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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Robot. AI
Sec. Bio-Inspired Robotics
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frobt.2024.1451231
This article is part of the Research Topic Latest Trends in Bio-Inspired Medical Robotics: Structural Design, Manufacturing, Sensing, Actuation and Control View all 6 articles

Novel bio-inspired soft actuators for upper-limb exoskeletons: design, fabrication and feasibility study

Provisionally accepted
Haiyun Zhang Haiyun Zhang 1*Gabrielle Naquila Gabrielle Naquila 1Jung H. Bae Jung H. Bae 1Zonghuan Wu Zonghuan Wu 2Ashwin Hingwe Ashwin Hingwe 1Ashish Deshpande Ashish Deshpande 1*
  • 1 Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States
  • 2 Tsinghua University, Beijing, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Soft robots have been increasingly utilized as sophisticated tools in physical rehabilitation, particularly for assisting patients with neuromotor impairments. However, many soft robotics for rehabilitation applications are characterized by limitations such as slow response times, restricted range of motion, and low output force. There are also limited studies on the precise position and force control of wearable soft actuators. Furthermore, not many studies articulate how bellow-structured actuator designs quantitatively contribute to the robots’ capability. This study introduces a paradigm of upper limb soft actuator design. This paradigm comprises two actuators: the Lobster-Inspired Silicone Pneumatic Robot (LISPER) for the elbow and the Scallop-Shaped Pneumatic Robot (SCASPER) for the shoulder. LISPER is characterized by higher bandwidth, increased output force/torque, and high linearity. SCASPER is characterized by high output force/torque and simplified fabrication processes. Comprehensive analytical models that describe the relationship between pressure, bending angles, and output force for both actuators were presented so the geometric configuration of the actuators can be set to modify the range of motion and output forces. The preliminary test on a dummy arm is conducted to test the capability of the actuators

    Keywords: Index Terms-Pneumatic soft actuators, bio-inspired design, Analytical modeling, wearable devices, exoskeleton

    Received: 18 Jun 2024; Accepted: 10 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhang, Naquila, Bae, Wu, Hingwe and Deshpande. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Haiyun Zhang, Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States
    Ashish Deshpande, Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.