MEAM Seminar: “Soft Pneumatic Force Application through Membrane Design and Stiffness Control”

Modern robotic platforms are designed for precision, but their cost and rigidity make them impractical for many at-home physical human-robot interaction (pHRI) applications. Soft pneumatic actuators (SPA) have potential as safe and affordable means of providing comfortable force application for use in pHRI, but lack shape planning and control during contact. In this seminar, we will discuss electroadhesive clutches as a novel strain limiter for soft membranes and their applications in real-time programming of inflation trajectory and force response. We outline our force-pressure characterization for a heterogeneous SPA membrane design, the use of autonomous experimentation for design parameter exploration, and our vision for applications in pHRI for the elderly or those with significant medical ailments.