A Compact Low-Cost Electronic Hardware Design for Actuating Soft Robots

A low cost, compact embedded design approach for actuating soft robots is presented. The complete design and mode of operation was demonstrated, and the production of the complete system was also demonstrated by building a microcontroller based hardware system which was used to actuate a soft robot for bending motion. The whole system including the electronic circuit board and actuation components was embedded in a 3D-printed casing to ensure a compact approach for actuating soft robots. Results show the viability of the system in actuating and controlling silicon-based soft robots to achieve bending motions. Qualitative measurements of the bending distance and pressure were obtained using this system. This electronic design is easy to reproduce and integrate into any specified soft robotic device requiring pneumatic actuation.