Soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) have existed for many years as one of the mainstream actuators. Along with the rise of soft robotics, the development in SPA designs in recent years was especially rapid and diverse. Particularly with innovations in SPA fabrication, there is an increasing variety of SPAs with different air chamber designs, varied scales, and distinctive motion modalities. Collectively, it can be seen that the majority of the SPAs come in the format of a finger-like one-dimensional actuator. To expand the SPA spectrum, this article gives a detailed and thorough introduction of a new class of SPA, called soft robotic pad (SRP). SRP is a silicone-based two-dimensional (2D) pad-like actuator that can be programmed to do a multiplicity of surface morphing without any change in thickness. We have previously reported a novel fabrication technique for SRP. However, it also came with a major issue-premature failure. Therefore, in this article, we present significant improvements in the fabrication that substantially strengthen the SRPs so that they can withstand higher pressure for future applications. In addition, shape and force modeling are also provided to predict the corresponding outputs upon different pressures. Motion tracking using Vicon system is proposed for the characterization of the 2D surface morphing. As a pioneering step, we also propose one SRP application, a soft wearable assistive pad for elbow flexion, to demonstrate its capabilities. As a new and unique member in the SPA family, SRP brings new dimension and more motion varieties to SPAs, a substantial boost to the application scope for SPAs and soft robots.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/soro.2018.0128 | DOI Listing |
Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg
January 2025
Advanced Medical Devices Laboratory, Kyushu University, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0382, Japan.
Purpose: This paper presents a deep learning approach to recognize and predict surgical activity in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RAMIS). Our primary objective is to deploy the developed model for implementing a real-time surgical risk monitoring system within the realm of RAMIS.
Methods: We propose a modified Transformer model with the architecture comprising no positional encoding, 5 fully connected layers, 1 encoder, and 3 decoders.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Department of Robotics, Hanyang University, Ansan, 15588, Republic of Korea.
Agriculture is an essential component of human sustenance in this world. These days, with a growing population, we must significantly increase agricultural productivity to meet demand. Agriculture moved toward technologies as a result of the demand for higher yields with less resources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJACC Cardiovasc Interv
December 2024
Digital Medicine and Robotics Center, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
College of Computer Science and Technology, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710054, China.
Soft and stretchable strain sensors are crucial for applications in human-machine interfaces, flexible robotics, and electronic skin. Among these, capacitive strain sensors are widely used and studied; however, they face challenges due to material and structural constraints, such as low baseline capacitance and susceptibility to external interference, which result in low signal-to-noise ratios and poor stability. To address these issues, we propose a U-shaped electrode flexible strain sensor based on liquid metal elastomer (LME).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Comput Chem
January 2025
Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Napoli, Italy.
Light-driven molecular rotary motors are nanometric machines able to convert light into unidirectional motions. Several types of molecular motors have been developed to better respond to light stimuli, opening new avenues for developing smart materials ranging from nanomedicine to robotics. They have great importance in the scientific research across various disciplines, but a detailed comprehension of the underlying ultrafast photophysics immediately after photo-excitation, that is, Franck-Condon region characterization, is not fully achieved yet.
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