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Title: A soft ring oscillator

Abstract

Periodic actuation of multiple soft, pneumatic actuators requires coordinated function of multiple, separate components. This work demonstrates a soft, pneumatic ring oscillator that induces temporally coordinated periodic motion in soft actuators using a single, constant-pressure source, without hard valves or electronic controls. The fundamental unit of this ring oscillator is a soft, pneumatic inverter (an inverting Schmitt trigger) that switches between its two states (“on” and “off”) using two instabilities in elastomeric structures: buckling of internal tubing and snap-through of a hemispherical membrane. An odd number of these inverters connected in a loop produces the same number of periodically oscillating outputs, resulting from a third, system-level instability; the frequency of oscillation depends on three system parameters that can be adjusted. These oscillatory output pressures enable several applications, including undulating and rolling motions in soft robots, size-based particle separation, pneumatic mechanotherapy, and metering of fluids. The soft ring oscillator eliminates the need for hard valves and electronic controls in these applications.

Authors:
ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo
Publication Date:
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1529671
Grant/Contract Number:  
ER45852; GEM Fellowship
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Science Robotics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Science Robotics Journal Volume: 4 Journal Issue: 31; Journal ID: ISSN 2470-9476
Publisher:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Citation Formats

Preston, Daniel J., Jiang, Haihui Joy, Sanchez, Vanessa, Rothemund, Philipp, Rawson, Jeff, Nemitz, Markus P., Lee, Won-Kyu, Suo, Zhigang, Walsh, Conor J., and Whitesides, George M.. A soft ring oscillator. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1126/scirobotics.aaw5496.
Preston, Daniel J., Jiang, Haihui Joy, Sanchez, Vanessa, Rothemund, Philipp, Rawson, Jeff, Nemitz, Markus P., Lee, Won-Kyu, Suo, Zhigang, Walsh, Conor J., & Whitesides, George M.. A soft ring oscillator. United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.aaw5496
Preston, Daniel J., Jiang, Haihui Joy, Sanchez, Vanessa, Rothemund, Philipp, Rawson, Jeff, Nemitz, Markus P., Lee, Won-Kyu, Suo, Zhigang, Walsh, Conor J., and Whitesides, George M.. Wed . "A soft ring oscillator". United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.aaw5496.
@article{osti_1529671,
title = {A soft ring oscillator},
author = {Preston, Daniel J. and Jiang, Haihui Joy and Sanchez, Vanessa and Rothemund, Philipp and Rawson, Jeff and Nemitz, Markus P. and Lee, Won-Kyu and Suo, Zhigang and Walsh, Conor J. and Whitesides, George M.},
abstractNote = {Periodic actuation of multiple soft, pneumatic actuators requires coordinated function of multiple, separate components. This work demonstrates a soft, pneumatic ring oscillator that induces temporally coordinated periodic motion in soft actuators using a single, constant-pressure source, without hard valves or electronic controls. The fundamental unit of this ring oscillator is a soft, pneumatic inverter (an inverting Schmitt trigger) that switches between its two states (“on” and “off”) using two instabilities in elastomeric structures: buckling of internal tubing and snap-through of a hemispherical membrane. An odd number of these inverters connected in a loop produces the same number of periodically oscillating outputs, resulting from a third, system-level instability; the frequency of oscillation depends on three system parameters that can be adjusted. These oscillatory output pressures enable several applications, including undulating and rolling motions in soft robots, size-based particle separation, pneumatic mechanotherapy, and metering of fluids. The soft ring oscillator eliminates the need for hard valves and electronic controls in these applications.},
doi = {10.1126/scirobotics.aaw5496},
journal = {Science Robotics},
number = 31,
volume = 4,
place = {United States},
year = {2019},
month = {6}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.aaw5496

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 78 works
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