DEVELOPMENT OF SOFT ROBOTIC PAD TECHNOLOGY FOR MANTA RAY INSPIRED ROBOTIC SWIMMER

Abstract

This thesis proposes a new type of SPA called soft robotic pad (SRP). SRP is a two-dimensional SPA that can be programmed to do a variety of surface morphing with a constant thickness. Novel fabrication technique was developed to produce the SRP, followed by the optimization of the inner fiber pattern design to strengthen the SRP. To diversify the SRPs, a method called stiffness customization and patterning is proposed to tune the property of SRPs and SPAs. The unique features of the SRP which are the surface morphing capability and the higher resistance to buckling are elaborated. Finally, as the key application demonstration of the SRP, a manta ray inspired robotic swimmer is developed featuring a pair of SRP-based soft robotic pectoral fins. The fins successfully propel the manta ray robot with decent swimming performance. More importantly, the robot exhibits a higher level of bio-mimicry with its soft fins.