| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/M73866/01 |
| Title: |
'SOFT' ACTUATORS - REDUNDANT & SELF-HEALING OPERATION FOR BIO-MIMETIC SYSTEMS |
| Principal Investigator: |
Caldwell, Professor DG |
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| Department: |
Research Inst for Advanced Engineering |
| Organisation: |
University of Salford |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 November 1999 |
Ends: |
31 January 2003 |
Value (£): |
242,611
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Food and Drink |
Information Technologies |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The success of modem production techniques has been a testament to the effectiveness of current industrial design strategies. However, there is a growing feeling that the development of core technologies for the next generation of mechatronic systems will require a fundamental paradigm change, with a general evolution of design principles from the usual-schema of bearing-gears-motors to a novel bio-mimetic mechanism of bone-joint-tendons. This paradigm shift will involve new materials and mechanisms that will be integrated following biologically inspired operational, regeneration and redundancy patterns. Among the most fundamental features of this change of perspective will be the need for new actuation systems which can emulate the performance of natural muscle in forming a safe and natural _interaction medium while still possessing the beneficial performance attributes of conventional engineering actuators. This change to closer interaction with machines will emphasize the need for safety, redundancy, self-repair and affinity, and the benefit of softness in machines, both in terms of functional softness and physical softness.This work will involve the development of new self repairing and adaptively regenerating 'soft' actuators that can be used effectively to mimic the macroscopic actions of biological muscle. The improved high performance properties of these actuators will be incorporated into a biologically accurate humanoid robot (biped motion. 7 dot arms and dexterous hands) that will demonstrate the potential of these new systems in a highly integrated, redundant and novel technology demonstrator.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.salford.ac.uk |