Design, Fabrication and Experiments of a 3D-motion Soft Elastomer Actuator

This paper introduces the design and manufacture method of a new type of soft fluidic elastomer actuators. Firstly, we describe the design scheme of the soft actuator and the drive principle of omnidirectional bending and elongation. Based on 3D printing, three elastic air chambers constrained by double helix winding are radially distributed and driven by positive pressure. The actuators can complete the movement of three degrees of freedom of omnidirectional bending, elongation and contraction. And then, in order to test the characteristic parameters of the actuator, the actuator test system is designed to test the bending angle and elongation of the soft actuator under different driving pressures. This research provides technical support for the research of soft manipulator.