Pouch motors : printable pneumatic actuators for foldable robotics

We envision future electro-mechanical devices can be printed on planer structures and folded autonomously for robotic applications. This thesis project is devoted for the development of self-folding and actuation of such robots, with a novel actuator called pouch motors. Pouch motors is a family of printable pneumatic actuators in the pouch form that drives motion with inflations and deflations. It is customizable in design, inexpensive to fabricate and planer in nature, making it ideal for origami inspired robots. In the first half of this thesis, Pouch motor's actuation mechanisms with theoretical and experimental assessments are introduced. Design and fabrication work flows are described. In the second half of the thesis, different configurations of pouch motors are presented not only for robot self-folding, but also for applications in human computer interaction. The thesis highlights the robotic garden project as a representative example, bringing a discussion of future development.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Sun, Xu, S.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sangbae Kim.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/100351

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/100351