Anisotropic soft robots based on 3D printed meso-structured materials: design, modeling by homogenization and simulation

Félix Vanneste (1) , Olivier Goury (1) , Jonas Martinez (2) , Sylvain Lefebvre (3) , Hervé Delingette (4) , Christian Duriez (1)

1 DEFROST - Deformable Robots Simulation Team
2 ALICE - Geometry and Lighting
3 MFX - Matter from Graphics
4 COMUE UCA - COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019)

In this paper, we propose to use new 3D-printed meso-structured materials to build soft robots and we present a modeling pipeline for design assistance and control. These meta-materials can be programmed before printing to target specific mechanical properties, in particular heterogeneous stiffness and anisotropic behaviour. Without changing the external shape, we show that using such meta-material can lead to a dramatic change in the kinematics of the robot. This highlights the importance of modeling. Therefore, to help the design and to control soft robots made of these meso-structured materials, we present a modeling method based on numerical homogenization and Finite Element Method (FEM) that captures the anisotropic deformations. The method is tested on a 3 axis parallel soft robot initially made of silicone. We demonstrate the change in kinematics when the robot is built with meso-structured materials and compare its behavior with modeling results.

Mots clés: Simulation and Animation; Additive Manufacturing; Soft Robot Applications; Kinematics; Soft Robot Materials and Design

Domaines: Modélisation et simulation; Robotique [cs.RO]

Félix Vanneste, Olivier Goury, Jonas Martinez, Sylvain Lefebvre, Hervé Delingette, et al.. Anisotropic soft robots based on 3D printed meso-structured materials: design, modeling by homogenization and simulation. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2020, 5 (2), pp.2380-2386. ⟨10.1109/LRA.2020.2969926⟩. ⟨hal-02475589⟩