Fluid-driven actuator and its applications
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing assistive devices, such as exoskeletons, face challenges in user acceptance due to high cost, safety concerns, and ease of use, with a need for devices that are comfortable, affordable, and do not restrict natural human motions.
Innovation Solution
A fluid-driven actuator with a bending actuator and inner fluid bladder, customizable and made from flexible materials like fabrics, which allows for natural and compliant actuation, reducing weight and cost while enhancing comfort and wearability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional exoskeletons are used to provide assistive functions, then functional support is improved, but cost and weight increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) as the actuation mechanism. These pneumatic actuators use compressed air to generate force, replacing traditional heavy electric motors and hydraulic systems. The PAMs provide sufficient assistive force while being significantly lighter and more compliant, directly resolving the contradiction between functional support and device weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The exoskeleton utilizes flexible fabric structures and soft materials for its construction. The wearable platform is made from flexible shells and thin film materials that provide structural support while maintaining low weight and high comfort. This approach replaces rigid metallic components with flexible materials that achieve the same mechanical functions at reduced weight.
2Reliability
If conventional exoskeletons are used to provide assistive functions, then functional support is improved, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The use of flexible fabric structures and soft materials enables simpler, more cost-effective manufacturing processes. These materials can be produced through standard textile and fabrication techniques rather than requiring precision machining of expensive metallic components. The flexible materials themselves are generally less costly than the high-strength alloys and specialized components needed for conventional exoskeletons.
Solution Approach 2:
Pneumatic systems using compressed air are generally less expensive than hydraulic systems with heavy fluid reservoirs and complex sealing requirements. The pneumatic actuators can be manufactured more simply and require less expensive maintenance, reducing both initial manufacturing cost and lifecycle costs while maintaining reliable assistive function.
3Strength
If rigid structures are used in assistive devices, then structural strength is improved, but comfort and wearability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs flexible fabric structures and soft materials that conform to the user's body contours, providing comfort and adaptability. These flexible materials maintain sufficient structural strength through their fabric construction and tension-based load bearing, eliminating the need for rigid metallic frames that would compromise comfort and wearability.
Solution Approach 2:
The exoskeleton utilizes composite material constructions, particularly combining flexible fabrics with reinforcing elements and pneumatic actuators. This composite approach achieves the necessary structural strength and stiffness to provide assistive function while maintaining the flexibility and comfort characteristics of soft materials, rather than relying on homogeneous rigid structures.
4Adaptability or versatility
If complex mechanisms are used to provide multiple motions, then motion capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Pneumatic artificial muscles inherently provide compliant, multi-directional motion capabilities through their expansion and contraction mechanics. The soft robotic joints with pneumatic actuators can naturally accommodate multiple degrees of freedom and adapt to various motion requirements without requiring complex mechanical linkages, gears, or linkages, thereby providing versatile motion capability with simpler overall system architecture.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The fluid-driven actuator provides comfortable, affordable, and wearable assistive devices that are easier to use, reducing barriers to market entry and improving user acceptance by offering customizable and flexible motion capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
Upon fluid pressurization, the soft actuators are able to produce complex motions, forces and torques with multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs)
Implementation Method 2
a restraint member arranged to cooperate with the bending actuator to produce a plurality of motions in response to fluid supplied to the inner fluid bladder
Data Source
AI summary
A fluid-driven actuator 100 includes a bending actuator 200 including a first wall portion 201, a second wall portion 203 cooperating with the first wall portion 201 to define an undulating actuator profile. The bending actuator 200 also includes an inner fluid bladder 202 disposed between the first and second wall portions 201,203 and following the undulating actuator profile. The fluid-driven actuator 100 further includes a restraint member 300 arranged to cooperate with the bending actuator 200 to produce a plurality of motions in response to fluid supplied to the inner fluid bladder 202.