Sponge makes robotic device a soft touch

Date:
June 7, 2023
Source:
University of Bristol
Summary:
A simple sponge has improved how robots grasp, scientists have
found.


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FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A simple sponge has improved how robots grasp, scientists from the
University of Bristol have found.

This easy-to-make sponge-jamming device can help stiff robots handle
delicate items carefully by mimicking the nuanced touch, or variable
stiffness, of a human.

Robots can skip, jump and do somersaults, but they're too rigid to hold
an egg easily. Variable-stiffness devices are potential solutions for
contact compliance on hard robots to reduce damage, or for improving
the load capacity of soft robots.

This study, published at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics
and Automation (ICRA) 2023, shows that variable stiffness can be achieved
by a silicone sponge.

Lead author Tianqi Yue from Bristol's Department of Engineering
Mathematics explained: "Stiffness, also known as softness, is important
in contact scenarios.

"Robotic arms are too rigid so they cannot make such a soft human-like
grasp on delicate objects, for example, an egg.

"What makes humans different from robotic arms is that we have soft
tissues enclosing rigid bones, which act as a natural mitigating
mechanism.

"In this paper, we managed to develop a soft device with variable
stiffness, to be mounted on the end robotic arm for making
the robot-object contact safe." Silicone sponge is a cheap and easy-to-fabricate material. It is a porous elastomer just like the
cleaning sponge used in everyday tasks.

By squeezing the sponge, the sponge stiffens which is why it can be
transformed into a variable-stiffness device.

This device could be used in industrial robots in scenarios including
gripping jellies, eggs and other fragile substances. It can also be used
in service robots to make human-robot interaction safer.

Mr Yue added: "We managed to use a sponge to make a cheap and nimble
but effective device that can help robots achieve soft contact with
objects. The great potential comes from its low cost and light weight.

"We believe this silicone-sponge based variable-stiffness device will
provide a novel solution in industry and healthcare, for example, tunable-stiffness requirement on robotic polishing and ultrasound
imaging." The team will now look at making the device achieve variable stiffness in multiple directions, including rotation.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Matter_&_Energy
# Robotics_Research # Medical_Technology # Engineering
# Electronics
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# Robotics # Artificial_Intelligence # Neural_Interfaces
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o Humanoid_robot o Industrial_robot o Robotic_surgery o Robot
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========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bristol. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


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Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230607004108.htm

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