Reconfigurable Soft Robots by Building Blocks.

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Soft robots offer advantages over rigid robots in handling delicate or complex tasks due to their inherent flexibility.
• The reconfigurability of soft robots through modular designs remains an underexplored area, limiting their versatility.
• Current soft robot designs often lack standardized components for easy assembly and modification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel design of modular soft building blocks for reconfigurable soft robots.
• To develop a framework for creating diverse soft robot configurations using these blocks.
• To demonstrate the practical application of this modular approach in bio-inspired robotic designs.

Main Methods:

• Development of a numerical model for the constitutive soft building block to analyze its behavior.
• Implementation of a shape optimization algorithm to facilitate the construction of various soft robot configurations.
• Validation through 2D and 3D case studies including soft fingers, an elephant trunk manipulator, and a walking robot.

Main Results:

• The numerical model successfully characterized the behavior of the soft building blocks.
• The shape optimization algorithm enabled the design of multiple complex soft robot structures.
• Case studies demonstrated the feasibility of creating reconfigurable soft robots for tasks like grasping and locomotion.

Conclusions:

• The proposed modular building block approach significantly simplifies the construction and reconfiguration of soft robots.
• This method allows for the creation of soft robots with diverse and complex shapes tailored to specific applications.
• The research opens new avenues for adaptable and versatile soft robotic systems.