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Unfolding Textile-Based Pneumatic Actuators for Wearable Applications.

Ciarán T O'Neill1,2, Connor M McCann1,2, Cameron J Hohimer1,2

  • 1John A Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Soft Robotics
|January 22, 2021
PubMed
Summary

This study explores textile pneumatic actuators for wearables. Geometric parameters significantly influence generated moments, enabling more predictable designs for soft robotics applications.

Keywords:
pneumatic unfolding actuatorshoulder assistive devicetextile-based actuatorswearable robots

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Area of Science:

  • Robotics
  • Materials Science
  • Mechanical Engineering

Background:

  • Textile-based pneumatic actuators offer high strength-to-weight ratios for wearable applications.
  • Current designs rely on iterative processes due to complex textile mechanics.
  • Predicting actuator behavior is challenging, hindering deterministic design.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate actuation mechanics of textile pneumatic actuators.
  • Understand how geometric parameters affect generated moments.
  • Develop intuition for more deterministic actuator designs.

Main Methods:

  • Characterized physical prototypes of unfolding textile actuators.
  • Tested actuators at various angles and pressures (0–136 kPa).
  • Developed a piecewise analytical model and compared it to experimental data.

Main Results:

  • Observed three performance regimes: Shearing, Creasing, and Flattening.
  • Flattening regime: length and radius dominate, generating >80 Nm moments.
  • Creasing regime: radius dominates, moments scale with radius cubed.
  • Shearing regime: low stiffness, spring-like behavior observed.

Conclusions:

  • Geometric parameters critically influence textile actuator performance.
  • Analytical model provides insights into different operational regimes.
  • Wearable integration shows useful on-body moments but with reduced performance compared to benchtop.
  • Further research needed to optimize for on-body applications and higher pressures.