Page 44 - Flexible Robotics in Medicine

Prototyping soft origami quad-bellows robots from single-bellows characterization 27

Figure 2.3
Different actuated patterns of assembled prototype design with four-bellows units.

Figure 2.4
Visualizing the sequence of inflation and deflation of different sections of prototype design
(labeled A D) to mimic rectilinear locomotion.

significant bend of the robot will be achieved by a greater difference between the
deflation of a unit and its adjacent unit for a curve to the left or right. A more
considerable bend for the S-shape will be achieved by a greater difference between the
deflated pair and inflated pair.

The length of each bellows has to be optimized for this design. When each unit was too
long, the combined design was too big to manipulate through a path. However, when each
unit was too short, there were not enough folds for the robot to bend sufficiently. This was
especially evident in thicker materials, as the decrease in the number of pleats reduced the
efficiency of actuation.