Electro-pneumatic pumps for soft robotics. 2021

R S Diteesawat, and T Helps, and M Taghavi, and J Rossiter
Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1BU, UK.

Soft robotics has applications in myriad fields from assistive wearables to autonomous exploration. Now, the portability and the performance of many devices are limited by their associated pneumatic energy source, requiring either large, heavy pressure vessels or noisy, inefficient air pumps. Here, we present a lightweight, flexible, electro-pneumatic pump (EPP), which can silently control volume and pressure, enabling portable, local energy provision for soft robots, overcoming the limitations of existing pneumatic power sources. The EPP is actuated using dielectric fluid-amplified electrostatic zipping, and the device presented here can exert pressures up to 2.34 kilopascals and deliver volumetric flow rates up to 161 milliliters per minute and under 0.5 watts of power, despite only having a thickness of 1.1 millimeters and weight of 5.3 grams. An EPP was able to drive a typical soft robotic actuator to achieve a maximum contraction change of 32.40% and actuation velocity of 54.43% per second. We highlight the versatility of this technology by presenting three EPP-driven embodiments: an antagonistic mechanism, an arm-flexing wearable robotic device, and a continuous-pumping system. This work shows the wide applicability of the EPP to enable advanced wearable assistive devices and lightweight, mobile, multifunctional robots.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009132 Muscles Contractile tissue that produces movement in animals. Muscle Tissue,Muscle,Muscle Tissues,Tissue, Muscle,Tissues, Muscle
D011312 Pressure A type of stress exerted uniformly in all directions. Its measure is the force exerted per unit area. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Pressures
D004867 Equipment Design Methods and patterns of fabricating machines and related hardware. Design, Equipment,Device Design,Medical Device Design,Design, Medical Device,Designs, Medical Device,Device Design, Medical,Device Designs, Medical,Medical Device Designs,Design, Device,Designs, Device,Designs, Equipment,Device Designs,Equipment Designs
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000076251 Wearable Electronic Devices Electronic implements worn on the body as an implant or as an accessory. Examples include wearable diagnostic devices, wearable ACTIVITY TRACKERS, wearable INFUSION PUMPS, wearable computing devices, SENSORY AIDS, and electronic pest repellents. Wearable Computer,Electronic Skin,Wearable Devices,Wearable Technology,Computer, Wearable,Device, Wearable,Device, Wearable Electronic,Electronic Device, Wearable,Skin, Electronic,Technology, Wearable,Wearable Computers,Wearable Device,Wearable Electronic Device,Wearable Technologies
D000080745 Smart Materials Materials designed to change properties in response to changes in their environment adopting various predetermined shapes and/or functionalities. Actuating Material,Actuating Materials,Adaptive Material,Adaptive Materials,Intelligent Material,Intelligent Materials,Sensing Material,Sensing Materials,Shape Memory Material,Shape Memory Materials,Shape Memory Polymer,Shape Memory Polymers,Shape-Memory Material,Shape-Memory Materials,Shape-Memory Polymer,Shape-Memory Polymers,Smart Material,Material, Actuating,Material, Adaptive,Material, Intelligent,Material, Sensing,Material, Shape Memory,Material, Shape-Memory,Material, Smart,Memory Material, Shape,Memory Polymer, Shape,Polymer, Shape Memory,Polymer, Shape-Memory
D001187 Artificial Organs Devices intended to replace non-functioning organs. They may be temporary or permanent. Since they are intended always to function as the natural organs they are replacing, they should be differentiated from PROSTHESES AND IMPLANTS and specific types of prostheses which, though also replacements for body parts, are frequently cosmetic (EYE, ARTIFICIAL) as well as functional (ARTIFICIAL LIMBS). Artificial Organ,Organ, Artificial,Organs, Artificial
D012371 Robotics The application of electronic, computerized control systems to mechanical devices designed to perform human functions. Formerly restricted to industry, but nowadays applied to artificial organs controlled by bionic (bioelectronic) devices, like automated insulin pumps and other prostheses. Companion Robots,Humanoid Robots,Remote Operations (Robotics),Social Robots,Socially Assistive Robots,Telerobotics,Soft Robotics,Assistive Robot, Socially,Companion Robot,Humanoid Robot,Operation, Remote (Robotics),Operations, Remote (Robotics),Remote Operation (Robotics),Robot, Companion,Robot, Humanoid,Robot, Social,Robot, Socially Assistive,Robotic, Soft,Social Robot,Socially Assistive Robot,Soft Robotic
D055672 Static Electricity The accumulation of an electric charge on a object Electrostatic,Electrostatics,Static Charge,Charge, Static,Charges, Static,Electricity, Static,Static Charges

Related Publications

R S Diteesawat, and T Helps, and M Taghavi, and J Rossiter
June 2023, Sensors (Basel, Switzerland),
R S Diteesawat, and T Helps, and M Taghavi, and J Rossiter
October 2022, Soft robotics,
R S Diteesawat, and T Helps, and M Taghavi, and J Rossiter
December 2017, Soft robotics,
R S Diteesawat, and T Helps, and M Taghavi, and J Rossiter
April 2024, Soft robotics,
R S Diteesawat, and T Helps, and M Taghavi, and J Rossiter
October 2019, Soft robotics,
R S Diteesawat, and T Helps, and M Taghavi, and J Rossiter
February 2021, Science robotics,
R S Diteesawat, and T Helps, and M Taghavi, and J Rossiter
December 2021, Nature materials,
R S Diteesawat, and T Helps, and M Taghavi, and J Rossiter
February 2011, Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English),
R S Diteesawat, and T Helps, and M Taghavi, and J Rossiter
April 2018, Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English),
R S Diteesawat, and T Helps, and M Taghavi, and J Rossiter
March 2019, Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland),
Copied contents to your clipboard!