1. The Design and Manufacture of Hybrid Soft Robots with Distributed Actuation
- Author
-
Abulon, Dina Joy Kanani
- Subjects
- Robotics, Mechanical engineering, Biomedical engineering, hybrid soft robotics, rigid-soft systems, robotics, Shape morphing robots, Soft actuators, Soft grippers
- Abstract
The use of robotics for microsurgery in delicate tissues, such as intraocular removal of retinal membrane presents challenges to robot system design. In order to be useful, the robotic system must be of small size to be minimally invasive, a kinematic and actuator design that achieves necessary movement to complete a surgical task, and scalable cost-effective manufacturing. This dissertation presents the design, manufacture, and performance of scalable hybrid soft robots possessing a unique combination of four key attributes for a surgical tool: 1) origami-based shape changing capabilities and scalability, 2) hybrid soft robot structure with a rigid skeleton and 3) distributed soft pneumatic actuation to effectively achieve desired motion, and 4) the ability to be manufactured using multi-material digital light processing methods for easy fabrication. Kinematic synthesis, gear train analysis, and pressure modeling were established to guide design and predict prototype performance. A variety of manual multi-material methods and automated 3D digital light processing methods were employed to manufacture hybrid soft robot elements including origami grippers, articulated arms, and soft elastomeric pneumatic actuators. By implementing a modified version of existing techniques, we achieve a unique combination of four key attributes into hybrid soft robot designs. This research guides the design and manufacture of new scalable microsurgery tools.
- Published
- 2023