Special Issue "Soft Robotics: Design, Fabrication, Modeling, Control and Applications"

A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "A:Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021).

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Thanh Nho Do
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Interests: surgical robotics; control; soft robotics; haptics; capsule endoscopy; artificial muscles; wearable devices; functional materials; soft sensors; soft actuators
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soft robotics is an emerging field in robotics where highly compliant materials and structures, similar to those found in living organisms, are used to build soft, elastic, deformable systems that go beyond traditional rigid approaches to increase their dexterity and adaptability in physical unknown enviroments and enhance safety when interacting with humans. Soft robotics is presenting new possibilities to a wide range of applications in healthcare, haptics, defense, industry, entertainment, and education. We anticipate that soft robotics will play a vital role in the future development of robotic, mechatronic, and wearable systems. However, there still exist huge technical challenges for the design, fabrication, modelling, and control of soft robotic structures that prevent them from being directly used in practice. Novel material development, new design of advanced composites and structures, and facile fabrication methods, together with advanced nonlinear modelling, sensing techniques, and precise control algorithms, are highly desired in real-world applications. The main purpose of this Special Issue is to solicit excellent works from experts in the field to solve exisiting challenges of soft robotics towards the developemnts of “softer and smater” robotic systems. The topics of interest include (but are not limitted to) the following:

  • Soft sensors
  • Soft actuators
  • Bio-inspired soft robotic structures and devices
  • Flexible and stretchable electronics and mechatronics
  • Soft haptics
  • Liquid metals and their applications in soft robotics
  • Soft variable stiffness structures
  • Hybrid rigid-soft interfaces
  • Nonlinear modelling and control of soft robotics
  • Soft wearable and assistive devices
  • Soft materials and composites
  • Advanced design and fabrication methods for soft robotics
  • System integration for soft sensors and actuators
  • Shape programmable and transformable soft robotic structures and devices

Dr. Thanh Nho Do
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
An Approach of Social Navigation Based on Proxemics for Crowded Environments of Humans and Robots
Micromachines 2021, 12(2), 193; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12020193 - 13 Feb 2021
Viewed by 593
Abstract
Nowadays, mobile robots are playing an important role in different areas of science, industry, academia and even in everyday life. In this sense, their abilities and behaviours become increasingly complex. In particular, in indoor environments, such as hospitals, schools, banks and museums, where [...] Read more.
Nowadays, mobile robots are playing an important role in different areas of science, industry, academia and even in everyday life. In this sense, their abilities and behaviours become increasingly complex. In particular, in indoor environments, such as hospitals, schools, banks and museums, where the robot coincides with people and other robots, its movement and navigation must be programmed and adapted to robot–robot and human–robot interactions. However, existing approaches are focused either on multi-robot navigation (robot–robot interaction) or social navigation with human presence (human–robot interaction), neglecting the integration of both approaches. Proxemic interaction is recently being used in this domain of research, to improve Human–Robot Interaction (HRI). In this context, we propose an autonomous navigation approach for mobile robots in indoor environments, based on the principles of proxemic theory, integrated with classical navigation algorithms, such as ORCA, Social Momentum, and A*. With this novel approach, the mobile robot adapts its behaviour, by analysing the proximity of people to each other, with respect to it, and with respect to other robots to decide and plan its respective navigation, while showing acceptable social behaviours in presence of humans. We describe our proposed approach and show how proxemics and the classical navigation algorithms are combined to provide an effective navigation, while respecting social human distances. To show the suitability of our approach, we simulate several situations of coexistence of robots and humans, demonstrating an effective social navigation. Full article
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Article
Soft Finger Modelling and Co-Simulation Control towards Assistive Exoskeleton Hand Glove
Micromachines 2021, 12(2), 181; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12020181 - 11 Feb 2021
Viewed by 597
Abstract
The soft pneumatic actuators of an assistive exoskeleton hand glove are here designed. The design of the actuators focuses on allowing the actuator to perform the required bending and to restrict elongation or twisting of the actuator. The actuator is then modeled using [...] Read more.
The soft pneumatic actuators of an assistive exoskeleton hand glove are here designed. The design of the actuators focuses on allowing the actuator to perform the required bending and to restrict elongation or twisting of the actuator. The actuator is then modeled using ABAQUS/CAE, a finite element modeling software, and the open loop response of the model is obtained. The parameters of the actuator are then optimized to reach the optimal parameters corresponding to the best performance. Design of experiment (DOE) techniques are then approached to study the robustness of the system. Software-in-the-loop (SiL) is then approached to control the model variables via a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control generated by FORTRAN code. The link between the two programs is to be achieved by the user subroutine that is written, where the subroutine receives values from ABAQUS/CAE, performs calculations, and passes values back to the software. The controller’s parameters are tuned and then the closed loop response of the model is obtained by setting the desired bending angle and running the model. Furthermore, a concentrated force at the tip of the actuator is added to observe the actuator’s response to external disturbance. Full article
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Article
Multiphysics Simulator for the IPMC Actuator: Mathematical Model, Finite Difference Scheme, Fast Numerical Algorithm, and Verification
Micromachines 2020, 11(12), 1119; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11121119 - 17 Dec 2020
Viewed by 939
Abstract
The article is devoted to the development and creation of a multiphysics simulator that can, on the one hand, simulate the most significant physical processes in the IPMC actuator, and on the other hand, unlike commercial products such as COMSOL, can use computing [...] Read more.
The article is devoted to the development and creation of a multiphysics simulator that can, on the one hand, simulate the most significant physical processes in the IPMC actuator, and on the other hand, unlike commercial products such as COMSOL, can use computing resources economically. The developed mathematical model is an adjoint differential equation describing the transport of charged particles and water molecules in the ion-exchange membrane, the electrostatic field inside, and the mechanical deformation of the actuator. The distribution of the electrostatic potential in the interelectrode space is located by means of the solution of the Poisson equation with the Dirichlet boundary conditions, where the charge density is a function of the concentration of cations inside the membrane. The cation distribution was obtained by means of the solution of the equation system, in which the fluxes of ions and water molecules are described by the modified Nernst-Planck equations with boundary conditions of the third kind (the Robin problem). The cantilever beam forced oscillation equation in the presence of resistance (allowing for dissipative processes) with assumptions of elasticity theory was used to describe the actuator motion. A combination of the following computational methods was used as a numerical algorithm for the solution: the Poisson equation was solved by a direct method, the modified Nernst-Planck equations were solved by the Newton-Raphson method, and the mechanical oscillation equation was solved using an explicit scheme. For this model, a difference scheme has been created and an algorithm has been described, which can be implemented in any programming language and allows for fast computational experiments. On the basis of the created algorithm and with the help of the obtained experimental data, a program has been created and the verification of the difference scheme and the algorithm has been performed. Model parameters have been determined, and recommendations on the ranges of applicability of the algorithm and the program have been given. Full article
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