This article demonstrates a pneumatically actuated soft robot capable of navigating the inside of a tube. This robot was built using buckling pneumatic actuators (vacuum-actuated muscle-inspired pneumatic structures, or VAMPs). The tube climber can navigate through a tube with turns, inclines, and varying diameters. The robot is also able to remove obstacles (of more than 10 times its own weight) from tubes to perform a clearing function. It maintains climbing and clearing performance in wet conditions and under water. The tube climber is lightweight and completely soft and thus has the potential to be collaborative (i.e., work with humans) and also to interact safely with delicate environments.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
SuzumoriK, IikuraS, TanakaH. Development of flexible microactuator and its applications to robotic mechanisms. Proc 1991 IEEE Int Conf Robot Autom, 1991; 2:1622–1627.
2.
IlievskiF, MazzeoAD, ShepherdRF, ChenX, WhitesidesGM. Soft robotics for chemists. Angew Chem Int Ed, 2011; 50:1890–1895.
3.
MosadeghB, PolygerinosP, KeplingerC, WennstedtS, ShepherdRF, GuptaU, et al.Pneumatic networks for soft robotics that actuate rapidly. Adv Funct Mater, 2014; 24:2163–2170.
4.
RusD, TolleyMT. Design, fabrication and control of soft robots. Nature, 2015; 521:467–475.
BrownE, RodenbergN, AmendJ, MozeikaA, SteltzE, ZakinMRet al., Universal robotic gripper based on the jamming of granular material. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2010; 107:18809–18814.
7.
WeiY, ChenYH, RenT, ChenQ, YanCX, YangY, et al.A novel, variable stiffness robotic gripper based on integrated soft actuating and particle jamming. Soft Robot, 2016; 3:134–143.
8.
YangD, VermaMS, SoJ-H, MosadeghB, KeplingerC, LeeB, et al.Buckling pneumatic linear actuators inspired by muscle. Adv Mater Technol, 2016; 1:1600055.
9.
YangD, VermaMS, LossnerE, StothersD, WhitesidesGM. Negative-pressure soft linear actuator with a mechanical advantage. Adv Mater Technol, 2016; 2:1600164.
MullinT, DeschanelS, BertoldiK, BoyceMC. Pattern transformation triggered by deformation. Phys Rev Lett, 2007; 99:084301.
12.
BertoldiK, BoyceMC, DeschanelS, PrangeSM, MullinT. Mechanics of deformation-triggered pattern transformations and superelastic behavior in periodic elastomeric structures. J Mech Phys Solids, 2008; 56:2642–2668.
13.
CoulaisC, OverveldeJTB, LubbersLA, BertoldiK, van HeckeM. Discontinuous buckling of wide beams and metabeams. Phys Rev Lett, 2015; 115:044301.
14.
YangD, MosadeghB, AinlaA, LeeB, KhashaiF, SuoZ, et al.Buckling of elastomeric beams enables actuation of soft machines. Adv Mater, 2015; 27:6323–6327.
15.
OverveldeJT, KloekT, D'HaenJJ, BertoldiK. Amplifying the response of soft actuators by harnessing snap-through instabilities. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2015; 112:10863–10868.
16.
YangD, JinL, MartinezRV, BertoldiK, WhitesidesGM, SuoZ. Phase-transforming and switchable metamaterials. Extreme Mech Lett, 2016; 6:1–9.
GordoJM, SoaresCG, FaulknerD. Approximate assessment of the ultimate longitudinal strength of the hull girder. J Ship Res, 1996; 40:60–69.
19.
BruzekR, BiessL, Al-NazerL. Development of rail temperature predictions to minimize risk of track buckle derailments. Proc ASME Joint Rail Conf, 2013; 2013:V001T001A007.
20.
DaerdenF, LefeberD. Pneumatic artificial muscles: actuators for robotics and automation. Eur J Mech Environ Eng, 2002; 47:11–21.
21.
SteltzE, MozeikaA, RodenbergN, BrownE, JaegerHM. JSEL: jamming skin enabled locomotion. 2009 IEEE-RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, St. Louis, MO,, 2009:5672–5677.
22.
SteltzE, MozeikaA, RembiszJ, CorsonN, JaegerHM. Jamming as an enabling technology for soft robotics. Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2010, 2010; 7642:764225
23.
ShepherdRF, IlievskiF, ChoiW, MorinSA, StokesAA, MazzeoADet al., Multigait soft robot. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2011; 108):20400–20403.
24.
KimS, LaschiC, TrimmerB. Soft robotics: a bioinspired evolution in robotics. Trends Biotechnol, 2013; 31:23–30.
25.
WehnerM, TolleyMT, MengucY, ParkYL, MozeikaA, DingY, et al.Pneumatic energy sources for autonomous and wearable soft robotics. Soft Robot, 2014; 1:263–274.
26.
MartinezRV, GlavanAC, KeplingerC, OyetiboAI, WhitesidesGM. Soft actuators and robots that are resistant to mechanical damage. Adv Funct Mater, 2014; 24:3003–3010.
MartinezRV, BranchJL, FishCR, JinL, ShepherdRF, NunesRMet al., Robotic tentacles with three-dimensional mobility based on flexible elastomers. Adv Mater, 2013; 25:205–212.
29.
MorinSA, ShevchenkoY, LessingJ, KwokSW, ShepherdRF, StokesAAet al., Using “Click-E-Bricks” to make 3d elastomeric structures. Adv Mater, 2014; 26:5991–5999.
30.
MorinSA, KwokSW, LessingJ, TingJ, ShepherdRF, StokesAAet al., Elastomeric tiles for the fabrication of inflatable structures. Adv Funct Mater, 2014; 24:5541–5549.
TurJMM, GarthwaiteW. Robotic devices for water main in-pipe inspection: a survey. J Field Robot, 2010; 27:491–508.
33.
RohSG, ChoiHR. Differential-drive in-pipe robot for moving inside urban gas pipelines. IEEE Trans Robot, 2005; 21:1–17.
34.
AlcaideJO, PearsonL, RentschlerME. Design, modeling and control of a SMA-actuated biomimetic robot with novel functional skin. 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Singapore,, 2017:4338–4345.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
