Bionic Water Hydraulic System of Soft Robot Control Inspired by Spider Limbs

摘要

Advancement in technology has seen to a rise in applications of soft robots and the demands for their control are also growing. At present, the pressure control system is bloated and slow to respond, which makes the continuous control of soft robot based on pressure-driven more difficult than that of the rigid. In nature, arthropods use the combination of fluid resistance in blood vessels and lymphatic vessels to achieve limbs bending, which provide inspirations for the control of soft robots. In this study, based on the spider limb control, six proportional solenoid valves are designed, each of which can be quickly connected with other valves to form the required hydraulic bridge. Based on theoretical analysis and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation, the pressure control characteristics of type A, B, and C hydraulic Bridges are presented. Through experiments, the relationship between pressure and control current is found to verify the relevant features of the hydraulic system. Because of the good pressure control characteristics of the C-bridge, it is used to drive the soft robotic arm. The experimental results show that this water hydraulic system can control soft robots continuously.