Fiber pumps for wearable fluidic systems.

Incorporating pressurized fluidic circuits into textiles can enable muscular support, thermoregulation, and haptic feedback in a convenient wearable form factor. However, conventional rigid pumps, with their associated noise and vibration, are unsuitable for most wearables. We report fluidic pumps in the form of stretchable fibers.

Shielded soft force sensors.

Force and strain sensors made of soft materials enable robots to interact intelligently with their surroundings. Capacitive sensing is widely adopted thanks to its low power consumption, fast response, and facile fabrication. Capacitive sensors are, however, susceptible to electromagnetic interference and proximity effects and thus require electrical shielding.

Electrically-Driven Soft Fluidic Actuators Combining Stretchable Pumps With Thin McKibben Muscles.

Soft wearable robots could provide support for lower and upper limbs, increase weight lifting ability, decrease energy required for walking and running, and even provide haptic feedback. However, to date most of wearable robots are based on electromagnetic motors or fluidic actuators, the former being rigid and bulky, the latter requiring external pumps or compressors, greatly limiting integration and portability. Here we describe a new class of electrically-driven soft fluidic muscles combining thin, fiber-like McKibben actuators with fully Stretchable Pumps.

An autonomous untethered fast soft robotic insect driven by low-voltage dielectric elastomer actuators.

Insects are a constant source of inspiration for roboticists. Their compliant bodies allow them to squeeze through small openings and be highly resilient to impacts. However, making subgram autonomous soft robots untethered and capable of responding intelligently to the environment is a long-standing challenge.

Autonomous oil flow generated by self-oscillating polymer gels.

The previously reported gel and polymer actuators require external inputs, such as batteries, circuits, electronic circuits, etc., compared with autonomous motions produced by the living organisms. To realize the spontaneous motions, here, we propose to integrate a power supply, actuators, and control into a single-component self-oscillating hydrogel.

Stretchable pumps for soft machines.

Machines made of soft materials bridge life sciences and engineering. Advances in soft materials have led to skin-like sensors and muscle-like actuators for soft robots and wearable devices. Flexible or stretchable counterparts of most key mechatronic components have been developed, principally using fluidically driven systems; other reported mechanisms include electrostatic, stimuli-responsive gels and thermally responsive materials such as liquid metals and shape-memory polymers.

Soft Biomimetic Fish Robot Made of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators.

This article presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of a soft biomimetic robotic fish based on dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) that swims by body and/or caudal fin (BCF) propulsion. BCF is a promising locomotion mechanism that potentially offers swimming at higher speeds and acceleration rates, and efficient locomotion. The robot consists of laminated silicone layers wherein two DEAs are used in an antagonistic configuration, generating undulating fish-like motion.

Soft Robotic Grippers.

Advances in soft robotics, materials science, and stretchable electronics have enabled rapid progress in soft grippers. Here, a critical overview of soft robotic grippers is presented, covering different material sets, physical principles, and device architectures. Soft gripping can be categorized into three technologies, enabling grasping by: a) actuation, b) controlled stiffness, and c) controlled adhesion.

Conduction Electrohydrodynamics with Mobile Electrodes: A Novel Actuation System for Untethered Robots.

Electrohydrodynamics (EHD) refers to the direct conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy of a fluid. Through the use of mobile electrodes, this principle is exploited in a novel fashion for designing and testing a millimeter-scale untethered robot, which is powered harvesting the energy from an external electric field. The robot is designed as an inverted sail-boat, with the thrust generated on the sail submerged in the liquid.

A comprehensive gaze stabilization controller based on cerebellar internal models.

Gaze stabilization is essential for clear vision; it is the combined effect of two reflexes relying on vestibular inputs: the vestibulocollic reflex (VCR), which stabilizes the head in space and the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), which stabilizes the visual axis to minimize retinal image motion. The VOR works in conjunction with the opto-kinetic reflex (OKR), which is a visual feedback mechanism that allows the eye to move at the same speed as the observed scene. Together they keep the image stationary on the retina.