A modular electrically driven soft robotic arm

Abstract

The present invention discloses a modular electric-driven soft robotic arm, which includes a driving module and an execution module; the driving module is mainly composed of a plurality of soft drivers connected in sequence through end plates, and the driving unit is connected in parallel with an external power supply. After the external power supply energizes the driver, the driving module drives the robotic arm to produce torsion and axial compression movements. The execution module can be set to different types of actuators (such as electromagnets, electric-driven soft grippers, etc.), and operates or moves objects by cooperating with the driving module. The present invention can realize the rapid assembly of the soft robotic arm through the trapezoidal plug in the upper end plate and the trapezoidal slot in the lower end plate, and configure different actuators. It has the characteristics of high reliability, simple control, and rapid assembly. Compared with rigid robotic arms and fluid-driven robotic arms, it has obvious advantages and broad application prospects.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of robots, and in particular to a modular electrically driven soft robotic arm. Background Art

[0002] Traditional robotic arms are made of rigid materials, and are usually in rigid contact with the target object, which may cause unexpected damage to people or objects during operation. Fluid-driven soft robotic arms often require high-pressure fluid drive, which can easily cause the soft robotic arm chamber to rupture and fail, or when encountering some sharp objects, it is difficult to resist puncture damage, resulting in fluid leakage and deterioration of the performance of the soft robotic arm. Therefore, it is necessary to study a new type of modular electric-driven soft robotic arm to solve these problems. Summary of the invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the problems existing in the background technology and provide a new modular electric-driven soft robotic arm.

[0004] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

[0005] A modular electrically driven soft robotic arm comprises a driving module and an execution module; the driving module is mainly composed of a plurality of soft drivers connected in sequence through upper and lower end plates of the soft drivers, and the soft drivers are all clockwise twisting soft drivers or all counterclockwise twisting soft drivers; the execution module can be set as different types of actuators (such as electromagnets, electrically driven soft grippers, etc.), and the upper surface of the execution module is connected to the lower bottom surface of the driving module; the driving module is connected to an external device through its upper bottom surface.

[0006] Each soft drive comprises: an upper end plate, a lower end plate, a soft substrate, and a drive unit. The soft substrate is made of silicone material and is mainly composed of four identical arc surfaces. The upper and lower end surfaces of the arc surfaces are respectively connected to the upper end plate and the lower end plate to form a support frame of the soft drive. Two hexagonal grooves distributed along the same diagonal direction are arranged on the outer surface of each arc surface, and hexagonal grooves of the same size distributed along the opposite diagonal direction are arranged on the inner surface of the arc surface. Notches are arranged on the four edges of the soft substrate. The drive unit is made of liquid crystal elastic material. The soft drive is composed of a material and a metal wire wrapped inside the liquid crystal elastomer material. The driving unit is bonded to the groove on the outer surface of the arc surface. The driving unit is connected in series through the metal wire. When the driving unit is energized, the driving unit will shrink and deform to drive the soft substrate to twist, and at the same time drive the upper end plate to move downward and the lower end plate to move upward, so that the soft drive can perform two modes of movement: twisting and shrinking. After the external power supply is cut off, the driving unit gradually extends and returns to its initial length, driving the soft substrate to reverse twist. At the same time, the distance between the upper end plate and the lower end plate increases, and the soft drive returns to its initial state.

[0007] In the above technical solution, further, the metal wires in different soft drives are connected to an external power supply in parallel. After the external power supply supplies power to the drive unit, depending on the type of soft drive, the soft robotic arm twists clockwise along its central axis while accompanying axial contraction, or twists counterclockwise along its central axis while accompanying axial contraction.

[0008] Furthermore, the upper and lower end plates are made of resin material by 3D printing, and are divided into two categories according to different uses: one is end plate I arranged at the head and tail ends of the driving module, used to connect the execution module and the external device; the other is end plate II arranged between adjacent software drivers in the driving module, used to connect the software drivers.

[0009] Furthermore, in the end plate I, the upper end plate and the lower end plate are both composite structures composed of squares and arcs, wherein there is a through hole on each of the four sides of the upper and lower end plates I for connecting the execution module and the external device.

[0010] Furthermore, in the upper and lower end plates II, the upper end plate is a composite structure composed of a trapezoidal plug, a square, and a circular arc, and the lower end plate is a composite structure composed of a trapezoidal slot, a square, and a circular arc. The trapezoidal plug in the upper end plate and the trapezoidal slot in the lower end plate can be used to achieve rapid assembly of the soft robotic arm.

[0011] Furthermore, all the soft drives are arranged in the same direction, and the metal wire connectors connected to the external power supply are on the same side.

[0012] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0013] The modular electrically-driven soft robotic arm of the present invention drives the soft robotic arm by providing a voltage of several volts through an external power supply, so that the soft robotic arm can simulate a human arm to operate different kinds of objects. The structure is simple and the reliability is high. Different numbers of driver modules can be assembled according to the requirements of different operation tasks to further improve the performance of the soft robotic arm. The soft robotic arm has broad application prospects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a modular electrically driven soft robotic arm of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a soft driver of a modular electrically driven soft robot arm of the present invention, wherein a is a front view of the soft driver and b is a top view of the soft driver;

[0016] Figure 3Schematic diagram of the connection end plate of the modular electrically driven soft robot arm of the present invention, wherein a is a front view of the upper end plate II, b is a top view of the upper end plate II, c is a front view of the lower end plate II, and d is a top view of the lower end plate II;

[0017] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the connection end plate of the modular electrically driven soft robot arm of the present invention, wherein a is a front view of the end plate I, and b is a top view of the end plate I;

[0018] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the counterclockwise deformation of the modular electrically driven soft robotic arm of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the clockwise deformation of the modular electrically driven soft robotic arm of the present invention;

[0020] Among them, 1 end plate I, 2 end plate II, 3 soft driver, 4 actuator, 5 upper end plate, 6 drive unit, 7 soft substrate, 8 lower end plate, 9 arc-shaped notch, 10 metal wire, 11 outer groove, 12 inner groove, 13 trapezoidal slot, 14 trapezoidal plug, 15 through hole. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The scheme of the present invention is further explained below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0022] like Figure 1 As shown, a modular electrically driven soft robot arm includes a driving module and an execution module; the driving module is mainly composed of a plurality of soft drivers 3 connected in sequence through the end plate Ⅱ2 of the soft driver, and the soft drivers 3 are all clockwise twisting soft drivers or all counterclockwise twisting soft drivers; the execution module can be set to different types of actuators 4 (electromagnets, electrically driven soft grippers, etc.), and the upper surface of the execution module is connected to the end plate Ⅰ1 at the end of the driving module. After the soft drivers 3 are assembled in the same arrangement direction, they are connected to an external power source in parallel through a metal wire 10.

[0023] like Figure 2As shown, each soft driver 3 includes: an upper end plate 5, a lower end plate 8, a soft matrix 7, and a driving unit 6. The soft matrix 7 is made of silicone material and is mainly composed of four identical arc surfaces. The upper and lower end surfaces of the arc surfaces are respectively connected to the upper end plate 5 and the lower end plate 8 to form a support frame of the soft driver 3. The outer surface of each arc surface is arranged with two hexagonal outer grooves 11 distributed along the same diagonal direction, and the inner surface of each arc surface is also arranged with hexagonal inner grooves 12 of the same size distributed along the opposite diagonal direction. Notches 9 are arranged on the four edges of the soft matrix 7 in order to weaken the inhibition of the deformation of the soft driver 3 by the edges. The thickness of the four edges can also be reduced to make the deformation of the soft driver 3 easier.

[0024] The driving unit 6 is composed of a liquid crystal elastomer material and a metal wire 10 wrapped inside the liquid crystal elastomer material. The driving unit 6 is bonded to the outer groove 11 of the arc surface. The driving unit 6 is connected in series through the metal wire 10. When the driving unit 6 is energized, the driving unit 6 will shrink and deform to drive the soft substrate 7 to twist, and at the same time drive the upper end plate 5 to move downward and the lower end plate 8 to move upward, so that the soft driver 3 can perform two modes of movement: twisting and shrinking; after cutting off the external power supply, the driving unit 6 gradually extends and returns to its initial length, driving the soft substrate 7 to twist in the opposite direction. At the same time, the distance between the upper end plate 5 and the lower end plate 8 increases, and the soft driver 3 returns to its initial state.

[0025] like Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the upper and lower end plates are made of resin material by 3D printing, and are divided into two categories according to different uses. One is the end plate Ⅰ1 arranged at the head and tail ends of the driving module, used to connect the execution module 4 and the external device, and the other is the end plate Ⅱ2 arranged between adjacent soft drivers 3 in the driving module, used to connect the soft drivers 3. In the end plate Ⅰ, the upper end plate and the lower end plate are both composite structures composed of squares and arcs, wherein the four sides of the upper and lower end plates Ⅰ have a through hole 15 respectively; in the end plate Ⅱ, the upper end plate is a composite structure composed of a trapezoidal plug 14, a square, and an arc, and the lower end plate is a composite structure composed of a trapezoidal slot 13, a square, and an arc. The trapezoidal plug 14 in the upper end plate and the trapezoidal slot 13 in the lower end plate can realize the rapid assembly of the soft robot arm. The number of soft drivers 3 in the driving module can also be quickly increased or decreased according to actual operation requirements to increase the adaptability of the soft robot arm and further improve the performance of the soft robot arm.

[0026] The specific embodiments of the present invention are as follows:

[0027] like Figure 5 and 6As shown, according to the different types of soft drive 3, the soft robotic arm can be divided into two categories: clockwise twisting soft robotic arm and counterclockwise twisting soft robotic arm. When the external power supply supplies power to the drive unit 6 in the soft drive 3 at the same time, heat will be generated in the metal wire 10, and the drive unit 6 will shrink and deform due to the heat, driving each soft drive 3 to twist in the same direction. At this time, the soft robotic arm shows a twisting movement that imitates a human arm, accompanied by a contraction movement along the axial direction; the twisting angle of the soft robotic arm is related to the number of soft drives 3 driven. If only the drive units 6 in several of the soft drives 3 are powered, the soft robotic arm can achieve a smaller twisting angle. After disconnecting the external power supply, the drive unit 6 gradually returns to its initial length, and the soft robotic arm returns to its initial state with the reverse twisting of each soft drive 3.

Claims

1. A modular electrically driven soft robotic arm, characterized in that: It comprises a driving module and an execution module; the driving module is composed of a plurality of soft drivers connected in sequence, and the soft drivers are all clockwise twisting soft drivers or all counterclockwise twisting soft drivers; the execution module can use different types of actuators, and the upper surface of the execution module is connected to the lower bottom surface of the driving module; the driving module is connected to an external device through its upper bottom surface; Each soft drive comprises: an upper end plate, a lower end plate, a soft substrate, and a drive unit; the soft substrate is made of silicone material, and is surrounded by four identical arc surfaces, and the upper and lower end surfaces of the arc surfaces are fixedly connected to the upper end plate and the lower end plate respectively, forming a support frame of the soft drive; two hexagonal grooves distributed along the same diagonal direction are arranged on the outer surface of each arc surface, and hexagonal grooves of the same size distributed along the opposite diagonal direction are arranged on the inner surface of the arc surface; notches are arranged on the four edges of the soft substrate; the drive unit is bonded to the outer surface of the arc surface The driving unit is composed of a liquid crystal elastomer material and a metal wire wrapped inside the liquid crystal elastomer material. The driving unit is connected in series through the metal wire. When the driving unit is energized, the driving unit will shrink and deform to drive the soft substrate to twist, while driving the upper end plate and the lower end plate to move and reducing the distance between them, so that the soft drive can perform two modes of movement: twisting and shrinking. After the external power supply is cut off, the driving unit gradually extends and returns to its initial length, driving the soft substrate to reverse twist. At the same time, the distance between the upper end plate and the lower end plate increases, and the soft drive returns to its initial state.

2. A modular electrically driven soft robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The metal wires in different soft drives are connected to an external power supply in parallel; after the external power supply supplies power to the drive unit, the soft robotic arm twists clockwise around its central axis while contracting axially, or twists counterclockwise around its central axis while contracting axially, depending on the type of soft drive.

3. A modular electrically driven soft robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The upper and lower end plates of the driving module are made of resin material by 3D printing, and are divided into two categories according to their different uses: one is end plate I arranged at the head and tail ends of the driving module, used to connect the execution module and the external device; the other is end plate II arranged between adjacent software drivers in the driving module, used to connect the software drivers.

4. A modular electrically driven soft robotic arm according to claim 3, characterized in that: In the end plates II, any two adjacent end plates II are provided with a trapezoidal plug on one end plate and a trapezoidal slot on the other end plate. The rapid assembly of the soft robotic arm can be achieved through the trapezoidal plug and the trapezoidal slot in the two adjacent end plates II.

5. The modular electrically driven soft robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: All the soft drives are arranged in the same direction, and the metal wire connectors connected to the external power supply are on the same side.

6. A modular electrically driven soft robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: The actuator is an electromagnet, an electrically driven soft gripper or an electric adhesive.

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