Design Optimization & Analysis of a Soft Crawling Robot

Abstract

Soft crawling robots (SCRs) are the kind of robots that use soft and flexible material for motion. These soft robots capable to sustain huge distortions with vast degree-of-freedom which makes them more suitable to be employed in unstructured location compared to the conventional rigid robots. Unlike soft robotics, the conventional rigid robots are capable to be employed in situations where precision is required. However, soft robots are preferable in tight spaces such as in medical surgery and earthquake search and rescue operations due to its flexibility and adaptability capability. In this research, two types of soft robots were design using i.e.: (a) inchworm design and (b) quadrupedal design. The similarities between the inchworm and quadrupedal design are both use pressure input for motion. The SCRs also bend by using the expansion of chambers at their body. Both designs have the same length fixed at 86mm, but with different topology. The design optimization for maximum bending motion with respect to input pressure were evaluated using Finite Element Method (FEM) via Abaqus software, where the results shows that the highest bending was observed for the inchworm design. The maximum bending value (extension) of 130.4 mm was obtained with the optimized parameters set at 4mm base thickness, 5mm chamber gap, and 2mm width for the air chamber, respectively.