Zhang Zheng, Ni Xiangqi, Gao Weiliang, Shen Hongcheng, Sun Min, Guo Guodong, Wu Huaping, Jiang Shaofei
College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China.
Key Laboratory of Special Purpose Equipment and Advanced Processing Technology, Ministry of Education and Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China.
Soft Robot. 2022 Aug;9(4):657-668. doi: 10.1089/soro.2020.0200. Epub 2021 Jul 21.
Beyond their colorful appearances and versatile geometries, flowers can self-shape-morph by adapting to environmental changes. Nature-inspired artificial systems that mimic their natural counterparts in function, flexibility, and adaptation find an emerging application in mobile robotics. In this study, a novel reconfigurable bionic flower made of petal-shaped bistable carbon fiber-reinforced composites and actuated by soft pneumatic actuators is presented. A robotic gripper based on the bionic flower was then developed for transportation tasks. First, a bionic petal based on a hybridization of bistable composites was designed and a theoretical model was established to analyze its bistable characteristic. Second, experiments and simulations were performed to analyze the out-of-plane deformation and morphing processes of the bionic petal. Curvature analysis of the closing state and blooming state shows a good match with the theoretical results. Finally, a flower-inspired robotic gripper made of the bionic petal is demonstrated to evaluate its gripping performances, including gripping force, response time, and reliability. The functional tests confirmed that the proposed soft gripper can grip objects of various shapes, sizes, and weights within milliseconds response time. The stable gripping configuration was maintained through the bistability of the bionic petal without continuous pressure consumption. The high reliability of the gripper is very useful for gripping tasks under unstructured environments, where precise control over the robot is not possible.
除了其多彩的外观和多样的几何形状外，花朵还能通过适应环境变化进行自我形状变形。受自然启发的人工系统在功能、灵活性和适应性方面模仿其天然对应物，在移动机器人领域有了新的应用。在本研究中，提出了一种由花瓣状双稳态碳纤维增强复合材料制成并由软气动致动器驱动的新型可重构仿生花。然后开发了一种基于仿生花的机器人抓手用于运输任务。首先，设计了一种基于双稳态复合材料杂交的仿生花瓣，并建立了理论模型来分析其双稳态特性。其次，进行了实验和模拟以分析仿生花瓣的面外变形和变形过程。对闭合状态和开放状态的曲率分析表明与理论结果吻合良好。最后，展示了一种由仿生花瓣制成的受花启发的机器人抓手，以评估其抓取性能，包括抓力、响应时间和可靠性。功能测试证实，所提出的软抓手能够在毫秒级响应时间内抓取各种形状、尺寸和重量的物体。通过仿生花瓣的双稳态维持稳定的抓取构型，无需持续消耗压力。抓手的高可靠性对于在无法对机器人进行精确控制的非结构化环境中的抓取任务非常有用。
