The development and characterization of soft robotic contractile actuators

Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2019

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hua, Sarah T.
Other Authors: Ellen Roche.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123287
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author Hua, Sarah T.
author2 Ellen Roche.
author_facet Ellen Roche.
Hua, Sarah T.
author_sort Hua, Sarah T.
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description Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2019
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spelling mit-1721.1/1232872019-12-14T03:03:46Z The development and characterization of soft robotic contractile actuators Hua, Sarah T. Ellen Roche. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Mechanical Engineering. Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2019 Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 51-52). In this paper, I describe the development of a soft-robotic myocardium and pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) that replicate the physiological motion of the heart. We were able to generate physiological twisting motion in a confined geometry, but additional actuators would be required to generate physiological force for blood ejection. However, McKibben PAMs with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) bladders were too bulky and prevented the embedding of additional actuators. Therefore, multiple alternate PAM designs which occupy minimal unpressurized volume were explored. Of the various bladder and mesh pairings for traditional McKibben PAMs, latex bladders with nylon braided mesh proved the most promising. 2D PAMs with zero volume bladders were also developed: 2D McKibben, 2D Pleated, and 2D Cardiac Geometry PAMs. Candidate PAMs were characterized and compared to the physiological linear contraction (14.7%) and force generation (60N) of the heart. The 2D PAMs successfully reduced the volumetric footprint and were able to generate a maximum force of 0.46 N/cm3 (7mm-width five channel 2D McKibben PAM matrix), close to the amount generated by the baseline TPU PAMs (0.53 N/cm3), and up to 10.1% linear contraction (3mm-width nine channel 2D McKibben PAM matrix). However, none of the PAM matrices characterized were able to meet both linear contractile and force generation targets. With more characterization and iteration, the 2D PAMs seem promising for the biomimetic soft-robotic myocardium application. by Sarah T. Hua. S.B. S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering 2019-12-13T19:02:35Z 2019-12-13T19:02:35Z 2019 2019 Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123287 1130587683 eng MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 52 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering.
Hua, Sarah T.
The development and characterization of soft robotic contractile actuators
title The development and characterization of soft robotic contractile actuators
title_full The development and characterization of soft robotic contractile actuators
title_fullStr The development and characterization of soft robotic contractile actuators
title_full_unstemmed The development and characterization of soft robotic contractile actuators
title_short The development and characterization of soft robotic contractile actuators
title_sort development and characterization of soft robotic contractile actuators
topic Mechanical Engineering.
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123287
work_keys_str_mv AT huasaraht thedevelopmentandcharacterizationofsoftroboticcontractileactuators
AT huasaraht developmentandcharacterizationofsoftroboticcontractileactuators