Page 254 - Flexible Robotics in Medicine
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Soft-bodied flexible bending mechanism with silent shape memory alloys 243
Figure 10.8
Time lapse showing the bending of the tentacle actuated at 1 A in all four directions (top view).
at 1.0 A is sufficient to achieve a complete 22.3-degree bending angle in all direction
and reversion to its initial position.
10.4 Discussions
The bending angle produced by the tentacle structure with the actuation of the SMA wires
is less than 25 degrees, which is not suitable for navigating the tentacle structure to enter
the eustachian tube in human adults. This can be overcome by maximizing the contraction
of SMA wires by changing its configurations. One such configuration would be an SMA-
coiled spring, as it could produce more massive linear displacements but consumes larger
space compared to two strands of SMA wires that are used for this application currently.
