Continuum Robotic Caterpillar with Wirelessly Powered Shape Memory Alloy Actuators.

Journal: Soft robotics
Published Date: Dec 1, 2020

Abstract

Wireless power transfer (WPT) has the significant potential for soft-bodied continuum robots to extend the operational time limitlessly and reduce weight. However, rigid power receiver coils, widely used in WPT, hinder the continuum deformation of the robot, and as a result, the function realization using the continuum deformation (e.g., locomotion) is impaired. Therefore, this article introduces that a soft-bodied continuum robot can be designed by using thin film receiver coils and an inductively coupled wireless powering solution without sacrificing the continuum deformation and locomotion ability. A system is described for powering and controlling a soft robotic caterpillar consisting of nothing more than its continuum structure, actuators, and thin/flexible power receiving coils.

Authors

  • Colm Mc Caffrey
    VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo, Finland.
  • Takuya Umedachi
    Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, Matsumoto, Veda, Japan.
  • Weiwei Jiang
    Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Takuya Sasatani
    Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Yoshiaki Narusue
    Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Ryuma Niiyama
    Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Yoshihiro Kawahara
    Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

Keywords

External Resources

Popular Topics
Recent Journals