Recent Advances in Pneumatic Soft Actuators

A special issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825). This special issue belongs to the section "Precision Actuators".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 5500

Special Issue Editor

Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Interests: modelling and control of nonlinear systems; motion control; soft pneumatic actuators
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit your paper(s) to our Special Issue entitled “Recent Advances in Pneumatic Soft Actuators” in Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825). Both original research and review articles are welcome.

Pneumatic systems have always been attractive due to their simplicity, low cost, high power to weight ratio and high velocities. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in pneumatic soft actuators, as they are intrinsically compliant and therefore naturally suited to reaching confined spaces, dealing with unfamiliar environments, manipulating objects in complex ways and safely interacting with humans. Despite this, the use of pneumatic soft actuators still presents several challenges. In fact, their inherent nonlinear behavior makes them difficult to model and to control. Moreover, their nonconventional morphology requires new ideas on materials and manufacturing processes, as well as new ideas on the type of sensors used.

To highlight recent developments and future perspectives, this Special Issue invites contributions from all aspects on pneumatic soft robots, including but not limited to:

  • Novel pneumatic soft actuators materials and geometries;
  • Novel design and fabrication techniques, including 3D printing;
  • Improvement of the actuator service life;
  • Modelling and control of soft pneumatic actuators;
  • Hybrid pneumatic-electrical actuators.

Dr. João Falcão Carneiro
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Actuators is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • soft actuators
  • pneumatic muscles
  • hybrid pneumatic-electrical
  • design of soft actuators
  • fabrication of soft actuators
  • modelling and control of soft actuators

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 5273 KiB  
Article
Increasing the Force Exertion of a Soft Actuator Using Externally Attachable Inter-Chamber Plates
by Attila Mészáros and József Sárosi
Actuators 2023, 12(6), 222; https://doi.org/10.3390/act12060222 - 27 May 2023
Viewed by 1239
Abstract
The application of soft actuators has become increasingly common in wearable devices. In this study, we investigated the force characteristics of soft actuators made entirely of elastic material, when equipped with solid external chamber plates of varying thickness that can be attached from [...] Read more.
The application of soft actuators has become increasingly common in wearable devices. In this study, we investigated the force characteristics of soft actuators made entirely of elastic material, when equipped with solid external chamber plates of varying thickness that can be attached from the outside. This study examines the effect of these plates on the force characteristics of a fully silicone-based fifteen-chamber soft actuator without any non-stretchable internal components. The parameters of the actuator were determined with consideration of wearable applications, such as rehabilitation devices and exoskeletons. The observed differences in the behavior of the actuator at various pressure levels and plate thicknesses were measured. Furthermore, the effect of the externally inserted plates between the chambers on the passive bending of the actuator was examined. The obtained results were evaluated and compared to determine how external chamber plates of given thicknesses affect the operational performance of a soft actuator. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Pneumatic Soft Actuators)
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12 pages, 16589 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Spiral Pneumatic Rubber Actuator Using Finite Element Analysis for Radial Transportation
by Yujin Jang, Hiroyuki Nabae and Koichi Suzumori
Actuators 2023, 12(5), 205; https://doi.org/10.3390/act12050205 - 17 May 2023
Viewed by 1078
Abstract
Emerging actuators with various soft materials and a traveling wave motion are frequently discussed. Various configurations have been proposed and their resulting performances investigated, but it remains challenging to realize large strokes. This study presents an experimentally validated nonlinear finite element model to [...] Read more.
Emerging actuators with various soft materials and a traveling wave motion are frequently discussed. Various configurations have been proposed and their resulting performances investigated, but it remains challenging to realize large strokes. This study presents an experimentally validated nonlinear finite element model to predict the deformation produced by a spiral pneumatic rubber actuator to generate a traveling wave motion. The actuator consists of a membrane mounted on a rubber substrate with three air chambers in a spiral configuration. The sequential deformations of the successive chambers interact with each other and produce radial traveling waves on the membrane surface, driving the objects placed on the actuator. Finite element analysis with ANSYS computer software was used to analyze the elastic movement by considering the influence of different initial structural types. The simulation results indicated an optimal structure with specific ratios. A reasonable correlation was obtained during experimental validation; the predicted displacement values were approximately 17% smaller than the experimental values. Finally, the transportation performance of the prototype was tested, and a velocity of 2.28 mm/s in the desired direction was achieved. We expect that our demonstration will expand the range of applications of the spiral pneumatic rubber actuator to include conveying or worm-like robots. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Pneumatic Soft Actuators)
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14 pages, 3702 KiB  
Article
Origami-Inspired Soft Pneumatic Actuators: Generalization and Design Optimization
by Abdelrahman Zaghloul and Gary M. Bone
Actuators 2023, 12(2), 72; https://doi.org/10.3390/act12020072 - 09 Feb 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2625
Abstract
Soft actuators are essential to soft robots and can also be used with rigid-bodied robots. This paper is focused on methods for improving the applicability of origami-inspired soft pneumatic actuators (OSPA). Our method for rapidly fabricating OSPA is shown to be capable of [...] Read more.
Soft actuators are essential to soft robots and can also be used with rigid-bodied robots. This paper is focused on methods for improving the applicability of origami-inspired soft pneumatic actuators (OSPA). Our method for rapidly fabricating OSPA is shown to be capable of making a range of actuator sizes out of different materials. The largest OSPA has a force-to-weight ratio of 124, and can lift a 44 kg mass using a −85 kPa supply pressure. Experiments with a smaller OSPA demonstrate that it can perform 150,000 contraction/extension cycles while carrying a 2 kg mass with minimal degradation due to its materials and design. Compared to other OSPAs for which fatigue tests were reported, our accordion pattern OSPA has the best values of work-to-mass ratio, max. force, and fatigue life. A computationally efficient FEA-based constrained optimization method for maximizing an OSPA’s work output is then proposed. A 55% improvement in the work output was predicted, while validation experiments with OSPA prototypes showed a 53% improvement. While these improvement percentages are very similar, the values of the predicted stroke and work output are about 16% larger than the experimental values. The optimization requires only ~5 h to run on a common laptop. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Pneumatic Soft Actuators)
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