Design and Development of a Novel SMA Actuated Multi-DOF Soft Robot

Abstract

Conventional robots have shown good positioning accuracy and reliability in multiple environments. However, the robots' lack of flexibility makes them unsuitable for application in certain areas. Thus, a soft robotic system should be considered due to its adaptivity and flexibility. This paper proposes a novel shape memory alloy (SMA)-actuated multiple degrees of freedom (DOF) soft robot, which theoretically supports a maximum of nine-DOF movement and good positioning accuracy. A motion test and positioning evaluation are conducted for the proposed multi-DOF soft robot. The structural design, control method, and analysis of the kinematics and the coordinate system are also given.