ROBOTS WITH MUSCLES

ROBOTS WITH MUSCLES

ABSTRACT

        Industrial robots, which are heavy moving bodies, show high risk of damage when working and also during training sessions in dense environment of other robots. This initiated the allure for lighter robot constructions using Soft arms. Soft arms that exhibit a close similitude to human arms reduce the use of heavy driving equipments like motors at each joints. Soft arms create powerful, compact, compliance and light robotic arms and consists of pneumatic actuators like McKibben muscles which is a rubber bladder surrounded by a helically weaved unstretchable nylon cloth which converts the radial stress into axial stress, which in turn is converted into useful work by the use of apt mechanisms. This paper solves certain problems in the soft arms by the use of Electro Active Polymers (EAP) as sensors, which also simplify a robotic finger models by acting like an actuator. Ion-exchange Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) is one of the EAPs, which in the form of metal strips can be bend using little voltage and a voltage is produced across its width when it is mechanically deformed. Highly Dynamic sensing characteristics of IPMC strips were remarkable in accuracy and repeatability and found to be superior to existing motion sensors and micro sensors. A new type of soft actuator and multi-fingered robotic hand made from IPMC artificial muscles will be quite superior to conventional grippers and multi-fingered robotic hands. This paper would obliterate all the difficulties currently present in McKibben muscles, which currently restricts its application. Adroit use of the solutions provided in this paper would abet researchers to produce highly efficient artificial muscles.