Soft actuators and soft actuating devices
A soft buckling linear actuator is described, including: a plurality of substantially parallel bucklable, elastic structural components each having its longest dimension along a first axis; and a plurality of secondary structural components each disposed between and bridging two adjacent bucklable, elastic structural components; wherein every two adjacent bucklable, elastic structural components and the secondary structural components in-between define a layer comprising a plurality of cells each capable of being connected with a fluid inflation or deflation source; the secondary structural components from two adjacent layers are not aligned along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis; and the secondary structural components are configured not to buckle, the bucklable, elastic structural components are configured to buckle along the second axis to generate a linear force, upon the inflation or deflation of the cells. Methods of actuation using the same are also described.
- Research Organization:
- Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DMR-0820484; SC0000989
- Assignee:
- President and Fellows of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA)
- Patent Number(s):
- 10,385,886
- Application Number:
- 15/703,139
- OSTI ID:
- 1568743
- Resource Relation:
- Patent File Date: 09/13/2017
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Soft buckling actuators
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