Continuum Robotic Caterpillar with Wirelessly Powered Shape Memory Alloy Actuators.
Wireless power transfer (WPT) has the significant potential for soft-bodied continuum robots to extend the operational time limitlessly and reduce weight. However, rigid power receiver coils, widely used in WPT, hinder the continuum deformation of the robot, and as a result, the function realization using the continuum deformation (e.g., locomotion) is impaired. Therefore, this article introduces that a soft-bodied continuum robot can be designed by using thin film receiver coils and an inductively coupled wireless powering solution without sacrificing the continuum deformation and locomotion ability. A system is described for powering and controlling a soft robotic caterpillar consisting of nothing more than its continuum structure, actuators, and thin/flexible power receiving coils.
['Mc Caffrey|Colm|C|', 'Umedachi|Takuya|T|', 'Jiang|Weiwei|W|', 'Sasatani|Takuya|T|', 'Narusue|Yoshiaki|Y|', 'Niiyama|Ryuma|R|', 'Kawahara|Yoshihiro|Y|']
wireless power transfer (WPT) autonomous mobile robot shape memory alloy (SMA) coil soft-bodied robotics