Flexible Design of the Connecting Plate in Pneumatic Soft Manipulators

Abstract

This paper presents a novel connecting plate for achieving a flexible connection in a soft manipulator. The main material used in the connecting plate is silicone, which functions similarly to the bionic oblique muscle (BOM) of an octopus arm and takes over the two actuator segments. Each segment of the actuator consists of three chambers, and the chambers are assembled with the connecting plate via bolts and loops to be a manipulator. By using a flexible plate instead of a rigid one, the manipulator achieves more dexterous movements. This paper establishes a nonlinear model for analyzing the shear and compression deformation of a silicone connecting plate. Additionally, finite element method was used to analyze the mechanical performance of the connecting plate. The deformation of a soft material can reduce the stress concentration during movement of the manipulator. Therefore, in the experiment, the BOM exhibited better motion performance compared with the rigid connection plate.