Discrete Pneumatic‐Tendon‐Coupled Actuators with Interconnected Air Circuit for Untethered Soft Robots
Untethered soft robots (USRs) based on single‐actuation methods face inherent limitations due to restricted energy resources, which adversely affect their performance. Pneumatic‐tendon‐coupled actuators (PTCAs) offer an effective approach for USRs by combining the compliance and variable stiffness o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Advanced Intelligent Systems |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/aisy.202400533 |
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| author | Jiutian Xia Jie Huang Shiling Fu Jingting Qu Liyan Mo Yunquan Li Tao Ren Yang Yang Yujia Li Hao Liu |
| author_facet | Jiutian Xia Jie Huang Shiling Fu Jingting Qu Liyan Mo Yunquan Li Tao Ren Yang Yang Yujia Li Hao Liu |
| author_sort | Jiutian Xia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Untethered soft robots (USRs) based on single‐actuation methods face inherent limitations due to restricted energy resources, which adversely affect their performance. Pneumatic‐tendon‐coupled actuators (PTCAs) offer an effective approach for USRs by combining the compliance and variable stiffness of pneumatic actuation with the precision and rapid motion control of tendon‐driven actuation. However, current PTCA‐based USRs are limited in versatility and efficiency when executing complex tasks. This research introduces discrete pneumatic‐tendon‐coupled actuators with interconnected air circuit (DPTCAs‐IAC) to address these limitations through two major design approaches: 1) multiple discrete DPTCAs with integrated micro pump, providing additional degrees of freedom and independent motion control while regulating internal pressure without significantly adding weight; and 2) interconnecting multiple DPTCAs through air circuits to facilitate gas flow and enhance efficiency. Theoretical modeling and experimental tests conducted on single DPTCA and DPTCAs‐IAC show that the IAC effectively reduces actuation torque and that opposite‐direction movements consume less energy compared to same‐direction movements. An untethered soft robotic gripper and an untethered quadruped robot with soft legs based on DPTCAs‐IAC are developed. Both demonstrate excellent controllability, compact system integration, and multifunctionality, highlighting the potential of DPTCAs‐IAC in advancing the development of complex untethered soft robots. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-843e5d335d5a43a68152937e5f23d4e1 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2640-4567 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Advanced Intelligent Systems |
| spelling | doaj-art-843e5d335d5a43a68152937e5f23d4e12025-08-20T02:11:37ZengWileyAdvanced Intelligent Systems2640-45672025-04-0174n/an/a10.1002/aisy.202400533Discrete Pneumatic‐Tendon‐Coupled Actuators with Interconnected Air Circuit for Untethered Soft RobotsJiutian Xia0Jie Huang1Shiling Fu2Jingting Qu3Liyan Mo4Yunquan Li5Tao Ren6Yang Yang7Yujia Li8Hao Liu9Shien‐ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering South China University of Technology Guangzhou 511442 ChinaShien‐ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering South China University of Technology Guangzhou 511442 ChinaShien‐ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering South China University of Technology Guangzhou 511442 ChinaShien‐ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering South China University of Technology Guangzhou 511442 ChinaShien‐ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering South China University of Technology Guangzhou 511442 ChinaShien‐ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering South China University of Technology Guangzhou 511442 ChinaSchool of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Chengdu University of Technology Chengdu 611731 ChinaSchool of Automation Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology Nanjing 210044 ChinaSchool of Mechatronic Engineering Southwest Petroleum University Chengdu 610500 ChinaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China 999077 ChinaUntethered soft robots (USRs) based on single‐actuation methods face inherent limitations due to restricted energy resources, which adversely affect their performance. Pneumatic‐tendon‐coupled actuators (PTCAs) offer an effective approach for USRs by combining the compliance and variable stiffness of pneumatic actuation with the precision and rapid motion control of tendon‐driven actuation. However, current PTCA‐based USRs are limited in versatility and efficiency when executing complex tasks. This research introduces discrete pneumatic‐tendon‐coupled actuators with interconnected air circuit (DPTCAs‐IAC) to address these limitations through two major design approaches: 1) multiple discrete DPTCAs with integrated micro pump, providing additional degrees of freedom and independent motion control while regulating internal pressure without significantly adding weight; and 2) interconnecting multiple DPTCAs through air circuits to facilitate gas flow and enhance efficiency. Theoretical modeling and experimental tests conducted on single DPTCA and DPTCAs‐IAC show that the IAC effectively reduces actuation torque and that opposite‐direction movements consume less energy compared to same‐direction movements. An untethered soft robotic gripper and an untethered quadruped robot with soft legs based on DPTCAs‐IAC are developed. Both demonstrate excellent controllability, compact system integration, and multifunctionality, highlighting the potential of DPTCAs‐IAC in advancing the development of complex untethered soft robots.https://doi.org/10.1002/aisy.202400533pneumatic‐tendon‐coupled actuatorquadruped soft robotsoft robotic gripperuntethered soft robot |
| spellingShingle | Jiutian Xia Jie Huang Shiling Fu Jingting Qu Liyan Mo Yunquan Li Tao Ren Yang Yang Yujia Li Hao Liu Discrete Pneumatic‐Tendon‐Coupled Actuators with Interconnected Air Circuit for Untethered Soft Robots Advanced Intelligent Systems pneumatic‐tendon‐coupled actuator quadruped soft robot soft robotic gripper untethered soft robot |
| title | Discrete Pneumatic‐Tendon‐Coupled Actuators with Interconnected Air Circuit for Untethered Soft Robots |
| title_full | Discrete Pneumatic‐Tendon‐Coupled Actuators with Interconnected Air Circuit for Untethered Soft Robots |
| title_fullStr | Discrete Pneumatic‐Tendon‐Coupled Actuators with Interconnected Air Circuit for Untethered Soft Robots |
| title_full_unstemmed | Discrete Pneumatic‐Tendon‐Coupled Actuators with Interconnected Air Circuit for Untethered Soft Robots |
| title_short | Discrete Pneumatic‐Tendon‐Coupled Actuators with Interconnected Air Circuit for Untethered Soft Robots |
| title_sort | discrete pneumatic tendon coupled actuators with interconnected air circuit for untethered soft robots |
| topic | pneumatic‐tendon‐coupled actuator quadruped soft robot soft robotic gripper untethered soft robot |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/aisy.202400533 |
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