Design Methodology for Soft Mechanisms, Machines, and Robots

A special issue of Machines (ISSN 2075-1702). This special issue belongs to the section "Machine Design and Theory".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 574

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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soft robots or machines have gained significant attention in the field of robotics. The attention is driven by new applications in biomedicine and healthcare. Numerous prototypes of a soft robot are constructed based on learning biological systems, particularly creatures. However, the definition of a soft robot is controversial; specifically, the soft actuator is often considered as the same as the direct actuator made of polymers (see the critique in the paper “Soft robotics: Definition and research issues” (doi: 10.1109/M2VIP.2017.8267170), where first the definitions of a soft power generator, soft controller, soft actuator, soft mechanism, and soft sensor are given, and subsequently the definitions of a full soft robot and a partially soft robot are given. Robots are considered as a specialized machine in that machines are more emphasized on systems that include mechanisms and actuators. In this Special Issue, the research contributions on design theory and methodology for soft mechanisms, machines, and robots are solicited. The scope of contributions is characterized by the following keywords. 

Prof. Dr. Wenjun (Chris) Zhang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • soft power generator (e.g., chemical power)
  • soft actuator
  • soft control
  • soft mechanism
  • compliant mechanism
  • soft body
  • soft sensor
  • hydrogel machines
  • hydrogel robots
  • soft robots in healthcare systems

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 8050 KiB  
Article
Soft Robotic Bilateral Rehabilitation System for Hand and Wrist Joints
by Tanguy Ridremont, Inderjeet Singh, Baptiste Bruzek, Veysel Erel, Alexandra Jamieson, Yixin Gu, Rochdi Merzouki and Muthu B. J. Wijesundara
Machines 2024, 12(5), 288; https://doi.org/10.3390/machines12050288 - 25 Apr 2024
Abstract
Upper limb functionality is essential to perform activities of daily living. It is critical to investigate neurorehabilitation therapies in order to improve upper limb functionality in post-stroke patients. This paper presents a soft-robotic bilateral system to provide rehabilitation therapy for hand and wrist [...] Read more.
Upper limb functionality is essential to perform activities of daily living. It is critical to investigate neurorehabilitation therapies in order to improve upper limb functionality in post-stroke patients. This paper presents a soft-robotic bilateral system to provide rehabilitation therapy for hand and wrist joints. A sensorized glove that tracks finger and wrist joint movements is worn on the healthy limb, which guides the movement of the paretic limb. The input of sensors from the healthy limb is provided to the soft robotic exoskeleton attached to the paretic limb to mimic the motion. A proportional derivative flow-based control algorithm is used to perform bilateral therapy. To test the feasibility of the developed system, two different applications are performed experimentally: (1) Wrist exercise with a dumbbell, and (2) Object pick-and-place task. The initial tests of the developed system verified its capability to perform bilateral therapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design Methodology for Soft Mechanisms, Machines, and Robots)
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