A Hybrid Jamming Structure Combining Granules and a Chain Structure for Robotic Applications

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Variable stiffness is crucial for soft robots, enabling versatile manipulation.
• Conventional jamming mechanisms (granular, chain) have limitations in force transmission and stiffness change.
• Existing methods struggle with applications requiring high supporting forces or drastic stiffness alterations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate a hybrid jamming structure combining granular and rigid chain elements.
• To enhance both the average stiffness change in all directions and the maximum directional force.
• To overcome limitations of traditional jamming mechanisms in soft robotics.

Main Methods:

• Development of a hybrid jamming structure integrating granular and rigid chain components.
• Analytical modeling to derive design principles for the hybrid structure.
• Experimental verification and comparison with conventional granular and chain jamming structures.

Main Results:

• The hybrid jamming structure demonstrated superior performance in stiffness change and force transmission compared to conventional methods.
• Analytical models accurately predicted the behavior of the hybrid jamming structure.
• Design principles for optimizing the hybrid structure were successfully derived and validated.

Conclusions:

• The proposed hybrid jamming structure offers significant improvements for soft robotic applications.
• This technology enables enhanced force transmission and stiffness control, crucial for complex robotic systems.
• Applications include advanced wearable assistive systems and robotic arm designs.