Song Xiaowen, Zhang Weitian, Liu Haoran, Zhao Limeng, Chen Qi, Tian Hongmiao
Micro-and Nano-technology Research Center, State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
Front Robot AI. 2022 Aug 10;9:889848. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2022.889848. eCollection 2022.
Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) have shown great potential as soft actuating materials in soft robots, with large actuation strain and fast response speed. However, to achieve the unique features of actuation, the liquid crystal mesogens should be well aligned and permanently fixed by polymer networks, limiting their practical applications. The recent progress in the 3D printing technologies of LCEs overcame the shortcomings in conventional processing techniques. In this study, the relationship between the 3D printing parameters and the actuation performance of LCEs is studied in detail. Furthermore, a type of inchworm-inspired crawling soft robot based on a liquid crystal elastomeric actuator is demonstrated, coupled with tilted fish-scale-like microstructures with anisotropic friction as the foot for moving forwards. In addition, the anisotropic friction of inclined scales with different angles is measured to demonstrate the performance of anisotropic friction. Lastly, the kinematic performance of the inchworm-inspired robot is tested on different surfaces.
液晶弹性体（LCEs）作为软机器人中的软驱动材料显示出巨大潜力，具有大驱动应变和快速响应速度。然而，为了实现独特的驱动特性，液晶介晶应通过聚合物网络良好排列并永久固定，这限制了它们的实际应用。LCEs 3D打印技术的最新进展克服了传统加工技术的缺点。在本研究中，详细研究了3D打印参数与LCEs驱动性能之间的关系。此外，展示了一种基于液晶弹性体致动器的仿尺蠖爬行软机器人，其耦合了具有各向异性摩擦的倾斜鱼鳞状微结构作为向前移动的足部。此外，测量了不同角度倾斜鳞片的各向异性摩擦，以证明各向异性摩擦的性能。最后，在不同表面上测试了仿尺蠖机器人的运动性能。
