Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering >

2022 , Vol. 35 >Issue 2: 24 - 24

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s10033-022-00701-8

Mechanism and Robotics

Dynamic Finite Element Modeling and Simulation of Soft Robots

  • Liang Ding ,
  • Lizhou Niu ,
  • Yang Su ,
  • Huaiguang Yang ,
  • Guangjun Liu ,
  • Haibo Gao ,
  • Zongquan Deng
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  • 1. State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China;
    2. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada

收稿日期: 2021-01-14

  修回日期: 2021-12-21

  网络出版日期: 2022-06-30

基金资助

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51822502 and 91948202), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2019YFB1309500), and the "111 Project" (Grant No. B07018)

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Dynamic Finite Element Modeling and Simulation of Soft Robots

  • Liang Ding ,
  • Lizhou Niu ,
  • Yang Su ,
  • Huaiguang Yang ,
  • Guangjun Liu ,
  • Haibo Gao ,
  • Zongquan Deng
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  • 1. State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China;
    2. Department of Aerospace Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada

Received date: 2021-01-14

  Revised date: 2021-12-21

  Online published: 2022-06-30

Supported by

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51822502 and 91948202), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2019YFB1309500), and the "111 Project" (Grant No. B07018)

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摘要

Soft robots have become important members of the robot community with many potential applications owing to their unique flexibility and security embedded at the material level. An increasing number of researchers are interested in their designing, manufacturing, modeling, and control. However, the dynamic simulation of soft robots is difficult owing to their infinite degrees of freedom and nonlinear characteristics that are associated with soft materials and flexible geometric structures. In this study, a novel multi-flexible body dynamic modeling and simulation technique is introduced for soft robots. Various actuators for soft robots are modeled in a virtual environment, including soft cable-driven, spring actuation, and pneumatic driving. A pneumatic driving simulation was demonstrated by the bending modules with different materials. A cable-driven soft robot arm prototype and a cylindrical soft module actuated by shape memory alley springs inspired by an octopus were manufactured and used to validate the simulation model, and the experimental results demonstrated adequate accuracy. The proposed technique can be widely applied for the modeling and dynamic simulation of other soft robots, including hybrid actuated robots and rigid-flexible coupling robots. This study also provides a fundamental framework for simulating soft mobile robots and soft manipulators in contact with the environment.

关键词： Soft robot; Finite-element modeling; Dynamic simulation

本文引用格式

Liang Ding , Lizhou Niu , Yang Su , Huaiguang Yang , Guangjun Liu , Haibo Gao , Zongquan Deng . Dynamic Finite Element Modeling and Simulation of Soft Robots[J]. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2022 , 35(2) : 24 -24 . DOI: 10.1186/s10033-022-00701-8

Abstract

Soft robots have become important members of the robot community with many potential applications owing to their unique flexibility and security embedded at the material level. An increasing number of researchers are interested in their designing, manufacturing, modeling, and control. However, the dynamic simulation of soft robots is difficult owing to their infinite degrees of freedom and nonlinear characteristics that are associated with soft materials and flexible geometric structures. In this study, a novel multi-flexible body dynamic modeling and simulation technique is introduced for soft robots. Various actuators for soft robots are modeled in a virtual environment, including soft cable-driven, spring actuation, and pneumatic driving. A pneumatic driving simulation was demonstrated by the bending modules with different materials. A cable-driven soft robot arm prototype and a cylindrical soft module actuated by shape memory alley springs inspired by an octopus were manufactured and used to validate the simulation model, and the experimental results demonstrated adequate accuracy. The proposed technique can be widely applied for the modeling and dynamic simulation of other soft robots, including hybrid actuated robots and rigid-flexible coupling robots. This study also provides a fundamental framework for simulating soft mobile robots and soft manipulators in contact with the environment.

Key words： Soft robot; Finite-element modeling; Dynamic simulation

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