Abstract:
Assistive interfaces enable collaborative interactions between humans and robots. In contrast to traditional rigid devices, conformable fabrics with tunable mechanical properties have emerged as compelling alternatives. However, existing assistive fabrics actuated by fluidic or thermal stimuli struggle to adapt to complex body contours and are hindered by challenges such as large volumes after actuation and slow response rates. To overcome these limitations, inspiration is drawn from biological protective organisms combining hard and soft phases, and active assistive fabrics consisting of architectured rigid tiles interconnected with flexible actuated fibers are proposed. Through programmable tessellation of target body shapes into architectured tiles and controlling their interactions by the actuated fibers, the active fabrics can rapidly transition between soft compliant configurations and rigid states conformable to the body (>350 times stiffness change) while minimizing the device volume after actuation. The versatility of these active fabrics is demonstrated as exosuits for tremor suppression and lifting assistance, as body armors for impact mitigation, and integration with electrothermal actuators for smart actuation with convenient folding capabilities. This work offers a practical framework for designing customizable active fabrics with shape adaptivity and controllable stiffness, suitable for applications in wearable exosuits, haptic devices, and medical rehabilitation systems.
摘要:
辅助接口实现了人与机器人之间的协作交互。与传统的刚性设备相比,具有可调机械性能的适形织物已成为引人注目的替代品。然而,现有的由流体或热刺激驱动的辅助织物难以适应复杂的身体轮廓,并且受到诸如驱动后的大体积和缓慢响应速率等挑战的阻碍。为了克服这些限制,我们从结合了硬相和软相的生物保护性生物中汲取灵感,并提出了主动辅助织物,该织物由与柔性致动纤维互连的建筑刚性瓷砖组成。通过将目标身体形状可编程地镶嵌到建筑瓷砖中,并通过致动纤维控制它们的相互作用,我们的活性织物可以快速(在几秒钟内)在柔软的顺应性配置和刚性状态之间转变,以适应身体(>350倍刚度变化,负载能力重量比>50),同时在致动后最小化装置体积。我们展示了我们的活性织物的多功能性,作为用于震颤抑制和提升辅助的机械护甲。我们还展示了其作为防弹衣缓解冲击的潜力。电热致动器被集成用于具有方便的折叠能力的智能致动。我们的工作为设计具有形状适应性和可控刚度的可定制活性织物提供了一个实用的框架,这些活性织物在可穿戴式运动服中具有广泛的应用,触觉设备,和医疗康复系统。本文受版权保护。保留所有权利。