soft robots_ make an artificial muzscle arm and gripper

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Soft Robots: Make An Artificial Muscle Arm And Gripper by mikey77 (/member

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Soft Robots: Make An Artificial Muscle Arm And Gripper http://www.instructables.com/id/Soft-Robots-Make-An-Artificial-Muscle...

1 of 14 5/2/2014 6:52 PM

Using artificial air muscles, a very flexible robot arm and gripper can be made.

This soft robot is powered by compressed air and each one of the 11 muscles

can be controlled by a standard infrared universal remote control or an infrared

LED connected to a micro controller that can output Sony code.

This is a hack of silicone caulk. It is in fact mostly made of silicone caulk.

This robot was a test of hand cast, silicone based air muscles which I plan to

use in an inexpensive prosthetic robot hand that I am working on. A laser cutter

would be very useful to make the precision sheet plastic molds necessary to

cast the hand muscles. The cutter could also be used to create the "bone"

structure of the hand out of plastic or plywood.

The very short video shows the robot picking up an egg and moving it.

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Air Muscles: Make an

Artificial Muscle Robot

Controller (/id/Air-Muscles-

Make-an-Artificial-Muscle-

Robot-Contr/)3d Print An Artificial

Muscle Robot Hand (/id/3d-

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2 of 14 5/2/2014 6:52 PM

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I am convinced that soft robots are the way to finally create inexpensive and

flexible robots that can work well with humans. They may make possible the

first really practical robots for everyday use. Soft robots use flexible materials to

create the frame and actuators of the robot.

The artificial air muscles for the hand and arm are made from Oogoo

(http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-Your-Own-Sugru-Substitute/),

an inexpensive mix of silicone caulk and corn starch that can be cast into many

shapes. For this robot, the Oogoo was cast into layers to create stacked air

bladders that can be expanded or contracted with pressure or vacuum.

A standard infrared universal remote can control individual muscles or

pre-programmed sequences. It does this by sending signals to an air muscle

controller that is controlled by robot neurons. The air muscle controller can

control up to 11 air muscles using solenoid valves and a 12 volt air compressor

that provides pressure or vacuum.

This is a tethered robot that has 11 air lines connected that power the air

muscles. Eventually it should be possible to fit the valves and compressor on

board. A less noisy compressor could also be made.

(http://cdn.instructables.com/FZ1/DAGL/H673DY9C/FZ1DAGLH673DY9C.LARGE.jpg)


3 of 14 5/2/2014 6:52 PM

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chan2005 (/member/chan2005/)

there is a nova on an arm like this

wsmith52 (/member/wsmith52/)

This is so cool, how many arms can you run at one time with this setup?

mikey77 (/member/mikey77/) (author) wsmith52

With the controller I have now it

can only run one arm at a time.

I am working on making my

own valves which should make

it possible to scale up the

system.

gabriellalevine (/member/gabriellalevine/)

Hey I actually have tried this exactly and have actually made 3d printable

designs next week, I'll share them on an instructables... But the solenoids I

got that you references totally let air through with the sparkfun pump, so I

have to use this small fish tank pump that is way less strong.

Do you know of other solenoids that might handle higher psi, or do you know

how I can prevent this or how I can check for this when purchasing? Or do

you know other resources for solenoids like this that might be a little

stronger?

Awesome thanks this is an amazing project that inspired me to make my own

pneumatic snake robot :)

mikey77 (/member/mikey77/) (author) gabriellalevine

Cool, I'd like to see them.

If you look closely at step 1 at:

http://www.instructables.com

/id/Air-Muscles-Make-an-

Artificial-Muscle-Robot-Contr/ I

used a pressure relief valve so

that none of the solenoids

receive more than 9 PSI which

is close to their limit. When all

of the solenoids are closed the

air goes out through the relief

valve. I used a drip valve from


4 of 14 5/2/2014 6:52 PM


5 months ago Reply (CVUSNHTHO23AQ73)


5 months ago Reply (CWTTNLBHO65DP36)

a drip irrigation system but a ball valve could be used and restricted to 9

PSI when the valves are closed. I also used a motor controller to run the

air pump at 75 percent of its maximum.

As for valves, I have found some surplus ones that will handle 20 PSI but

they are no longer available. New valves are very expensive, so check

online surplus places.

If you adjust your system to limit the max pressure, you may find that 9

PSI is plenty powerful for most small to medium sized robots.

gabriellalevine (/member/gabriellalevine/) mikey77

Oh great - thanks a lot! I'll get

some of those valves, and

additionally, if needed,

decrease the power to the

motor.

thanks a lot for the tips.

BTW (i attached a photo of

what each 3d printed air

"pillow" is composed of. I

printed them on the Objet 3d

printer which can print "tango

plus" , a flexible rubber

material. But it is expensive.

Anyhow, I've made them by

hand thus far and will post my

work to instructables once i

get something working. )

gabriellalevine (/member/gabriellalevine/) gabriellalevine

would this work :

http://www.amazon.com

/Control-Devices-Series-

Pressure-Adjustable

/dp/B007GDY3CU

/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&

qid=1384812296&sr=8-1-

fkmr0&

keywords=solenoid+pressure+release+valve+1%2F8%


5 of 14 5/2/2014 6:52 PM

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mikey77 (/member/mikey77/) (author) gabriellalevine

It might work, but a better,

easier to adjust valve would be

0-30PSI.

Less expensive is the valves I

used. I got them from a

hardware store. These are drip

valves for water that reduce

the flow using micro channels.

Raintree drip irrigation fittings

(couplers, Tees, elbows, drip

valves, stop valves) for 3/16"

tubing available from

http://www.amazon.com/

(http://www.amazon.com/)

gabriellalevine (/member/gabriellalevine/)

I was just also wondering if you or anyone knows where to purchase suitable

valves. Or what specifically to search for? Air valves that flip when powered

with over nine psi but handle over 20?

Ironsloth1993 (/member/Ironsloth1993/)

Congratulations on winning Michael.

novelchip (/member/novelchip/)

Impressive work. I also am dreaming of making a soft-micro robot , possibly

smaller. But for the moment I am only working on micro-pneumatic controller

circuits (such as the ones made by M.Burns and other research groups

.http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17730-new-microprocessor-runs-on-

thin-air.html ). With such controllers you do only need a single electro-valve to

control as many pneumatic lines as you want. The idea is that the single valve

generates a serial train of pneumatic impulses that are then translated by a shift-

register into parallel pneumatic "signals" . So with one electrovalve + one

micropneumatic chip you can control as many pneumatic lines as you want. In

this way all the pneumatic (which is micro-pneumatics) should fit into a volume of

few cm. You don't need high-tech equipment to make such circuits. A simple CNC

mill will do a good job as you can see on my first instructable. Would be cool to

collaborate once I (and you) have reached further in my work .

mikey77 (/member/mikey77/) (author) novelchip

Thanks.

Cool idea.

I, too am working on making

smaller valves and have been

experimenting with servo

controlled valves. The large

size of valves and pumps is

the only thing keeping us from


6 of 14 5/2/2014 6:52 PM

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10 months ago Reply (CHG8G19HIGFIVYH)

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10 months ago Reply (CFZ00UUHIGEYQPO)

making really small robots.

You have hit on one of the main problems with soft robots, each muscle

requires at least one valve and valves tend to be heavy and high volume.

It does however, seem to me that any time you convert from serial to

parallel, the shift register would require a valve for each output channel

and the number of total valves would not be reduced.

If you could post a clear schematic that shows how less than eight valves

could control eight channels it would be greatly appreciated.

novelchip (/member/novelchip/) mikey77

Below you can find a schematic

that I am trying to reproduce. Its

from research work of Minsoung

Rhee (mark Burns group at

University Michigan)

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu

/bitstream/handle/2027.42/62295

/minsoung_1.pdf?sequence=1

(http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu

/bitstream/handle/2027.42/62295

/minsoung_1.pdf?sequence=1).

There are 8 pneumatic output

channels in the pneumatic

integrated circuit.

What needs to be verified is wether

there is sufficent air-flow through

the output channels to actuate

air-muscles. I think yes, especially

if small air-muscles are used -

which after all is my aim - and also

yours as I understand. I am still

experimenting with building and

testing such circuits. Once I have

good results i will make a new

instructable about it.

(http://cdn.instructables.com/F0J/86KT/HIGFIVY8/F0J86KTHIGFIVY8.LARGE.jpg)

mikey77 (/member/mikey77/) (author) novelchip

Very cool.

Valves that are powered and

controlled by air pressure

could be very useful for air

powered robots.

I have lately been

experimenting with casting

small robot muscles and


7 of 14 5/2/2014 6:52 PM

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valves using 3d printed molds.

If you are interested, you could PM me and we could toss around a few

ideas.

We might be able to come up with some really small air powered robots.

Dream Dragon (/member/Dream+Dragon/)

I've been out of touch for a while but I was very impressed with your earlier

experiments with air muscles. It's great to see this development.

For a light weight and simple "valve" you might want to look at musical

history. Particularly the development of the ORGAN. Leather and wood

would be much lighter and simpler, not to mention CHEAPER, than the

precision machined metal components, and I bet you could develop the idea

to use the same Oogoo material.

mikey77 (/member/mikey77/) (author) Dream Dragon

Thank you,

for the research idea.

Organ valves are very interesting

and fairly simple.

You have recognized the point of

the exercise: to discover simple

and easy to make components

that work well.

I have been experimenting with

several designs of various types

of electric and passive valves that

are made with Oogoo.

I hope to publish an instructable

on the best ones, after they have

been tested in the real world.

mightysoxer (/member/mightysoxer/)

mikey77, you are just too awesome.

Husham Samir (/member/Husham+Samir/)

WoW!!!!

CrLz (/member/CrLz/)

Fantastic project! Thanks for sharing the construction, design and idea!

flic2flac (/member/flic2flac/)

Hello, I understand this is becoming cliché but I must say it ... AMAZING :-O


8 of 14 5/2/2014 6:52 PM

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1 year ago Reply (CE6KJVCH672TD26)

I have a PhD in biomechanics

and I study the mechanics of

human soft tissues. Although

robotics isn't at all my field I've

seen in conferences and

scientific papers the concept

of pneumatic muscles but

never as organic, elegant ...

and let's be honest ... blue as

yours.

I truly believe the biomimetic

approach is the way to go. I

agree with you regarding the

potential for human/machine

(or orga/mecha) interaction of

combining small electric

motors and artificial

pneumatic (or hydraulic)

muscles.

As I see it, a scaling down of

this approach i.e., build

artificial muscle fibers (to be

controlled in fiber bundles to

form muscle groups), would

allow the possibility (if the

nightmarish automation and

control challenges can be

surpassed) of truly biomimetic

robotics opening the door for

applications such as

prosthetics (ex. artificial

sphincters - the existing are

effective but very crude).

Once again, UAU

godfish (/member/godfish/)

I am shocked at what you've made here this is wonderful, I only wish I could do

something as cool.

sciencetor2 (/member/sciencetor2/)

well, this is quite an amazing use of air muscles in robotics, but if you have the

resources to build all this, don't you already own everything in the prize pack? Im

trying to come up with a hack so i can win the stuff and get the supplies i need to

finish my fully open sourced musical tesla coil.

mikey77 (/member/mikey77/) (author) sciencetor2

This soft robot cost about $230 in

materials and several years of

research and development.

I don't enter contests because I

need to win or think I will win.

I enter them because it makes the

information I am providing


9 of 14 5/2/2014 6:52 PM

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1 year ago Reply (CDG8QTIH6MF3T7Y)

available to a wider world wide audience. For me, my instructables are an

attempt to share information that is somewhat hard to perceive or

discover--the hidden trends. The best part of Instructables, is that you can

post information on it and it will be available world-wide in an hour.

Impressive.

I hope you win and get more than you are looking for.

Lord Fawful (/member/Lord+Fawful/)

How much can this little guy lift?

mikey77 (/member/mikey77/) (author) Lord Fawful

In the position used to lift the

egg, it can lift 1 pound 2 ounces.

This is with the compressor

running at 2/3 speed.

spaceman874 (/member/spaceman874/)

would i be able to make a doc ock costume from spiderman. for halloween

Graytail (/member/Graytail/)

Is anyone else reminded of Robot B-9 from the original Lost in Space series?

I love how, well, non-robotic the motion of this piece is. Its giving me ideas for a

project of my own

sitearm (/member/sitearm/)

@mikey77; Hi! Another very cool example of compressed air robotics and I've

tweeted it. Cheers! Site

Sketch98 (/member/Sketch98/)

Would using higher pressure air make the arm stronger and faster or would it

damage it?

mikey77 (/member/mikey77/) (author) Sketch98

Higher pressure would make it

stronger and faster, but it would

require scaling up the whole

system. The valves, compressor,

and air muscles would have to be

replaced with more heavy duty

units. Bigger and heavier.

Ultimately, I am interested in

creating autonomous, battery

powered soft robots that are a

minimal size. So, I am

experimenting with varieties of

low pressure air muscles,

sensors, and compressors that


10 of 14 5/2/2014 6:52 PM

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1 year ago Reply (COYMOLKH6I6WEQA)

could make that possible.

ERELCE (/member/ERELCE/)

Well done, very good

Long time ago I've also made some experiments with servo-robots, like this for

example; http://youtu.be/WFKHveCw8ms

But we just have to wait for the artificial muscle, then the real robots will be born.

In combination with the new technologies they wil be incredible better than us.

Even better than the robots in the film ' I Robot '. It's just a matter of time.

Ironsloth1993 (/member/Ironsloth1993/)

I really enjoy the stuff you make. Could I please ask your area of expertise. I've

noticed you use air muscles, but have you ever considered being fully electric?


11 of 14 5/2/2014 6:52 PM

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mikey77 (/member/mikey77/) (author) Ironsloth1993

My area of expertise changes

with necessity.

The cool thing about building

robots is that you get to learn

about and experiment with many

interesting subjects including:

electronics, light and optics,

pneumatics, mechanical

systems, sensors, programming,

microcontrollers, 3d printing,

astronomy, sound, speech,

psychology, design, drawing,

painting, and sculpture.

I have built over 24 fully electric

robots and their limitations have

become apparent. Electric

motors and the gears they

require, are too bulky, heavy,

and expensive to provide all the

muscle power needed. I think

some combination of electric

motors and air muscles could

eventually make it possible to

create inexpensive, practical

robots for everyday use.

Here are a couple of fully electric

robots I have made:


/id/Building-Small-Robots-

Making-One-Cubic-Inch-Micro/

(http://www.instructables.com

/id/Building-Small-Robots-

Making-One-Cubic-Inch-Micro/)


/id/Make-A-Robot-Ant/

(http://www.instructables.com

/id/Make-A-Robot-Ant/)

Sketch98 (/member/Sketch98/)

How long did this take to make?

mikey77 (/member/mikey77/) (author) Sketch98

It was built off and on over a

period of about five months.

About 21 full days of work.

Edgar (/member/Edgar/)

Neat.

It's cool, and it works!


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Misac-kun (/member/Misac-kun/)

I remenber that on Deus Ex there was an augment that boosts your strengh

with artificial muscles. i aways think it was something like this :)

jackjackboom (/member/jackjackboom/)

A M A Z I N G ! ! ! ! ! !

rimar2000 (/member/rimar2000/)

WOW! Congratulations!

utkarshsinghal (/member/utkarshsinghal/)

great work!!i just can't stop thinking about the possibilities of its uses!!though the

one that comes to mind most is a giant bane-like-robot :D

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