Yu Ming, Liu Wenwen, Zhao Jian, Hou Yanyan, Hong Xuewu, Zhang Hongjie
School of Computer and Information Engineering, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300384, China.
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Modern Mechatronics Equipment Technology, School of Mechanical Engineering, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China.
Sensors (Basel). 2022 Jun 27;22(13):4851. doi: 10.3390/s22134851.
Soft pneumatic actuators are extensively used in soft robots, and their bending angles and kinematic rules at different pressures play a crucial role in practical applications. This investigation aims to model the bending angle and motion of a new type of soft pneumatic actuator that adopts a composite structure consisting of two kinds of pneumatic networks. Based on the structural and deformation characteristics of the proposed soft actuator, the constitutive model is established, and then the moment equilibrium and virtual work principle are combined to model the bending angle of two pneumatic modules. The kinematic model of the proposed soft actuator is co-opted from the kinematic modeling of rigid robots. By employing the piecewise constant curvature method and coordinate transformation, the location of any chamber of the soft actuator can be calculated. The effectiveness of the developed analytical models is then tested, and the calculated results show good agreement with the experimental results. Finally, three soft actuators are used to constitute a soft gripper, and the pinching and enveloping grasping performance are examined. All experimental test results demonstrate that the developed bending angle and kinematic models can explain the bending principle of the proposed soft actuators well.
软质气动执行器在软体机器人中得到了广泛应用，其在不同压力下的弯曲角度和运动规律在实际应用中起着至关重要的作用。本研究旨在对一种新型软质气动执行器的弯曲角度和运动进行建模，该执行器采用了由两种气动网络组成的复合结构。基于所提出的软质执行器的结构和变形特性，建立了本构模型，然后结合力矩平衡和虚功原理对两个气动模块的弯曲角度进行建模。所提出的软质执行器的运动学模型借鉴了刚性机器人的运动学建模方法。通过采用分段恒定曲率法和坐标变换，可以计算软质执行器任何腔室的位置。然后对所建立的解析模型的有效性进行了测试，计算结果与实验结果吻合良好。最后，使用三个软质执行器组成一个软质抓手，并对其夹取和包络抓取性能进行了测试。所有实验测试结果表明，所建立的弯曲角度和运动学模型能够很好地解释所提出的软质执行器的弯曲原理。
