Harrison Menkes
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Research Mentor(s): Richard Gillespie
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Mechanical Engineering / Engineering
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 1 – 10am – 10:50am
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Harrison Menkes, Richard Gillespie
Presenter: 29
Abstract
Pneumatic soft robots offer many advantages over conventional hard robots. Their flexible shapes are more compliant, do not restrict movement, and do not cause damage when they come into contact with the human body–making soft robots better suited for biomedical applications than their rigid counterparts. Despite these advantages, soft robots can be difficult to implement due to the bulky and heavy offboard equipment required to actuate them, such as pressure sources. Previous work characterized an actuator with folding rigid faces that can act as a programmable mechanical transmission. By placing two or more of these actuators in tandem, pressure amplification can be achieved, thus eliminating the need for a large pressure source to actuate a soft robot. In my work, I introduce and characterize a potential design for the joints that lie between the rigid plates of the folding actuator. The design is a 3D printed living hinge made of flexible resin. We evaluate the stiffness of the hinges by relating an applied torque to its consequent angular displacement. We investigate the effects of hinge thickness and radius of curvature on hinge stiffness. Using this characterization, we will apply these hinges to a 3D printed design of the actuator. By relating the stiffness of a single hinge to the stiffness of the entire actuator containing the hinges, we can more precisely model the behavior of the actuator and inform future designs.
Engineering
