Actuation principles for the bioinspired soft robotic manipulator spineman

Current trends in bioinspired robotic systems are paving the way for robots to enter our daily lives. Soft robotics, which is widely believed to yield new `species' of robots that are more adaptable, more capable, and safer, is such a trend. For all their advantages, the loads these current robot designs can bear and the forces they can produce are still limited. Besides the many examples it provides for the capabilities of soft materials, biology also teaches us that a certain proportion of stiff structures is needed in larger soft robots. In a previous article by the authors, a soft, bioinspired manipulator comprised of hard and soft elements was proposed. The selection and design of a suitable actuation system for this manipulator is the scope of this present article.