Abstract
Investigators discuss new findings in robotics. According to news originating from Istanbul, Turkey, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “There has been a notable focus on the adoption of jamming-based technologies, which involve increasing the friction between grains, layers, or fibers to achieve variable stiffness capability in soft robots.” Funders for this research include Bogazici University Research Fund; European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research And Innovation Program; Bogazici University Robotics And Ai Laboratories Project. The news editors obtained a quote from the research from Bogazici University: “Additionally, magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) that show magnetic-field-dependent viscoelasticity have great potential as a material for varying stiffness. This study proposes a hybrid method (magnetic jamming of MRE fibers) for enhancing the stiffness of soft robots, combining a jamming-based with a viscosity-based method. First, a fiber jamming structure is developed and integrated into a soft robot, the STIFF-FLOP manipulator, to prove the concept of the magnetic jamming of MRE fibers. Then, based on the proposed method, a variable stiffness device actuated by electro-permanent magnets is developed. The device is integrated into the same manipulator and the electronically controlled magnetic jamming and stiffening of the manipulator is demonstrated.”
NETL
NSTL
Mdpi