UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE The waterbomb actuator: a new origami-based pneumatic soft muscle. THESIS submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER IN INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING by Victor Bogunyà Piferrer 2017 To my beloved father: my mentor, my inspiration, my friend. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES......................................................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................................................. vi ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS................................................................................................................................... vii 1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................................1 1.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................1 1.2. Motivation ......................................................................................................................................................1 1.3. Objectives .......................................................................................................................................................2 2. STATE OF THE ART ...........................................................................................................................................3 2.1. Pneumatic Artificial Muscles – PAMs ................................................................................................3 2.2. Soft Pneumatic Actuators – SPAs ..................................................................................................... 13 3. CONCEPTIALIZATION ................................................................................................................................... 22 4. GEOMETRY VERIFICATION ........................................................................................................................ 25 4.1. Elastomeric Origami............................................................................................................................... 25 4.2. Prototype Fabrication Process .......................................................................................................... 26 4.3. Testing Bench ............................................................................................................................................ 28 4.4. Test and Results ....................................................................................................................................... 30 5. 3D PRINTING ..................................................................................................................................................... 36 5.1. 3D Printer features ................................................................................................................................. 36 5.2. 4D Printing .................................................................................................................................................. 37 5.3. Active Origami ........................................................................................................................................... 40 5.4. Hinge Optimization ................................................................................................................................. 42 5.5. CAD Design ................................................................................................................................................. 48 5.6. Assembly ...................................................................................................................................................... 52 5.7. Redesign ....................................................................................................................................................... 54 6. CONCLUSSIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 57 7. FUTURE WORK ................................................................................................................................................. 58 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................................................... 59 APPENDIX A: ................................................................................................................................................................ 62 APPENDIX B: ................................................................................................................................................................ 66 APPENDIX C: ................................................................................................................................................................ 69 iii LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1 Examples of soft robots and actuators --------------------------------------------------------- 2 Fig. 2 PAM conceptual experiments -------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Fig. 3 Braided muscles structure and operation ----------------------------------------------------- 6 Fig. 4 McKibben actuator at rest and pressurized --------------------------------------------------- 7 Fig. 5 Pressure-Contraction graph for a Shadow S30AM-S-1 under a 130N load -------------- 8 Fig. 6 Details of the Yarlott muscle --------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Fig. 7 The ROMAC (RObotic Muscle ACtuator) ------------------------------------------------------10 Fig. 8 Details of the Kukolj muscle ---------------------------------------------------------------------10 Fig. 9 Daerden Pleated Pneumatic Artificial Muscle ------------------------------------------------11 Fig. 10 Miniature pneumatic control system --------------------------------------------------------14 Fig. 11 Embedded eGaIn sensors ----------------------------------------------------------------------15 Fig. 12 Example of bending SPA -----------------------------------------------------------------------17 Fig. 13 Comparison between a regular bending SPA and a fast bending SPA ------------------18 Fig. 14 Nematode actuator ------------------------------------------------------------------------------19 Fig. 15 Rotary SPA ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------19 Fig. 16 Fabrication process for a fiber-reinforced actuator ---------------------------------------20 Fig. 17 Pneumatic Balloon Actuators -----------------------------------------------------------------21 Fig. 18 The Waterbomb pattern -----------------------------------------------------------------------23 Fig. 19 The waterbomb pattern in the “Magic Ball” configuration -------------------------------23 Fig. 20 Origami-based linear extensor ----------------------------------------------------------------25 Fig. 21 Waterbomb actuator prototype fabrication process --------------------------------------27 Fig. 22 6 different waterbomb-based prototype actuators ---------------------------------------28 Fig. 23 Prototype Testing bench -----------------------------------------------------------------------29 Fig. 24 Results from testing all the prototype actuators under a 2N load ----------------------31 Fig. 25 Waterbomb buckling effect --------------------------------------------------------------------31 Fig. 26 Results from testing the 6x16 and 8x16 configurations under a 4N load. -------------33 Fig. 27 Results from testing 8x16 configuration under a 7N load -------------------------------34 Fig. 28 Contraction and pressure results for the 8x16 configuration ---------------------------34 Fig. 29 Inflation and Deflation times for the 8x16 configuration --------------------------------35 Fig. 30 Stratasys Objet260 Connex3 ------------------------------------------------------------------36 Fig. 31 Hydromechanically activated 4D Printing --------------------------------------------------38 Fig. 32 Thermomechanically activated 4D Printing ------------------------------------------------39 Fig. 33 Thermomechanically activated 4D Printing ------------------------------------------------40 -------------------------------------------------41 Fig. 35 Hinge angle vs hinge length--------------------------------------------------------------------42 Fig. 3634 SolidWorksStorage Modulus model and -------------------------------- tanδ vs Temperature -----------------------------------------------43 Fig. 37 Digital material codification -------------------------------------------------------------------44 Fig. 38 Material Test. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------44 Fig. 39 CAD model details for the fiber density test. -----------------------------------------------45 Fig. 40 Fiber density test. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------46 Fig. 41 CAD models details for the fiber length test. -----------------------------------------------46 Fig. 42 Fiber length test using RGD-MK-K60-DM for the rigid panels. --------------------------47 iv Fig. 43 Fiber length test using VeroMagenta for the rigid panels. -------------------------------47