Image 1 - A soft robotic snake made of modules that can actively deform in 3D with 3D-printed wave spring sheath to support the modules, increasing its performance in climbing steps 3-fold.

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3D Soft Robotic Snake

company logo for WPI Soft Robotics Lab WPI Soft Robotics Lab

Country: United States of America

Year: 2022

Summary

A soft robotic snake made of modules that can actively deform in 3D with 3D-printed wave spring sheath to support the modules, increasing its performance in climbing steps 3-fold.

Status: Prototype, Research

Operation: Other

Robot Type / Domain: Multi/General-Purpose, Research

Tasks: movement in narrow pas- sages and other difficult terrain

Learn More

Below is from: Wan, Zhenyu, et al. "Design, analysis, and real-time simulation of a 3D soft robotic snake." Soft Robotics 10.2 (2023): 258-268.

"Snakes are a remarkable source of inspiration for mobile search-and-rescue robots. Their unique slender body structure and multiple modes of locomotion are well-suited to movement in narrow passages and other difficult terrain. The design, manufacturing, modeling, and control techniques of soft robotics make it possible to imitate the structure, mechanical properties, and locomotion gaits of snakes, opening up new possibilities in robotics research. Building on our track record of contributions in this area, this article presents a soft robotic snake made of modules that can actively deform in three-dimensional (3D) and rigorously studies its performance under a range of conditions, including gait parameters, number of modules, and differences in the environment. A soft 3D-printed wave spring sheath is developed to support the robot modules, increasing the snake’s performance in climbing steps threefold. Finally, we introduce a simulator and a numerical model to provide a real-time simulation of the soft robotic snake. With the help of the real-time simulator, it is possible to develop and test new locomotion gaits for the soft robotic snake within a short period of time, compared with experimental trial and error. As a result, the soft robotic snake presented in this article is able to locomote on different surfaces, perform different bioinspired and custom gaits, and climb over steps."

Technical Specifications

Min. Size: N/A

Max. Size: 510L (mm)

Max. Size: 20.079L (in)

Max. Payload: N/A

Weight: N/A

Average Runtime: N/A

Max. Runtime: N/A

Battery Recharge Time: N/A

Actuation: Other

Number of Actuators: N/A

Body Material: pneumatic silicone rubber soft bending

Number of Axes: N/A

IP Rating: N/A

Operating Temperature: N/A

Open-source? N/A

Price: N/A

Show more specs

DoF: 3-degree-of-freedom (DoF) modules

Controller & Computing: Arduino Pro Mini with Atmega328 chip; Bluetooth

Battery: Two 2-cell lithium polymer batteries (the voltage is 7.4 V) are mounted at the head and the tail respectively

No more specs to show.

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References

Wan, Zhenyu, et al. "Design, analysis, and real-time simulation of a 3D soft robotic snake." Soft Robotics 10.2 (2023): 258-268.

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