Design and Manufacturing of a Simple Soft Caterpillar Robot

Soft robots are increasingly gaining attention not only within the scientific community, but also in various real-world applications, due to their inherent compliance, ease of manufacture and favourable mechanical properties. These robots can manipulate a wide range of objects without the need for p...

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Main Authors: Petar Ćurković, Denis Milvić
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Croatian Interdisciplinary Society 2024-10-01
Series:Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems
Subjects:
Online Access:https://indecs.eu/2024/indecs2024-pp633-645.pdf
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author Petar Ćurković
Denis Milvić
author_facet Petar Ćurković
Denis Milvić
author_sort Petar Ćurković
collection DOAJ
description Soft robots are increasingly gaining attention not only within the scientific community, but also in various real-world applications, due to their inherent compliance, ease of manufacture and favourable mechanical properties. These robots can manipulate a wide range of objects without the need for precise feedback on position, orientation, force, and torque. Their low elastic moduli make them inherently safe. However, although the field of soft robotics has been well established now, there is still a significantly smaller number of successfully realized applications in the domain of mobile soft robotics. This article presents a detailed development process of a tethered mobile caterpillar-like soft robot. A single part mould is designed and used to cast the silicone body of the robot with integrated four Shape Memory Alloy tendons, allowing generation of the inching motion pattern. The detailed analysis of the manufacturing process for robot fabrication, with the necessary hardware and software used for robot control is presented. Experimental verification shows usability of presented approach, but also reveals limitations mainly due to insufficient cooling of the Shape Memory Alloy tendons which limits the number of cycles per time.
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publishDate 2024-10-01
publisher Croatian Interdisciplinary Society
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series Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems
spelling doaj-art-a737a6a7bfbb477598e54acaebac150a2025-08-20T02:52:52ZengCroatian Interdisciplinary SocietyInterdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems1334-46841334-46762024-10-0122563364510.7906/indecs.22.5.8Design and Manufacturing of a Simple Soft Caterpillar RobotPetar Ćurković0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2198-4419Denis Milvić1University of Zagreb Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Zagreb, CroatiaUniversity of Zagreb Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Zagreb, CroatiaSoft robots are increasingly gaining attention not only within the scientific community, but also in various real-world applications, due to their inherent compliance, ease of manufacture and favourable mechanical properties. These robots can manipulate a wide range of objects without the need for precise feedback on position, orientation, force, and torque. Their low elastic moduli make them inherently safe. However, although the field of soft robotics has been well established now, there is still a significantly smaller number of successfully realized applications in the domain of mobile soft robotics. This article presents a detailed development process of a tethered mobile caterpillar-like soft robot. A single part mould is designed and used to cast the silicone body of the robot with integrated four Shape Memory Alloy tendons, allowing generation of the inching motion pattern. The detailed analysis of the manufacturing process for robot fabrication, with the necessary hardware and software used for robot control is presented. Experimental verification shows usability of presented approach, but also reveals limitations mainly due to insufficient cooling of the Shape Memory Alloy tendons which limits the number of cycles per time.https://indecs.eu/2024/indecs2024-pp633-645.pdfsoft robotshape memory alloybiomimetic robotsoft robot manufacturing process
spellingShingle Petar Ćurković
Denis Milvić
Design and Manufacturing of a Simple Soft Caterpillar Robot
Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems
soft robot
shape memory alloy
biomimetic robot
soft robot manufacturing process
title Design and Manufacturing of a Simple Soft Caterpillar Robot
title_full Design and Manufacturing of a Simple Soft Caterpillar Robot
title_fullStr Design and Manufacturing of a Simple Soft Caterpillar Robot
title_full_unstemmed Design and Manufacturing of a Simple Soft Caterpillar Robot
title_short Design and Manufacturing of a Simple Soft Caterpillar Robot
title_sort design and manufacturing of a simple soft caterpillar robot
topic soft robot
shape memory alloy
biomimetic robot
soft robot manufacturing process
url https://indecs.eu/2024/indecs2024-pp633-645.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT petarcurkovic designandmanufacturingofasimplesoftcaterpillarrobot
AT denismilvic designandmanufacturingofasimplesoftcaterpillarrobot