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Access Type
WSU Access
Date of Award
January 2023
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Department
Mechanical Engineering
First Advisor
Leela Reddy Arava
Second Advisor
Arif Hasan
Abstract
Underwater exploration systems employing traditional grippers that use huge motors, rigid metal components, and air compressors lack flexibility and have lower degrees of freedom. Due to the harsh environment in which these systems are usually deployed, they might damage the underwater environment while conducting data acquisition and data sampling. Soft robotics, which is mainly focused on creating robots with extremely soft materials, is more delicate for grasping objects. These systems are typically used in an underwater setting and cause minimal damage to the environment. In some of these systems, design and weight constraints are introduced when the systems use actuators like pneumatics. Most of these systems use Smart materials like Shape Memory Alloys, Twisted and Coiled Polymer Muscles, Dielectric Elastomers, etc. As many of these actuators are lightweight and can be easily manipulated, the systems using these actuators tend to damage the underwater ecosystem at least possibly.This thesis presents a fabrication of an octopus-tentacle-inspired simplistic design of a soft robotic gripper actuated by Shape Memory Alloys using completely lightweight, flexible, and soft material. Firstly, the behavior of the Linear and the coiled Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) is studied when they are subjected to changing environmental parameters. A correlation is found between the strain developed in the SMAs and the input parameters. Secondly, a theoretical temperature model is created using the findings from the characterization experiments. The model can be used to predict the temperature of an SMA embedded inside silicone when it is actuated using specific input parameters. Lastly, a design of a soft robotic underwater gripper inspired by an octopus tentacle is presented that can be used to lift a weight, grasp objects, and change shape as required when actuated underwater. The characterization arm performance under various load and input current conditions is shown. It is found that the gripper can lift 125 g of weight and grasp up to 50 g of weight in an underwater setting. Performing the above-mentioned studies helps gain knowledge on understanding the behavior, design, and fabrication of soft robots that use smart materials. The work in this thesis is to create and define the design parameters for the creation of an SMA-embedded silicone arm that can be used for the future of underwater grasping utilizing soft robots.
Recommended Citation
Deshpande, Shubham Suresh, "A Simplistic Design Of A Bioinspired Soft Robotic Arm For Underwater Manipulation" (2023). Wayne State University Theses. 911.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_theses/911