A low-cost inchworm-inspired soft robot driven by supercoiled polymer artificial muscle

Yang Yang; Yu Alexander Tse; Yazhan Zhang; Zicheng Kan; Michael Yu Wang

doi:10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2019.8722784

A low-cost inchworm-inspired soft robot driven by supercoiled polymer artificial muscle

Yang Yang, Yu Alexander Tse, Yazhan Zhang, Zicheng Kan, Michael Yu Wang

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Other

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper presents a novel design of soft locomotion robot inspired by inchworm. This robot is actuated by supercoiled polymer artificial muscle (SCPAM), which are made from low-cost conductive nylon sewing threads. SCPAM generate muscle-like actuation upon heating and cooling, which can be utilized for soft locomotion robot's actuation. The proposed soft robot realizes inching locomotion by introducing friction anisotropy in its legs and contraction provided by SCPAM. Experiments are performed to evaluate the soft robot body's deformation as well as the robot's locomotion velocity when SCPAM are at different power input levels. Results exhibit that the soft robot can achieve locomotion velocity of 0.245 mm/s on the wood ground when SCPAM is powered at 0.16 W/cm. Compared to previous studies utilizing fluidic actuator, shape memory alloy (SMA) or motor tendon for actuation of soft locomotion robot, SCPAM possesses high power-to-weight ratio, inherent compliance and low cost, making the robot more compact and more suitable for field exploration in contaminated areas. This study shows the potential of this low-cost artificial muscle to be widely used in soft locomotion robots in the future.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	RoboSoft 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics
Publisher	IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Pages	161-166
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9781538692608
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2019.8722784
Publication status	Published - 2019
Externally published	Yes
Event	IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics 2019 - Seoul, Korea, South Duration: 14 Apr 2019 → 18 Apr 2019 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/8716494/proceeding (Proceedings)

Conference

Conference	IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics 2019
Abbreviated title	RoboSoft 2019
Country/Territory	Korea, South
City	Seoul
Period	14/04/19 → 18/04/19
Internet address	https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/8716494/proceeding (Proceedings)

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10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2019.8722784

Cite this

@inproceedings{88a11b586d2b47c18119b19fcb333b04,

title = "A low-cost inchworm-inspired soft robot driven by supercoiled polymer artificial muscle",

abstract = "This paper presents a novel design of soft locomotion robot inspired by inchworm. This robot is actuated by supercoiled polymer artificial muscle (SCPAM), which are made from low-cost conductive nylon sewing threads. SCPAM generate muscle-like actuation upon heating and cooling, which can be utilized for soft locomotion robot's actuation. The proposed soft robot realizes inching locomotion by introducing friction anisotropy in its legs and contraction provided by SCPAM. Experiments are performed to evaluate the soft robot body's deformation as well as the robot's locomotion velocity when SCPAM are at different power input levels. Results exhibit that the soft robot can achieve locomotion velocity of 0.245 mm/s on the wood ground when SCPAM is powered at 0.16 W/cm. Compared to previous studies utilizing fluidic actuator, shape memory alloy (SMA) or motor tendon for actuation of soft locomotion robot, SCPAM possesses high power-to-weight ratio, inherent compliance and low cost, making the robot more compact and more suitable for field exploration in contaminated areas. This study shows the potential of this low-cost artificial muscle to be widely used in soft locomotion robots in the future.",

author = "Yang Yang and Tse, {Yu Alexander} and Yazhan Zhang and Zicheng Kan and Wang, {Michael Yu}",

note = "Funding Information: Research is supported by the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) ITS-018-17FP. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 IEEE.; IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics 2019, RoboSoft 2019 ; Conference date: 14-04-2019 Through 18-04-2019",

year = "2019",

doi = "10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2019.8722784",

language = "English",

pages = "161--166",

booktitle = "RoboSoft 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics",

publisher = "IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers",

address = "United States of America",

url = "https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/conhome/8716494/proceeding",

}

Yang, Y, Tse, YA, Zhang, Y, Kan, Z & Wang, MY 2019, A low-cost inchworm-inspired soft robot driven by supercoiled polymer artificial muscle. in RoboSoft 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics. IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, pp. 161-166, IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics 2019, Seoul, Korea, South, 14/04/19. https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2019.8722784

A low-cost inchworm-inspired soft robot driven by supercoiled polymer artificial muscle. / Yang, Yang; Tse, Yu Alexander; Zhang, Yazhan et al.
RoboSoft 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics. IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2019. p. 161-166.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Other

TY - GEN

T1 - A low-cost inchworm-inspired soft robot driven by supercoiled polymer artificial muscle

AU - Yang, Yang

AU - Tse, Yu Alexander

AU - Zhang, Yazhan

AU - Kan, Zicheng

AU - Wang, Michael Yu

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - This paper presents a novel design of soft locomotion robot inspired by inchworm. This robot is actuated by supercoiled polymer artificial muscle (SCPAM), which are made from low-cost conductive nylon sewing threads. SCPAM generate muscle-like actuation upon heating and cooling, which can be utilized for soft locomotion robot's actuation. The proposed soft robot realizes inching locomotion by introducing friction anisotropy in its legs and contraction provided by SCPAM. Experiments are performed to evaluate the soft robot body's deformation as well as the robot's locomotion velocity when SCPAM are at different power input levels. Results exhibit that the soft robot can achieve locomotion velocity of 0.245 mm/s on the wood ground when SCPAM is powered at 0.16 W/cm. Compared to previous studies utilizing fluidic actuator, shape memory alloy (SMA) or motor tendon for actuation of soft locomotion robot, SCPAM possesses high power-to-weight ratio, inherent compliance and low cost, making the robot more compact and more suitable for field exploration in contaminated areas. This study shows the potential of this low-cost artificial muscle to be widely used in soft locomotion robots in the future.

AB - This paper presents a novel design of soft locomotion robot inspired by inchworm. This robot is actuated by supercoiled polymer artificial muscle (SCPAM), which are made from low-cost conductive nylon sewing threads. SCPAM generate muscle-like actuation upon heating and cooling, which can be utilized for soft locomotion robot's actuation. The proposed soft robot realizes inching locomotion by introducing friction anisotropy in its legs and contraction provided by SCPAM. Experiments are performed to evaluate the soft robot body's deformation as well as the robot's locomotion velocity when SCPAM are at different power input levels. Results exhibit that the soft robot can achieve locomotion velocity of 0.245 mm/s on the wood ground when SCPAM is powered at 0.16 W/cm. Compared to previous studies utilizing fluidic actuator, shape memory alloy (SMA) or motor tendon for actuation of soft locomotion robot, SCPAM possesses high power-to-weight ratio, inherent compliance and low cost, making the robot more compact and more suitable for field exploration in contaminated areas. This study shows the potential of this low-cost artificial muscle to be widely used in soft locomotion robots in the future.

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DO - 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2019.8722784

M3 - Conference Paper

AN - SCOPUS:85067114607

SP - 161

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BT - RoboSoft 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics

PB - IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

T2 - IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics 2019

Y2 - 14 April 2019 through 18 April 2019

ER -

A low-cost inchworm-inspired soft robot driven by supercoiled polymer artificial muscle

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