Abstract
The recent introduction of self-healing soft materials in robotics is a major step
towards sustainable next generation robots. By manufacturing soft robots out of these smart
materials, we integrate a self-healing ability and increase the physical intelligence of these
systems. However, the embodied intelligence in the material level needs to be augmented by
incorporating assistive mechanisms in the system level with minimized control, enabling
healing of damage in different sizes and in diverse working conditions. These assistive
mechanisms can provide damage detection, damage closure, healing stimuli providing, health
monitoring, or a combination of the previous. In this paper, we present two different
mechanisms for an autonomous healing of damages; (i) Embedding a healable heater in a selfhealing soft actuator to increase the temperature required for an efficient healing, while it
allows detecting the damage and monitoring the health of the system. (ii) Incorporating shape
memory alloy wires in a self-heling soft bending actuator, with simultaneous sealing through
contraction and heating abilities. Apart from assisting in the healing action, both mechanisms
play a part in the actuation of the bending robots as strain limiting elements. These assistive
mechanisms will overcome the limitation on the material level, leading to robots that can selfheal in applications outside of laboratories and factories.
towards sustainable next generation robots. By manufacturing soft robots out of these smart
materials, we integrate a self-healing ability and increase the physical intelligence of these
systems. However, the embodied intelligence in the material level needs to be augmented by
incorporating assistive mechanisms in the system level with minimized control, enabling
healing of damage in different sizes and in diverse working conditions. These assistive
mechanisms can provide damage detection, damage closure, healing stimuli providing, health
monitoring, or a combination of the previous. In this paper, we present two different
mechanisms for an autonomous healing of damages; (i) Embedding a healable heater in a selfhealing soft actuator to increase the temperature required for an efficient healing, while it
allows detecting the damage and monitoring the health of the system. (ii) Incorporating shape
memory alloy wires in a self-heling soft bending actuator, with simultaneous sealing through
contraction and heating abilities. Apart from assisting in the healing action, both mechanisms
play a part in the actuation of the bending robots as strain limiting elements. These assistive
mechanisms will overcome the limitation on the material level, leading to robots that can selfheal in applications outside of laboratories and factories.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Volume | 1292 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
| Event | Embodied intelligence conference'23 - University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom Duration: 22 Mar 2023 → 24 Mar 2023 https://embodied-intelligence.org/ |
Conference
| Conference | Embodied intelligence conference'23 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | Cambridge |
| Period | 22/03/23 → 24/03/23 |
| Internet address |