Morphological Control of Cilia-Inspired Asymmetric Movements Using Nonlinear Soft Inflatable Actuators.
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Authors
Milana, Edoardo
Van Raemdonck, Bert
Casla, Andrea Serrano
Reynaerts, Dominiek
Gorissen, Benjamin
Publication Date
2021Journal Title
Front Robot AI
ISSN
2296-9144
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Volume
8
Pages
788067
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Physical Medium
Electronic-eCollection
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Milana, E., Van Raemdonck, B., Casla, A. S., De Volder, M., Reynaerts, D., & Gorissen, B. (2021). Morphological Control of Cilia-Inspired Asymmetric Movements Using Nonlinear Soft Inflatable Actuators.. Front Robot AI, 8 788067. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2021.788067
Abstract
Soft robotic systems typically follow conventional control schemes, where actuators are supplied with dedicated inputs that are regulated through software. However, in recent years an alternative trend is being explored, where the control architecture can be simplified by harnessing the passive mechanical characteristics of the soft robotic system. This approach is named "morphological control", and it can be used to decrease the number of components (tubing, valves and regulators) required by the controller. In this paper, we demonstrate morphological control of bio-inspired asymmetric motions for systems of soft bending actuators that are interconnected with passive flow restrictors. We introduce bending actuators consisting out of a cylindrical latex balloon in a flexible PVC shell. By tuning the radii of the tube and the shell, we obtain a nonlinear relation between internal pressure and volume in the actuator with a peak and valley in pressure. Because of the nonlinear characteristics of the actuators, they can be assembled in a system with a single pressure input where they bend in a discrete, preprogrammed sequence. We design and analyze two such systems inspired by the asymmetric movements of biological cilia. The first replicates the swept area of individual cilia, having a different forward and backward stroke, and the second generates a travelling wave across an array of cilia.
Keywords
artificial cilia, bioinspiration, embodied intelligence, morphological control, nonlinear soft bending actuators
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2021.788067
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/333530
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