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

Vito Cacucciolo1, Hiroyuki Nabae2, Koichi Suzumori2

  • 1Soft Transducers Laboratory (LMTS), Institute of Microengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Frontiers in Robotics and AI
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Summary

Researchers developed new electrically-driven soft fluidic muscles using stretchable pumps and McKibben actuators. These compact, wearable devices offer potential for advanced soft smart clothing for human assistance and augmentation.

Keywords:
artificial musclessoft actuatorssoft fluidic actuatorssoft roboticssoft wearablesstretchable pumpsthin McKibben muscleswearable robots

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Area of Science:

  • Robotics
  • Materials Science
  • Biomedical Engineering

Background:

  • Soft wearable robots offer significant potential for human assistance and augmentation.
  • Existing wearable robots often rely on rigid, bulky electromagnetic motors or complex fluidic systems with external pumps, limiting portability and integration.
  • There is a need for compact, integrated, and portable actuation systems for soft wearable robots.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce a novel class of electrically-driven soft fluidic muscles.
  • To demonstrate a new type of solid-state pump based on ElectroHydroDynamics (EHD).
  • To enable the development of multifunctional soft smart clothing.

Main Methods:

  • Development of electrically-driven soft fluidic muscles by integrating thin McKibben actuators with fully stretchable EHD pumps.
  • Characterization of the performance of the developed soft fluidic muscles, including blocked force and maximum stroke.
  • Design of a modular system for straightforward integration into textiles.

Main Results:

  • Successful creation of slender, soft devices weighing only 2 g.
  • Achieved a blocked force of 0.84 N and a maximum stroke of 4 mm.
  • Demonstrated silent operation with the ability to bend and stretch.

Conclusions:

  • The novel electrically-driven fluidic muscles represent a significant advancement for soft wearable robotics.
  • These devices overcome limitations of existing technologies, offering improved portability and integration.
  • Future work will focus on enhancing response time and energy efficiency for broader applications in smart clothing.