Multifunctional Soft Stackable Robots by Netting-Rolling-Splicing Pneumatic Artificial Muscles.

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Materials Science
• Artificial Intelligence

Background:

• Soft robots require multifunctionalities for autonomous operation in unpredictable environments.
• Robotic stacking enhances soft robot diversity but existing methods have limitations.
• Current multifunctional soft robots often lack sufficient functions or demonstrate limited stacking advantages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel Netting-Rolling-Splicing (NRS) stacking strategy for fabricating multifunctional soft robots.
• To demonstrate the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the NRS stacking method.
• To showcase the superior performance and adaptability of NRS stacking-driven soft robots.

Main Methods:

• Developed the Netting-Rolling-Splicing (NRS) stacking strategy using 2D-to-3D rolling-and-splicing of netted stackable pneumatic artificial muscles.
• Fabricated a TriUnit soft robot for demonstrating crawling, climbing, and payload capabilities.
• Utilized a pentagon unit for steady rolling demonstrations.
• Applied the TriUnit robot in tasks like pipe climbing, swallowing-and-regurgitating, manipulation, panoramic shooting, and cargo transferring.

Main Results:

• The TriUnit robot achieved crawling at 0.46 ± 0.022 BL/s and climbing at 0.11 BL/s, carrying a 3 kg payload.
• Demonstrated novel omnidirectional pipe climbing, rotating climbing, bionic swallowing-and-regurgitating, and multi-DOF manipulation.
• Achieved steady rolling at 0.19 BL/s with a pentagon unit.
• Showcased adaptability in practical applications like panoramic shooting and cargo transfer.

Conclusions:

• The NRS stacking method provides an effective and efficient approach for creating multifunctional and multimodal soft robots.
• NRS stacking-driven soft robots exhibit superior overall performance compared to existing stackable soft robots.
• This strategy offers a cost-effective solution for advancing soft robotics capabilities.