Bioinspired Continuum Robots with Programmable Stiffness by Harnessing Phase Change Materials

Zhang, Jie1; Wang, Bo1; Chen, Haohan1; Bai, Jianing1; Wu, Zhigang1; Liu, Ji2,3,4; Peng, Haijun5; Wu, Jianing1,6

2023-02-01

10.1002/admt.202201616

Advanced Materials Technologies   Impact Factor & Quartile

2365-709X

Continuum robots offer significant advantages over traditional ones in some specific scenarios, such as urban search and rescue, minimally invasive surgery, and inspection of cluttered environments. However, motions and/or operations of existing continuum robots always suffer from those limitations in varying curvature interaction scenarios because of the homogeneity and singleness of the structural stiffness. Herein, inspired by the mechanism of an elephant trunk for regulating local stiffness, a three-segment continuum robot constructed by tensegrity structure, which relies on a stiffness tunable material, with its Young's modulus switchable between 1.79 and 271.62 MPa to achieve the robotic stiffness programmable characteristics, is proposed. For predicting the robotic configuration with varying stiffness distribution, a mechanical model based on the framework of the finite element method is derived. Theoretical predictions reveal that the curvature of each segment can be regulated by programming stiffness of the smart materials; therefore, the customizable design can offer an effective route for real-time robotic interactions. By evaluating motion characteristics, stiffness performance, and conformal interaction capability, the experimental results demonstrate that the robot can freely regulate the configuration on-demand, which may provide a foundation for the application of continuum robots with programmable stiffness for interacting with unstructured environments.

bioinspired continuum robot conformal interaction phase change materials programmable stiffness tensegrity structure

SCI

English

Corresponding

National Natural Science Foundation of China["52275298","51905556","11922203"] ; Shenzhen Science and Technology Program["GXWD2021B03","20220817165030002"]

Materials Science

Materials Science, Multidisciplinary

WOS:000928518400001

WILEY

Web of Science

1.Sun Yat Sen Univ, Sch Aeronaut & Astronaut, Shenzhen 518107, Peoples R China
2.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Mech & Energy Engn, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China
3.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Mech & Energy Engn, Shenzhen Key Lab Biomimet Robot & Intelligent Syst, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China
4.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Guangdong Prov Key Lab Human Augmentat & Rehabil R, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China
5.Dalian Univ Technol, Sch Mech Engn, Dalian 116024, Peoples R China
6.Sun Yat Sen Univ, Sch Adv Mfg, Shenzhen 518107, Peoples R China

Zhang, Jie,Wang, Bo,Chen, Haohan,et al. Bioinspired Continuum Robots with Programmable Stiffness by Harnessing Phase Change Materials[J]. Advanced Materials Technologies,2023.

Zhang, Jie.,Wang, Bo.,Chen, Haohan.,Bai, Jianing.,Wu, Zhigang.,...&Wu, Jianing.(2023).Bioinspired Continuum Robots with Programmable Stiffness by Harnessing Phase Change Materials.Advanced Materials Technologies.

Zhang, Jie,et al."Bioinspired Continuum Robots with Programmable Stiffness by Harnessing Phase Change Materials".Advanced Materials Technologies (2023).