This book discusses biologically inspired robotic actuators designed to offer improved robot performance and approaching human-like efficiency and versatility. It assesses biological actuation and control in the human motor system, presents a range of technical actuation approaches, and discusses potential applications in wearable robots, i.e., powered prostheses and exoskeletons. Gathering the findings of internationally respected researchers from various fields, the book provides a uniquely broad perspective on bioinspired actuator designs for robotics. Its scope includes fundamental aspects of biomechanics and neuromechanics, actuator and control design, and their application in (wearable) robotics. The book offers PhD students and advanced graduate students an essential introduction to the field, while providing researchers a cutting-edge research perspective.

This book includes representative research from the state‐of‐the‐art in the emerging field of soft robotics, with a special focus on bioinspired soft robotics for underwater applications. Topics include novel materials, sensors, actuators, and system design for distributed estimation and control of soft robotic appendages inspired by the octopus and seastar. It summarizes the latest findings in an emerging field of bioinspired soft robotics for the underwater domain, primarily drawing from (but not limited to) an ongoing research program in bioinspired autonomous systems sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. The program has stimulated cross‐disciplinary research in biology, material science, computational mechanics, and systems and control for the purpose of creating novel robotic appendages for maritime applications. The book collects recent results in this area.

From experts in engineering and biology, this is the first book to integrate sensor and actuator technology with bioinspired design.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Bio-Inspired Robotics" that was published in Applied Sciences

From authors renowned in the fields of engineering and biology, this is the first book to integrate sensor and actuator technology with bioinspired design. Beginning with detailed descriptions of actuation and sensing mechanisms in plants and animals, the authors move on to apply these principles to synthetic design, offering in-depth knowledge of the development of state-of-the-art smart materials and devices. All of this is supported with a range of real-world applications, from tactile sensory systems in insects linked with the development of robotic hands, to the structural colour systems in nature used to inspire camouflage technology. Further examples are given of successful designs along with their integrated autonomous systems, such as flying and swimming, unmanned systems, and autonomous zero-energy building design. With a wide interdisciplinary appeal, this is an ideal resource for any student, practising engineer, or researcher interested in the connection between natural systems and synthetic design.

Cellular Actuators: Modularity and Variability in Muscle-Inspired Actuation describes the roles actuators play in robotics and their insufficiency in emerging new robotic applications, such as wearable devices and human co-working robots where compactness and compliance are important. Piezoelectric actuators, the topic of this book, provide advantages like displacement scale, force, reliability, and compactness, and rely on material properties to provide displacement and force as reactions to electric stimulation. The authors, renowned researchers in the area, present the fundamentals of muscle-like movement and a system-wide study that includes the design, analysis, and control of biologically inspired actuators. This book is the perfect guide for researchers and practitioners who would like to deploy this technology into their research and products. Introduces Piezoelectric Actuators concepts in a system wide integrated approach Acts as a single source for the design, analysis, and control of actuator arrays Presents applications to illustrate concepts and the potential of the technology Details the physical assembly possibilities of Piezo actuators Presents fundamentals of bio inspired actuation Introduces the concept of cellular actuators

The increasing demand for physical interaction between humans and robots has led to an interest in robots whose behavior is guaranteed to be safe when they are in close proximity with humans. However, attaining sufficiently high levels of performance while ensuring safety creates formidable challenges in mechanical design, actuation, sensing, and control. To promote safety without compromising performance, a new actuation concept, referred to as hybrid actuation, has been developed. Since low impedance output at high frequencies is essential for robot safety, while optimal passive stiffness is needed for robot performance, the new actuation approach employs a pneumatic artificial muscle as a macro actuator to provide low-frequency torques. Artificial pneumatic muscles provide high force-to-weight ratio and inherent compliance, both of which allow for low impedance actuation. To compensate for the slow and non-linear dynamics of pneumatic actuation, a small electromagnetic actuator collocated at the robot's joint is employed as a mini actuator, which provides high mechanical bandwidth for high performance without increasing the inertia and size of the manipulator. To achieve the appropriate balance between safety and performance, design methodologies were developed that optimally determine key design parameters such as the required mini motor torque capacity, the joint stiffness introduced by an antagonistic pair of muscles, and the pulley radius. Using a testbed, referred to as the Stanford Safety Robot (S2rho), the hybrid actuation was evaluated for position tracking performance, force tracking performance, and impact behavior. The experimental results demonstrate that by significantly improving control performance with the hybrid actuation over performance with pneumatic muscles alone, while reducing the effective inertia significantly, the competing design objectives of safety and performance can be successfully integrated into a single robotic manipulator. As an extension of the hybrid actuation concept, the new design of dual four-degree-of-freedom robotic arms with torso is presented and detailed descriptions of the design are included.