Transforming Soft Robotics: Laminar Jammers Unlocking Adaptive Stiffness Potential in Pneunet Actuators

Polypyrrole Soft Actuators

New Design of a Soft Robotics Wearable Elbow Exoskeleton Based on Shape Memory Alloy Wire Actuators

The elbow joint is a complex articulation composed of the humeroulnar and humeroradial joints (for flexion-extension movement) and the proximal radioulnar articulation (for pronation-supination movement). During the flexion-extension movement of the elbow joint, the rotation center changes and this articulation cannot be truly represented as a simple hinge joint. The main goal of this project i...

Voice coil actuators for percussion robotics

Percussion robots have successfully used a variety of actuator technologies to activate a wide array of striking mechanisms. Popular types of actuators include solenoids and DC motors. However, the use of industrial strength voice coil actuators provides a compelling alternative given a desirable set of heterogeneous features and requirements that span traditional devices. Their characteristics...

Soft Pneumatic Actuators for Rehabilitation

Pneumatic artificial muscles are pneumatic devices with practical and various applications as common actuators. They, as human muscles, work in agonistic-antagonistic way, giving a traction force only when supplied by compressed air. The state of the art of soft pneumatic actuators is here analyzed: different models of pneumatic muscles are considered and evolution lines are presented. Then, th...

Energy Efficient Actuation with Variable Stiffness Actuators

Research effort in the field of variable stiffness actuators is steadily increasing, due to their wide range of possible applications and their advantages. In literature, various control methods have been proposed, solving particular problems in human-robot and robot-environment interaction applications, in which the mechanical compliance introduced by variable stiffness actuators has been show...