Adjustable and controllable fluid driven artificial muscle based on paper folding spring and working method

Abstract

The invention relates to an adjustable and controllable fluid driving artificial muscle based on a paper folding spring and a working method. The adjustable and controllable fluid driving artificial muscle comprises a fluid cavity, an elastic element and a flexible line. Wherein the fluid chamber is folded, the flexible line penetrates through the interior of the fluid chamber, and the elastic element is nested between folding lines of the folded fluid chamber and used for limiting mutual movement between the folding lines of the fluid chamber. The fluid chamber is connected to an external pressure source, after the external pressure source introduces pressurized fluid into the fluid chamber, the fluid chamber locally expands and deforms, the whole fluid chamber is elongated and twisted, and the elastic element is elongated; after the external pressure source is closed, the fluid cavity gradually shrinks and twists to return to the initial length and angle, and the elastic element is driven to contract to return to the initial length. The fluid driving soft body driver based on the paper folding spring is simple in structure, adjustable in rigidity and chirality, capable of generating a large deformation rate through driving of an external pressure source and wide in application prospect.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of soft robots, and in particular to an origami spring-based adjustable fluid-driven artificial muscle and a working method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Traditional robots are made of rigid components, with mature technology and wide application, but they have complex structures, high costs, poor flexibility, and poor environmental adaptability. With the increasing demand for human-computer interaction, soft robots are gradually emerging. Soft robots are made of soft materials, and the driver components are similar to biological muscles. They are flexible, safe, and environmentally adaptable, becoming an emerging development direction. Fluid-driven artificial muscles are a new type of artificial muscle technology that uses the pressure difference between fluid and the environment for driving. The most classic fluid artificial muscle is the Mckibben artificial muscle, which has a relatively simple structure but small deformation; the bellows-type artificial muscle that appeared later can increase deformation using low-modulus silicone materials, but the deformation is single. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop a fluid-driven artificial muscle with a simple structure, large deformation, adjustable chirality and stiffness. Summary of the invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and propose an adjustable fluid-driven artificial muscle and working method based on origami springs, which can maintain the stable operation of the power grid, quickly and accurately provide the optimal load transfer plan, greatly improve the work efficiency of dispatchers, and ensure the safe and stable operation of the power grid.

[0004] The present invention solves the technical problem by adopting the following technical solutions:

[0005] An adjustable fluid-driven artificial muscle based on origami springs comprises a fluid chamber, an elastic element and a flexible line; wherein the fluid chamber is folded, the flexible line runs through the interior of the fluid chamber, and the elastic element is nested between the fold lines of the folded fluid chamber to limit the mutual movement between the fold lines of the fluid chamber.

[0006] Moreover, the fluid chamber is obtained by a folding spring folding method, and the elastic element is nested on a single side adjacent fold line of the folded fluid chamber.

[0007] The fluid chamber is obtained by stacking two layers of films and sealing the long sides of the films.

[0008] Moreover, the fluid chamber is folded in a variety of different sequences, so that the artificial muscle produces torsional deformation in different directions after being filled with fluid, thereby achieving similar chirality regulation.

[0009] A working method of an adjustable fluid-driven artificial muscle based on an origami spring comprises the following steps:

[0010] Step 1, the fluid chamber is connected to an external pressure source;

[0011] Step 2: After the external pressure source introduces pressurized fluid into the fluid chamber, the fluid chamber partially expands and deforms, and the entire chamber stretches and twists;

[0012] Step 3: After the external pressure source is turned off, the fluid chamber gradually contracts and twists, returning to its initial length and angle, driving the elastic element to contract and return to its initial length.

[0013] The advantages and positive effects of the present invention are:

[0014] The present invention includes a fluid chamber, an elastic element and a flexible line; wherein the fluid chamber is folded, the flexible line runs through the interior of the fluid chamber, and the elastic element is nested between the fold lines of the folded fluid chamber to limit the mutual movement between the fold lines of the fluid chamber. The fluid chamber is connected to an external pressure source, and after the external pressure source passes pressurized fluid into the fluid chamber, the fluid chamber partially expands and deforms, and the whole chamber is elongated and twisted, and the elastic element is elongated; after the external pressure source is turned off, the fluid chamber gradually contracts and twists, and returns to the initial length and angle, driving the elastic element to contract and return to the initial length. The fluid-driven soft driver based on origami springs of the present invention has a simple structure, adjustable stiffness and chirality, and can produce a large deformation rate when driven by an external pressure source, and has broad application prospects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 Materials used in the artificial muscle of the present invention;

[0016] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a method for making a fluid chamber;

[0017] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a specific method for making the artificial muscle of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 4 is an overall schematic diagram of the artificial muscle of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of deformation of the artificial muscle of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 6 This is a data diagram of the deformation rate of the artificial muscle of the present invention.

[0021] Description of labels:

[0022] 1-film, 2-elastic element, 3-flexible wire. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] A controllable fluid-driven artificial muscle based on origami springs, such as Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, it includes a fluid chamber 4, an elastic element 2 and a flexible line 3; wherein the fluid chamber is folded, the flexible line runs through the fluid chamber, supports the flow channel, increases the cross-sectional area of ​​the flow channel, and the elastic element is nested between the fold lines of the folded fluid chamber to limit the mutual movement between the fold lines of the fluid chamber. The fluid chamber is obtained according to the folding method of the folding spring, and the elastic element is nested on the adjacent fold lines on one side of the folded fluid chamber.

[0025] The fluid chamber is obtained by stacking two films 1 and sealing the long sides of the films.

[0026] like Figure 3 As shown, based on the origami spring method, the fluid chamber is folded in sequence to form a self-locking folding structure. During the folding process, the elastic elements are sequentially nested at the folding lines of the fluid chamber. The final artificial muscle structure is as follows Figure 4 shown.

[0027] At the same time, the fluid chamber can be designed with a variety of folding orders, so that the artificial muscle produces torsional deformation in different directions after being filled with fluid, thereby achieving chirality regulation. Specifically, by changing the folding order of the fluid chamber, two different chiral deformations can be produced: left-handed deformation and right-handed deformation.

[0028] The elastic element of the present invention can adjust the stiffness of the entire artificial muscle according to the different material moduli and sizes.

[0029] The regulation mechanism of the present invention includes: rigidity factor and chirality factor.

[0030] The stiffness factor is: in the driving state, the elongation deformation is characterized by the elongation and the angle of rotation. The greater the stiffness of the elastic element, the smaller the overall deformation of the artificial muscle. The number of elastic units nested in each unit on the folded fluid chamber, as well as the material and geometric parameters can be controlled. Increasing the number of elastic elements, increasing the elastic modulus of the elastic element material, and increasing the cross-sectional area of ​​the elastic element can increase the stiffness of the elastic element, and vice versa. An increase in the stiffness of the elastic unit will reduce the deformation of the artificial muscle under the same driving state (fluid pressure), and vice versa.

[0031] The chiral factor is: when the fluid chamber is folded, Figure 5As shown in the figure, when the folding order is bottom left top right, that is, the "left-handed folding order", the internal pressure generated by the fluid entering the chamber will push the fluid chamber origami structure to unfold and deform in the left-handed direction when twisting. This kind of left-handed deformation makes the artificial muscle twist in the counterclockwise direction during expansion, which is suitable for driving systems that require left-handed movement; when the folding order is top left bottom right, that is, the corresponding "right-handed folding order", the fluid pressure inside the fluid chamber will cause the structure to deform in the right-handed direction. This kind of right-handed deformation means that the artificial muscle will twist in the clockwise direction when expanding, which can meet the right-handed twisting requirements.

[0032] A method for operating an adjustable fluid-driven artificial muscle based on origami springs, such as Figure 5 As shown:

[0033] When the artificial muscle is connected to an external pressure source, the pressure inside the fluid chamber increases, the fluid chamber expands, the elastic element is stretched, and the contacting areas of the fluid chambers are squeezed. Affected by the asymmetric boundary conditions of the folding, the overall structure undergoes torsional motion while stretching. After the pressure source is cut off, the pressure inside the fluid chamber decreases and returns to its initial length, driving the elastic element to return to its initial length, and the artificial muscle returns to its initial state. Figure 6 As shown, the maximum deformation rate of the artificial muscle of the present invention can reach above 6.5, wherein F refers to the width of the fluid chamber and R refers to the width of the elastic element.

[0034] It should be emphasized that the embodiments described in the present invention are illustrative rather than restrictive. Therefore, the present invention includes but is not limited to the embodiments described in the specific implementation manner. Any other implementation manners derived by those skilled in the art based on the technical solution of the present invention also fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An adjustable fluid-driven artificial muscle based on origami springs, characterized in that: It includes a fluid chamber, an elastic element and a flexible line; wherein the fluid chamber is folded, the flexible line runs through the interior of the fluid chamber, and the elastic element is nested between the fold lines of the folded fluid chamber to limit the mutual movement between the fold lines of the fluid chamber.

2. The adjustable fluid-driven artificial muscle based on origami spring according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fluid chamber is obtained by an origami spring folding method, and the elastic element is nested on a single-side adjacent fold line of the folded fluid chamber.

3. The adjustable fluid-driven artificial muscle based on origami spring according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fluid chamber is obtained by stacking two layers of films and sealing the long sides of the films.

4. The adjustable fluid-driven artificial muscle based on origami spring according to claim 2, characterized in that: The fluid chamber is folded in a variety of different sequences, so that the artificial muscle produces twisting deformation in different directions after being filled with fluid, thereby achieving similar chirality regulation.

5. A method for operating an adjustable fluid-driven artificial muscle based on an origami spring according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Step 1, the fluid chamber is connected to an external pressure source; Step 2: After the external pressure source introduces pressurized fluid into the fluid chamber, the fluid chamber partially expands and deforms, and the entire chamber stretches and twists; Step 3: After the external pressure source is turned off, the fluid chamber gradually contracts and twists, returning to its initial length and angle, driving the elastic element to contract and return to its initial length.

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