Extending the reach of single-chamber inflatable soft robots using Magnetorheological Fluids

Abstract

Elastomer based, fabric-reinforced, inflatable soft robots bend when inflated because the fabric-reinforced section has negligible strain compared to the unreinforced section. The inherent displacement mismatch will cause the robot to stretch in the manner of a bi-metallic strip. Using a similar principle, we alter the inflation-dependent motion of various fabric reinforced soft robots by changing the stiffness of different regions of their chamber walls. A concatenated workspace volume of these many robots presents an increase in volume by a factor of six when compared to a robot of uniform rubber composition. A finite element method for a magnetically responsive truss demonstrates an increase in stiffness twofold from a magnetic field strength of 0.01 Tesla to a field strength of 0.02 Tesla. It is postulated that by utilizing these magnetically activated truss configurations as channels within silicone rubber, a fabric-reinforced robot will be able to move about a workspace of similar size by varying magnetic field strength along with the inflation pressure.