• 로봇학회논문지
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.12-16
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• 2021

Attempts are being made to provide various tactile feedbacks to user. In particular, a variety of soft actuators are being inserted into the tactile feedback device to give a more flexible, soft and strong stimulation. In this study, a basic study was performed to utilize a hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) actuator as a tactile feedback actuator. The HASEL actuator showed great displacement and force with a simple circuit configuration. In particular, by making the actuator in a circular shape, the angle was reduced and the electrode was arranged in a ring shape to maximize the displacement of the central part. As a result, the HASEL actuator showed a displacement difference according to the input waveform. In addition, in order to use it safely as an actuator for tactile feedback, we covered the surface with silicone and confirmed that the actuator works well. Using these actuators, it will be possible to manufacture a lightweight, portable tactile feedback device.

• 제어로봇시스템학회논문지
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.168-174
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• 2012

This paper presents a bending propagating actuation using SMA (Shape Memory Alloy) spring for an effective shape transition of a flytrap-inspired soft morphing structure. The flytrap-inspired soft morphing structure is made from unsymmetric CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Prepreg) structure which shows bi-stability and snap-through phenomenon. For a thin and large curved bistable CFRP structure, SMA spring is more acceptable than SMA wire and piezoelectric actuator which used in previous investigations. A bending propagating actuation is proposed which can induce snap-through of the bi-stable CFRP structure effectively. From this research, effective shape transition of soft morphing structure is possible.

• 로봇학회논문지
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.79-85
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• 2021

Soft fluidic actuators (SFAs) are widely utilized in various areas such as wearable systems due to the inherent compliance which allows safe and flexible interaction. However, SFA-driven systems generally require a large pump, multiple valves and tubes, which hinders to develop a miniaturized system with small range of motion. Thus, a highly integrated soft actuator needs to be developed for implementing a compact SFA-driven system. In this study, we propose an electro-hydraulic soft zipping actuator that can be used as a miniature pump. This actuator exerts tactile force as a dielectric liquid contained inside the actuator pressurized its deformable part. In addition, the proposed actuator can estimate the internal dielectric liquid thickness by using its self-sensing function. Besides, the electrical characteristics and driving performance of the proposed system were verified through experiments.

• 로봇학회논문지
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• 제12권3호
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• pp.263-269
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• 2017

Recently, soft robots using soft materials are presented. Thanks to soft materials, soft robots have flexible, highly-stretchable or adaptable features. However, due to the flexibility of soft material, it is hard for soft robots to control accurately or perform high force. To deal with these limitations, variable stiffness technology, which enables the stiffness control of structure, has been developed. In this research, a dual-stiffness structure that is actuated by the assembly of two flexible structures are presented. Each flexible structure consists of flexible film part and rigid parts placed at regular intervals. The flexibility of film between rigid parts allows each structure to move softly. On the other hand, by combining two structures rigid part of each part constrain the degrees of freedom of the other side part. And this causes the stiffness of whole structure to be increased. This paper will cover concepts, design, analysis and experiments of this structure.

• 한국전기전자재료학회논문지
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• 제34권6호
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• pp.401-415
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• 2021

Soft robots are promising devices for applications in drug delivery, sensing, and manufacturing. Traditional hard robotics are manufactured with rigid materials and their degrees of motion are constrained by the orientation of the joints. In contrast to rigid counterpart, soft robotics, employing soft and stretchable materials that easily deforms in shape, can realize complex motions (i.e., locomotion, swimming, and grappling) with a simple structure, and easily adapt to dynamic environment. Among them, the magnetic actuators exhibit unique characteristics such as rapid and accurate motion control, biocompatibility, and facile remote controllability, which make them promising candidates for the next-generation soft robots. Especially, the magnetic actuators instantly response to the stimuli, and show no-hysteresis during the recovery process, essential for continuous motion control. Here, we present the state-of-the-art fabrication process of magnetically controllable nano-/micro-composites, magnetically aligning process of the composites, and 1-dimensional/multi-dimensional multimodal motion control for the nextgeneration soft actuators.

• 로봇학회논문지
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• 제3권4호
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• pp.315-322
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• 2008

A new soft finger mechanism using a spring as a backbone is proposed in this work. It is a 4 DOF mechanism that consists of a spring and 3 cylinders, which behave like joints with 3 up-and-down rotations and 1 left-and-right rotation. To control each joint, cylinders have small holes in their cross-sectional areas, and wires of different length are penetrated into these holes. We can control each joint by pulling the corresponding wire. The forward kinematics is solved by using the geometry of mechanism. And the relationship (Jacobian) between the linear velocity of the wires and the joint angular rate is obtained. A virtual simulator is developed to test the validity of the kinematic model. In the experiment, first, the position control is conducted by tracking a given trajectory. Second, to verify the flexibility and safety, we show that the soft finger deflects in a safe manner, in spite of the collision with environment.

• 제어로봇시스템학회논문지
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• 제17권11호
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• pp.1101-1105
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• 2011

Radiation particles can introduce temporary errors in memory systems. To protect against these errors, so-called soft errors, error detection and correcting codes are used. In addition, scrubbing is applied which is a fundamental technique to avoid the accumulation of soft errors. This paper introduces an optimal scrubbing scheme, which is suitable for a system with auto error detection and correction logic. An auto error detection and correction logic can correct soft errors without CPU's writing operation. The proposed scrubbing scheme leads to maximum reliability by considering both allowable scrubbing load and the periodic accesses to memory by the tasks running in the system.

• 로봇학회논문지
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.92-97
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• 2024

This paper provides a study of distributional perspective on reinforcement learning for application in mobile robot navigation. Mapless navigation algorithms based on deep reinforcement learning are proven to promising performance and high applicability. The trial-and-error simulations in virtual environments are encouraged to implement autonomous navigation due to expensive real-life interactions. Nevertheless, applying the deep reinforcement learning model in real tasks is challenging due to dissimilar data collection between virtual simulation and the physical world, leading to high-risk manners and high collision rate. In this paper, we present distributional reinforcement learning architecture for mapless navigation of mobile robot that adapt the uncertainty of environmental change. The experimental results indicate the superior performance of distributional soft actor critic compared to conventional methods.

• Composites Research
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• 제35권6호
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• pp.378-393
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• 2022

마찰전기 나노발전기(이하 TENG)의 새로운 발전 기술은 에너지 수집 및 자가 전력 공급 감지 응용 분야의 긍정적 전망으로 인해 점점 더 많은 관심을 받고 있다. 또한 최근 소프트로봇의 부상은 플렉시블과 소프트센서, 액추에이터 개발에 대한 폭넓은 관심을 불러 일으키고 있다. TENG는 액추에이터와 자가 전력 공급 센서를 구동하는 유망한 전원으로 간주되어 소프트웨어 로봇, 소프트 센서 및 액추에이터 개발을 위한 독창적인 방법을 제공한다. 이 리뷰에서는 TENG를 기반으로 다양한 형태와 기능을 가진 소프트웨어 로봇을 소개하려 한다. 그 중 자연계의 구조, 표면 형태, 재료 특성과 센싱/발전 메커니즘을 모방한 바이오닉 소프트 로봇의 설계는 TENG 성능 향상에 큰 도움이 되었다. 또한 다양한 바이오닉 소프트 로봇은 TENG의 간단한 구조, 자체 전력 공급 특성 및 조정 가능한 출력으로 인해 이전 구동 방식보다 향상되었다. 그리하여 이 리뷰에서는 TENG가 활성화한 소프트 로봇 응용의 특정 핵심 영역에서 다양한 연구를 종합적으로 검토하려 한다. 리뷰를 요약하자면 먼저 최근 개발된 다양한 TENG 기반 소프트웨어 로봇을 정리하고 다양한 장비 구조, 표면 형태 및 자연적으로 영감을 받은 재료를 비교 분석하여 그에 따른 TENG 성능 개선을 수행한다. 자연계에 사용되는 다양한 유비쿼터스 감지 원리와 발전 메커니즘 및 유사한 인공 TENG 설계가 확인되었고 촉각 디스플레이 및 웨어러블 기기, 인공 전자 피부 등의 기기에 TENG를 활성화하는 바이오닉 응용에 대해 논의한다. 마지막으로 TENG 기반 센서 및 구동 장비의 로봇 실제 적용에 대한 발전 기회, 도전 및 미래 전망을 분석한다.

• 로봇학회논문지
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.65-75
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• 2012

This study deals with the design of a spring backboned soft arm, which will be employed for generation of human gesture as an effective means of Human Robot interaction. The special features of the proposed mechanism are the light weight and the flexibility of the whole mechanism by using a spring backbone. Thus, even in the case of collision with human, this device is able to absorb the impact structurally. The kinematics and the design for the soft arm are introduced. The performance of this mechanism was shown through experiment emulating several human gestures expressing human emotion and some service contents. Finally, this soft arm was implemented as the wing mechanism of a penguin robot.