Ultralong Stretchable Soft Actuator (US2A): Design, Modeling and Application
Wenbiao Wang, Yunfei Zhu, Shibo Cai, Guanjun Bao
Abstract
Abstract Actuator plays a significant role in soft robotics. This paper proposed an ultralong stretchable soft actuator (US 2 A) with a variable and sizeable maximum elongation. The US 2 A is composed of a silicone rubber tube and a bellows woven sleeve. The maximal extension can be conveniently regulated by just adjusting the wrinkles’ initial angle of the bellows woven sleeve. The kinematics of US 2 A could be obtained by geometrically analyzing the structure of the bellows woven sleeve when the silicone rubber tube is inflated. Based on the principle of virtual work, the actuating models have been established: the pressure-elongation model and the pressure-force model. These models reflect the influence of the silicone tube’s shell thickness and material properties on the pneumatic muscle’s performance, which facilitates the optimal design of US 2 A for various working conditions. The experimental results showed that the maximum elongation of the US 2 A prototype is 257%, and the effective elongation could be variably regulated in the range of 0 and 257%. The proposed models were also verified by pressure-elongation and pressure-force experiments, with an average error of 5% and 2.5%, respectively. Finally, based on the US 2 A, we designed a pneumatic rehabilitation glove, soft arm robot, and rigid-soft coupling continuous robot, which further verified the feasibility of US 2 A as a soft driving component.