Animal Models for Non-pneumatic Soft Robots

• Published in: Soft Robotics: Trends, Applications and Challenges Vol. 17; pp. 47 - 55
• Main Author: Trimmer, Barry Andrew
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Springer International Publishing AG 01.01.2017; Springer International Publishing
• Series: Biosystems & Biorobotics
• Subjects: Artificial intelligence; Biomedical engineering; Elephant Trunk; Holometabolous Insect; Pneumatic Actuator; Robot Design; Robotics; Soft Robot
• ISBN: 9783319464596; 3319464590
• ISSN: 2195-3562; 2195-3570
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-46460-2_7

Soft animals can be seen as “living prototypes” to inspire and inform the development of soft robots. However, soft animals are extremely diverse in their biomechanics and neural control systems. These differences should be carefully considered when selecting a biological model to guide robot design. It is also important to consider the technical advantages and limitations that affect the type of information that can be collected from different species. Aside from swimming robots, most soft robots and soft manipulator arms are inspired by annelids and cephalopod mollusks. Both groups are essentially fixed-volume hydrostats that exploit pressure differences to change shape and to gain mechanical advantage. Some robots inspired by these animals mimic their underlying mechanisms (and anatomy), whereas others produce similar movements using entirely different principles. By far the most numerous and diverse group of soft animals are larvae of the holometabolous insects. Because they contain internal air tubes, insect larvae control movements using direct actuation instead of pressure control alone. Insects also have highly stereotypical and modular anatomy and easily accessible neural coding making them excellent prototypes for non-pneumatic robot design. By mapping key features of caterpillar locomotion onto robot design a new class of robots has been fabricated from simple elastomers powered by shape memory actuators and motor-tendons. These robots have proved useful for exploring different control strategies and have the capacity to move quickly. Robots based on these design principles are expected to be useful for climbing in complex 3 dimensional structures and in low gravity environments.