A jellyfish inspired soft robot powered by cable-driven actuation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v13i1.6209Keywords:
soft robotics, jellyfish, biomimicry, underwater locomotionAbstract
Jellyfish’s natural propulsion abilities with a soft body has often served as an inspiration for many soft robots due to their size and efficiency, with many robots being based on the ephyra larva stage of a jellyfish. However, most previous jellyfish-inspired robots were constructed of costly actuation systems, as well as being based on the ephyra larva stage rather than an adult jellyfish. To address these issues, a jellyfish-like soft robot was made with 4 cable-driven actuators which were attached to a dome-shaped soft material, mimicking that of the jellyfish. A mechanism using a servo powered the cable-driven actuators, allowing the dome-shaped cavity to contract its bell uniformly. When actuated, the mechanism expels a jet of fluids from the bell, leading to a positive thrust. The result was empirically measured by collecting video data on the robot's performance underwater.
Downloads
References or Bibliography
T. Cheng et al., “Untethered soft robotic jellyfish,” Smart Materials and Structures, vol. 28, no. 1, p. 015019, Nov. 2018, doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-665x/aaed4f.
S. P. Colin and J. H. Costello, “Morphology, swimming performance and propulsive mode of six co-occurring hydromedusae,” Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 205, no. 3, pp. 427–437, Feb. 2002, doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.205.3.427.
J. O. Dabiri, S. P. Colin, J. H. Costello, and M. Gharib, “Flow patterns generated by oblate medusan jellyfish: field measurements and laboratory analyses,” Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 208, no. 7, pp. 1257–1265, Apr. 2005, doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01519.
J. Frame, N. Lopez, O. Curet, and E. D. Engeberg, “Thrust force characterization of free-swimming soft robotic jellyfish,” Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, vol. 13, no. 6, p. 064001, Sep. 2018, doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/aadcb3.
B. J. Gemmell, J. H. Costello, and S. P. Colin, “Exploring vortex enhancement and manipulation mechanisms in jellyfish that contributes to energetically efficient propulsion,” Communicative & Integrative Biology, vol. 7, no. 4, p. e29014, May 2014, doi: https://doi.org/10.4161/cib.29014.
B. J. Gemmell, D. R. Troolin, J. H. Costello, S. P. Colin, and R. A. Satterlie, “Control of vortex rings for manoeuvrability,” Journal of The Royal Society Interface, vol. 12, no. 108, p. 20150389, Jul. 2015, doi: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2015.0389.
B. J. Gemmell et al., “Passive energy recapture in jellyfish contributes to propulsive advantage over other metazoans,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 110, no. 44, pp. 17904–17909, Oct. 2013, doi: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1306983110.
“Jellyfish Life Cycle,” Virginia Institute of Marine Science. https://www.vims.edu/bayinfo/jellyfish/ (accessed Oct. 03, 2023).
H. Liu, B. Taylor, and O. M. Curet, “Fin Ray Stiffness and Fin Morphology Control Ribbon-Fin-Based Propulsion,” Soft Robotics, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 103–116, Jun. 2017, doi: https://doi.org/10.1089/soro.2016.0040.
N. Lopez and E. Engeberg, “Soft Robotic Jellyfish Steering Control,” May 2017, Accessed: Oct. 03, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://public.eng.fau.edu/design/fcrar2017/papers/RoboticJellyfish.pdf
K. Marut, C. Stewart, T. Michael, A. Villanueva, and S. Priya, “A jellyfish-inspired jet propulsion robot actuated by an iris mechanism,” Smart Materials and Structures, vol. 22, no. 9, p. 094021, Aug. 2013, doi: https://doi.org/10.1088/0964-1726/22/9/094021.
M. J. McHenry and J. Jed, “The ontogenetic scaling of hydrodynamics and swimming performance in jellyfish (Aurelia aurita),” Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 206, no. 22, pp. 4125–4137, Nov. 2003, doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.00649.
R. Petie, A. Garm, and D.-E. Nilsson, “Contrast and rate of light intensity decrease control directional swimming in the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora (Cnidaria, Cubomedusae),” Hydrobiologia, vol. 703, no. 1, pp. 69–77, Oct. 2012, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1345-0.
Koichi Suzumori, S. Endo, T. Kanda, N. Kato, and H. Suzuki, “A Bending Pneumatic Rubber Actuator Realizing Soft-bodied Manta Swimming Robot,” IEEE, Apr. 2007, doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/robot.2007.364246.
“TPU Data Sheet.” Accessed: Oct. 03, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://xometry.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/TPU-Polyurethane.pdf
“TowerPro MG90S Servo Specifications” servodatabase.com. https://servodatabase.com/servo/towerpro/mg90s (accessed Oct. 03, 2023).
“TowerPro MG996R” servodatabase.com. https://servodatabase.com/servo/towerpro/mg996r (accessed Oct. 03, 2023).
NOAA, “What are jellyfish made of?,” Noaa.gov, Feb. 26, 2021. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/jellyfish.html (accessed Oct. 03, 2023).
S. Zaidi, M. Maselli, C. Laschi, and M. Cianchetti, “Actuation Technologies for Soft Robot Grippers and Manipulators: A Review,” Current Robotics Reports, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 355–369, May 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43154-021-00054-5.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2024 Andrew Wee
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright holder(s) granted JSR a perpetual, non-exclusive license to distriute & display this article.
