Modeling of Soft Fiber-Reinforced Bending Actuators

Soft fluidic actuators consisting of elastomeric matrices with embedded flexible materials are of particular interest to the robotics community because they are affordable and can be easily customized to a given application. However, the significant potential of such actuators is currently limited as their design has typically been based on intuition. In this paper, the principle of operation of these actuators is comprehensively analyzed and described through experimentally validated quasi-static analytical and finite-element method models for bending in free space and force generation when in contact with an object. This study provides a set of systematic design rules to help the robotics community create…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: #IIS-1226075
• HU
  Harvard University
• DA
  Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

  Award: W911NF-11-1-0094
• SO
  School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania