Design and Analysis of a Soft Pneumatic Actuator with Origami Shell Reinforcement

Soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) are versatile robotic components enabling diverse and complex soft robot hardware design. However, due to inherent material characteristics exhibited by their primary constitutive material, silicone rubber, they often lack robustness and repeatability in performance. In this article, we present a novel SPA-based bending module design with shell reinforcement. The bidirectional soft actuator presented here is enveloped in a Yoshimura patterned origami shell, which acts as an additional protection layer covering the SPA while providing specific bending resilience throughout the actuator’s range of motion. Mechanical tests are performed to characterize several shell folding patterns and their effect on the actuator performance. Details on design decisions and experimental results using the SPA with origami shell modules and performance analysis are presented; the performance of the bending module is significantly enhanced when reinforcement is provided by the shell. With the aid of the shell, the bending module is capable of sustaining higher inflation pressures, delivering larger blocked torques, and generating the targeted motion trajectory

Sincronización entre módulos para la captura de información en un robot modular tipo serpiente

Este trabajo de grado pretende ayudar en la labor realizada por el grupo SIRP del departamento de ingeniería electrónica en la sincronización y captura de información entre módulos de un robot serpiente. Se lleva a cabo la implementación de dos estrategias de sincronización y se propone un protocolo de pruebas con el fin de evaluar los comportamientos evidenciados por las dos estrategias. El primer protocolo consiste en la sincronización por medio de NTP, el segundo se lleva a cabo por medio del envío de una trama serial. El trabajo de grado ha sido realizado para su uso en N módulos del robot tipo serpiente del grupo.This degree work intends to help in the work done by the SIRP group of the department of electronic engineering in the synchronization and information acquisition between modules of a snake-like robot. The implementation of two synchronization strategies is carried out and a test protocol is proposed in order to evaluate the behaviors evidenced by the two strategies. The first protocol consists of the synchronization through NTP, the second is carried out by sending a serial frame. The degree work has been done for use in N modules of the snake-like robot of the group.Ingeniero (a) ElectrónicoPregrad