2024/10/20 by Amirreza Fahim Golestaneh, Golestaneh, Amirreza Fahim, Venanzio Cichella +3
Engineering · #Advanced Materials and Mechanics #FOS: Computer and information sciences #FOS: Mathematics #Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence #Optimization and Control (math.OC) #Robotics (cs.RO) #Soft Robotics and Applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2410.15498
openalex publication_date 2024/10/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The current work is a qualitative study that aims to explore the implementation of Twisted and Coiled Artificial Muscles (TCAMs) for actuating and replicating the bending motion of an octopus-like soft robot arm underwater. Additionally, it investigates the impact of hydrostatic and dynamic forces from steady-state fluid flow on the arm's motion. The artificial muscles are lightweight and low-cost actuators that generate a high power-to-weight ratio, producing tensile force up to 12,600 times their own weight, which is close to the functionality of biological muscles. The "extended" Cosserat theory of rods is employed to formulate a quasi-static continuum model of arm motion, where the arm's cross-section is not only capable of rigid rotation but also deforms within its plane. This planar deformation of the arm cross-section aligns with the biological behavior of the octopus arm, where the stiffness of the hydrostat is directly induced by the incompressibility of the tissues. In line with the main goal, a constitutive model is derived for the material of the octopus arm to capture its characteristic behavior.