The sensing capabilities of a soft arm are ofparamount importance to its overall performance as they allow precise control of the soft arm and enhance its interactionwith the surrounding environment. However, the actu...The sensing capabilities of a soft arm are ofparamount importance to its overall performance as they allow precise control of the soft arm and enhance its interactionwith the surrounding environment. However, the actuationand sensing of a soft arm are not typically integrated into amonolithic structure, which would impede the arm’s movement and restrict its performance and application scope. Toaddress this limitation, this study proposes an innovativemethod for the integrated design of actuator structures andsensing. The proposed method combines the art of kirigamiwith soft robotics technology. In the proposed method, sensorsare embedded in the form of kirigami structures into actuatorsusing laser cutting technology, achieving seamless integrationwith a soft arm. Compared to the traditional amanogawakirigami and fractal-cut kirigami structures, the proposedmiddle-cut kirigami (MCK) structure does not buckle duringstretching and exhibits superior tensile performance. Based onthe MCK structure, an advanced interdigitated capacitivesensor with a high degree of linearity, which can significantlyoutperform traditional kirigami sensors, is developed. Theexperimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposedsoft arm design in actual logistics sorting tasks, demonstratingthat it is capable of accurately sorting objects based on sensorsignals. In addition, the results indicate that the developedcontinuum soft arm and its embedded kirigami sensors havegreat potential in the field of logistics automation sorting.This work provides a promising solution for high-precisionclosed-loop feedback control and environmental interaction ofsoft arms.展开更多
基金supported in part by the National Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China (51705098)。
文摘The sensing capabilities of a soft arm are ofparamount importance to its overall performance as they allow precise control of the soft arm and enhance its interactionwith the surrounding environment. However, the actuationand sensing of a soft arm are not typically integrated into amonolithic structure, which would impede the arm’s movement and restrict its performance and application scope. Toaddress this limitation, this study proposes an innovativemethod for the integrated design of actuator structures andsensing. The proposed method combines the art of kirigamiwith soft robotics technology. In the proposed method, sensorsare embedded in the form of kirigami structures into actuatorsusing laser cutting technology, achieving seamless integrationwith a soft arm. Compared to the traditional amanogawakirigami and fractal-cut kirigami structures, the proposedmiddle-cut kirigami (MCK) structure does not buckle duringstretching and exhibits superior tensile performance. Based onthe MCK structure, an advanced interdigitated capacitivesensor with a high degree of linearity, which can significantlyoutperform traditional kirigami sensors, is developed. Theexperimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposedsoft arm design in actual logistics sorting tasks, demonstratingthat it is capable of accurately sorting objects based on sensorsignals. In addition, the results indicate that the developedcontinuum soft arm and its embedded kirigami sensors havegreat potential in the field of logistics automation sorting.This work provides a promising solution for high-precisionclosed-loop feedback control and environmental interaction ofsoft arms.
