Research on Motion Patterns of Soft Robots Based on Bionic Structure

Abstract

Bionic soft robot is a new type of robot whose main body is composed of flexible material, with the advantages of adjustable size and strong environmental adaptability, which has a broad application prospect in logistics, medical care, resource exploration and other fields. Novel smart materials also shine in the design of soft robots. This paper highlights the research advancements in the locomotion patterns of bionic soft robots. The mechanism of movement of animals such as inchworms, starfish, earthworms, etc. and the soft robots designed to imitate them are introduced. Novel smart materials required to realise these designs, such as Shape Memory Alloy (SMA), dielectric elastomer (DE), a collapsible actuator (PFA), pNIPAM/CNTs hydrogel composite, are also presented. Methods to drive and control the motion of these soft robots are presented, including thermally driven shape memory alloys, pneumatic airbags, and laser-driven, magnetic field-driven, and electrically driven dielectric materials, among other types. After discussing the materials and methods, the current challenges to the innovation of motion patterns for bionic soft robots are analyzed.