Fishtail-inspired soft actuator

Abstract

Soft robots are mostly created by drawing inspiration from bio-living organisms. Soft robots are flexible and compliant by nature, which enables them to adapt to an uncontrolled and unstructured environment. The effectiveness of the soft actuators can be used to define the performance of soft robots. The low weight and increased output force of the fluid (pneumatically) actuated soft actuators make them much more usable. The soft actuators, which were created by stimulating the muscles and motion of aquatic animals like fish, are extensively employed in both marine and numerous industrial applications. The locomotion of the fish in the water is due to their undulatory body movements. Numerous research offers data on muscle activity and body kinematics to help understand the swimming mechanism. In this study, a soft actuator inspired by a fishtail structure is developed. The layout of the actuator's air chambers and 'fish rib structure is closely related. The analysis of the soft actuator makes use of the finite element analysis (FEA) theory. The Ogden hyperelastic material model is used to assess the soft actuator's bending and the stress distribution within the air chambers. Maximum bending from the soft actuator is 310 at 12 kPa of pneumatic pressure. The top wall of the soft actuator encounters maximum stress of 89.22 kPa at 12 kPa pneumatic pressure. Future practical development of the planned soft actuator can be made using the results of the FEA analysis.