Rapid Design and Analysis of Microtube Pneumatic Actuators Using Line-Segment and Multi-Segment Euler–Bernoulli Beam Models

Soft material-based pneumatic microtube actuators are attracting intense interest, since their bending motion is potentially useful for the safe manipulation of delicate biological objects. To increase their utility in biomedicine, researchers have begun to apply shape-engineering to the microtubes to diversify their bending patterns. However, design and analysis of such microtube actuators are challenging in general, due to their continuum natures and small dimensions. In this paper, we establish two methods for rapid design, analysis, and optimization of such complex, shape-engineered microtube actuators that are based on the line-segment model and the multi-segment Euler–Bernoulli’s beam model, respectively, and are less computation-intensive than the more conventional method based on finite element analysis. To validate the models, we first realized multi-segment microtube actuators physically, then compared their experimentally observed motions against those obtained from the models. We obtained good agreements between the three sets of results with their maximum bending-angle errors falling within ±11%. In terms of computational efficiency, our models decreased the simulation time significantly, down to a few seconds, in contrast with the finite element analysis that sometimes can take hours. The models reported in this paper exhibit great potential for rapid and facile design and optimization of shape-engineered soft actuators.

[1]  P. Ferraro,et al.  3D lithography by rapid curing of the liquid instabilities at nanoscale , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[2]  Qiang Li,et al.  Microdroplet-based On-Demand Drawing of High Aspect-Ratio Elastomeric Micropillar and Its Contact Sensing Application , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[3]  S. M. Hadi Sadati,et al.  Mechanics of Continuum Manipulators, a Comparative Study of Five Methods with Experiments , 2017, TAROS.

[4]  C. Majidi Soft Robotics: A Perspective—Current Trends and Prospects for the Future , 2014 .

[5]  D. S. Dugdale,et al.  Introduction to the Mechanics of Solids , 1967 .

[6]  Seyedhamidreza Alaie,et al.  Laser Cutting as a Rapid Method for Fabricating Thin Soft Pneumatic Actuators and Robots. , 2018, Soft robotics.

[7]  Shinichi Hirai,et al.  Soft Gripper Dynamics Using a Line-Segment Model With an Optimization-Based Parameter Identification Method , 2017, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

[8]  Chengyi Hou,et al.  Dual-Mechanism and Multimotion Soft Actuators Based on Commercial Plastic Film. , 2018, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[9]  M. Sitti,et al.  Soft Actuators for Small‐Scale Robotics , 2017, Advanced materials.

[10]  Rob N. Candler,et al.  Pneumatic microfinger with balloon fins for linear motion using 3D printed molds , 2015 .

[11]  Yon Visell,et al.  Miniature Soft Electromagnetic Actuators for Robotic Applications , 2018 .

[12]  Yoel Shapiro,et al.  Bi-bellows: Pneumatic bending actuator , 2011 .

[13]  Robert J. Wood,et al.  Untethered soft robotics , 2018 .

[14]  Nathalie Katsonis,et al.  Shape-Persistent Actuators from Hydrazone Photoswitches , 2019, Journal of the American Chemical Society.

[15]  Libin Zhang,et al.  Basic characteristics of a new flexible pneumatic bending joint , 2014 .

[16]  ShapiroYoel,et al.  Modeling a Hyperflexible Planar Bending Actuator as an Inextensible Euler–Bernoulli Beam for Use in Flexible Robots , 2015 .

[17]  Jaeyoun Kim Microscale Soft Robotics , 2017 .

[18]  Benjamin Gorissen,et al.  Theoretical and experimental analysis of pneumatic balloon microactuators , 2011 .

[19]  F. Al-Bender,et al.  Modeling and bonding-free fabrication of flexible fluidic microactuators with a bending motion , 2013 .

[20]  Oliver Brock,et al.  Efficient FEM-Based Simulation of Soft Robots Modeled as Kinematic Chains , 2018, 2018 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[21]  Quanfang Chen,et al.  Thickness-dependent mechanical properties of polydimethylsiloxane membranes , 2009 .

[22]  Jaeyoun Kim,et al.  Microsphere-assisted fabrication of high aspect-ratio elastomeric micropillars and waveguides , 2014, Nature Communications.

[23]  MajidiCarmel,et al.  Soft Robotics: A Perspective—Current Trends and Prospects for the Future , 2014 .

[24]  Xiangyang Zhu,et al.  A survey on dielectric elastomer actuators for soft robots , 2017, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[25]  Yong-Lae Park,et al.  Magnetically Assisted Bilayer Composites for Soft Bending Actuators , 2017, Materials.

[26]  Wenchao Zhou,et al.  A Guiding Framework for Microextrusion Additive Manufacturing , 2019, Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering.

[27]  Matteo Mauro,et al.  Gel-based soft actuators driven by light , 2019, Journal of Materials Chemistry B.

[28]  M. C. Tracey,et al.  Mechanical characterization of bulk Sylgard 184 for microfluidics and microengineering , 2014 .

[29]  Shoichi Iikura,et al.  Development of flexible microactuator and its applications to robotic mechanisms , 1991, Proceedings. 1991 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[30]  Jamie Paik,et al.  Modeling, Design, and Development of Soft Pneumatic Actuators with Finite Element Method   , 2016 .

[31]  Yi Sun,et al.  Design and fabrication of a pneumatic soft robotic gripper for delicate surgical manipulation , 2017, 2017 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation (ICMA).

[32]  Metin Sitti,et al.  Shape-programmable magnetic soft matter , 2016, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[33]  Antonio Ambrosio,et al.  From nanoscopic to macroscopic photo-driven motion in azobenzene-containing materials , 2018, Nanophotonics.

[34]  D. Rus,et al.  Design, fabrication and control of soft robots , 2015, Nature.

[35]  Paolo Dario,et al.  Biomedical applications of soft robotics , 2018, Nature Reviews Materials.

[36]  Inho Cho,et al.  Microrobotic tentacles with spiral bending capability based on shape-engineered elastomeric microtubes , 2015, Scientific Reports.

[37]  R. Wood,et al.  Nanofiber-reinforced soft fluidic micro-actuators , 2018 .

[38]  Sung-hoon Ahn,et al.  Curved shape memory alloy-based soft actuators and application to soft gripper , 2017 .

[39]  Yi Sun,et al.  A Flexible Fabrication Approach Toward the Shape Engineering of Microscale Soft Pneumatic Actuators , 2017, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.