Research On Soft Pneumatic Actuator With Large Deformation And High Force Density

The soft pneumatic actuator with corrugated structure boasts advantages such as low input air pressure,fast movement speed,and a large range of motion,making it highly suitable for applications in fields such as vulnerable goods grabbing,medical rehabilitation,and auxiliary rescue.However,existing soft pneumatic actuators with corrugated structures have been found to be unable to exhibit both large deformation and high force density characteristics simultaneously.To overcome this issue,this thesis takes inspiration from the spider leg hydraulic joint,and designs a multi-cavity soft pneumatic actuator with a corrugated V-shaped fold structure.The main work of this thesis is as follows:(1)Designing a new type of multi-cavity corrugated soft pneumatic actuator with a V-shaped folded structure based on the driving principle of the corrugated folded structure and the jumping spider leg joint membrane.Four parameters that have a significant impact on the actuator are simulated and optimized,and the manufacturing method of the corrugated soft actuator is described in detail.(2)Establishing the mathematical model of the bending angle a of single Vshaped folded structure based on the theory of maximum deflection of a beam under uniform load,and deriving the relationship between the bending angle of the actuator and inlet pressure.Multiple discrete cavities are then equivalent to a single continuous cavity using the constant volume theory of hyperelastic materials.The Neo-Hookean hyperelastic theoretical model is introduced to build a mathematical model of the output force at the tip of the actuator.ABAQUS software is used to establish the finite element simulation model of the bending angle and output force at the tip of the corrugated soft actuator.The simulation results are compared with the predicted values of the model to verify the accuracy of the bending angle and output force models for the tip of the actuator.(3)Carrying out the bending experiment of the corrugated soft actuator and the tip output force experiment with variable rotation angle,and comparing the experimental results with the predicted values of the model.The predicted values of the bending angle model and the tip output force model are found to be highly coincident with the experimental results,thus verifying the accuracy of the models.(4)To explore the practical application of the designed corrugated soft actuator,a three-claw reconfigurable soft gripper was designed and manufactured,and the corresponding test system was built to carry out grasping experiments according to different shapes and weights of objects.The driving performance of the corrugated soft actuator and the grasping performance of the three-claw soft gripper is also evaluated.The thesis presents a new type of corrugated soft actuator that can be used to manufacture lightweight,micro,and modular soft robots.By optimizing the design,mathematical modeling,simulation,experiment,and application of the corrugated soft actuator,it is established that it is feasible for future researchers to study other types of corrugated soft types corrugated soft actuators.