When striving to advance robotics one of the most widely turned to sources for inspiration is Nature. The field of soft robotics is a prime example of this. One of the most common examples of this are soft robots that utilize fluidic actuation in soft material chambers that mimic muscular hydrostats. This style of soft robots, pneumatic or hydraulic, become less apt when one takes into consideration the bulk of the tubes and valves required to power them. Especially since increasing the degrees of freedom increases the number of tubes and valves required for actuation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This paper proposes a novel flexible pneumatic valve adapter that seeks inspiration from vascular systems found in nature. Vascular systems have evolved in many instances, such as the human heart, to pump fluid through a complex system with a single reservoir by systematically closing and opening valves appropriately. The proposed pneumatic valve emulates this with two concentric flexible tubes. This allows it to decrease the quantity of tubes and valves required for pneumatically actuated soft robots. Previous versions of this adapter used rigid members which while decreasing the number of tubes tethering the robot to a pressure source hindered the soft robotic nature and movement, this adapter utilizes flexible materials to minimize the valve’s effect on the robot’s range of motion. The tubes have holes that are patterned by custom design determined by the needs of the soft robot with which it is to be used. The inner tube can be moved rotationally or translationally within the outer tube to align with designated holes to pressurize and depressurize multiple chambers in a soft robot with only a single light weight valve.

A Novel Flexible Bio-Inspired Pneumatic Valve Adapter for Soft Robotic Vasculature

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/SMASIS/SMASIS2021/volume/85499

ASME 2021 Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems (SMASIS2021)

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