontally and vertically, respectively, in inner diameter of 18 mm and 0.06 body length per second in that of 16 mm). In the case of the pipeline with the larger inner diameter, the bristles were not fully constrained, and a small bending moment applied on the lower bristle legs contributed to the robot’s locomotion, leading to a high velocity (2.78 body lengths per second in 20 mm diameter acrylic pipe). In addition, the robot can work in varying geometries, such as curving pipes (curve radius ranges from 0.11 m to 0.31 m) at around two body lengths per second horizontally and on the ground at 3.52 body lengths per second, showing promise for pipeline or narrow space inspections. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:09:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a63d8a9beae4410e85304cf1b190a7bd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-666X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:09:31Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Micromachines |
| spelling | doaj.art-a63d8a9beae4410e85304cf1b190a7bd2023-11-17T12:43:20ZengMDPI AGMicromachines2072-666X2023-03-0114361810.3390/mi14030618A Soft Robot Driven by a Spring-Rolling Dielectric Elastomer Actuator with Two BristlesYangyang Du0Xiaojun Wu1Jiasheng Xue2Xingyu Chen3Chongjing Cao4Xing Gao5School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710049, ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710049, ChinaResearch Centre for Medical Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgical Devices, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaResearch Centre for Medical Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgical Devices, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaResearch Centre for Medical Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgical Devices, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaResearch Centre for Medical Robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgical Devices, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaConfined space searches such as pipeline inspections are widely demanded in various scenarios, where lightweight soft robots with inherent compliance to adapt to unstructured environments exhibit good potential. We proposed a tubular soft robot with a simple structure of a spring-rolled dielectric elastomer (SRDE) and compliant passive bristles. Due to the compliance of the bristles, the proposed robots can work in pipelines with inner diameters both larger and smaller than the one of the bristles. Firstly, the nonlinear dynamic behaviors of the SRDE were investigated experimentally. Then, we fabricated the proposed robot with a bristle diameter of 19 mm and then studied its performance in pipelines on the ground with inner diameters of 18 mm and 20 mm. When the pipeline’s inner diameter was less than the outer diameter of the bristles, the bristles remained in the state of bending and the robot locomotion is mainly due to anisotropic friction (1.88 and 0.88 body lengths per second horizontally and vertically, respectively, in inner diameter of 18 mm and 0.06 body length per second in that of 16 mm). In the case of the pipeline with the larger inner diameter, the bristles were not fully constrained, and a small bending moment applied on the lower bristle legs contributed to the robot’s locomotion, leading to a high velocity (2.78 body lengths per second in 20 mm diameter acrylic pipe). In addition, the robot can work in varying geometries, such as curving pipes (curve radius ranges from 0.11 m to 0.31 m) at around two body lengths per second horizontally and on the ground at 3.52 body lengths per second, showing promise for pipeline or narrow space inspections.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/3/618SRDEsoft roboticsbristlescrawlingresonance |
| spellingShingle | Yangyang Du Xiaojun Wu Jiasheng Xue Xingyu Chen Chongjing Cao Xing Gao A Soft Robot Driven by a Spring-Rolling Dielectric Elastomer Actuator with Two Bristles Micromachines SRDE soft robotics bristles crawling resonance |
| title | A Soft Robot Driven by a Spring-Rolling Dielectric Elastomer Actuator with Two Bristles |
| title_full | A Soft Robot Driven by a Spring-Rolling Dielectric Elastomer Actuator with Two Bristles |
| title_fullStr | A Soft Robot Driven by a Spring-Rolling Dielectric Elastomer Actuator with Two Bristles |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Soft Robot Driven by a Spring-Rolling Dielectric Elastomer Actuator with Two Bristles |
| title_short | A Soft Robot Driven by a Spring-Rolling Dielectric Elastomer Actuator with Two Bristles |
| title_sort | soft robot driven by a spring rolling dielectric elastomer actuator with two bristles |
| topic | SRDE soft robotics bristles crawling resonance |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/3/618 |
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