A new study assesses the maximum number of damage and healing cycles a self-healing actuator can endure. The study, which presents a method to automatically and autonomously assess the repeatable healability of a soft self-healing actuator, is published in the Open Access journal Robotics Reports. Click here to read the article now.
Julie Legrand, PhD , from Eindhoven University of Technology, and coauthors from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Imec Brussels, and University of Cambridge, used a robotic system composed of a damage station and a healing station, which the actuator is automatically moved between using a robotic arm.
“We present a typical use case of the system, performing and analyzing 63 damage cycles of a self-healing Diels-Alder actuator,” stated the investigators. “After 53 cycles, the actuator will never properly heal again, therefore, we consider this cycle to be the maximum repeatable healability of the tested actuator.”
“Self-healing (SH) polymers have the potential to prevent soft robot actuators being disposed due to permanent damage. Theoretically, SH polymers can endure an infinite amount of damage and healing cycles. Nevertheless, it is of utmost importance to experimentally know the maximum repeatable healability of SH actuators in soft robots, which is confirmed by the study,” says Surya Nurzaman, PhD , Editor-in-Chief of Robotics Reports , from Monash University Malaysia.
About the Journal
Robotics Reports is a multidisciplinary open access journal devoted to the broad field of robotics. Robotics Reports will provide every author and reader the opportunity to rapidly publish and access the latest technological advances in robotics research including artificial intelligence, androids, autonomous machines, large-scale systems, micro/nano robots, robotics in deep-sea and space exploration, transportation, medical devices, surgical advancements, clinical applications, and more. Expansive in scope and mission, Robotics Reports commits to offering every opportunity to researchers in the field by considering a variety of contributions from research and review papers to commentaries, short reports, meta-analyses, null-hypothesis papers, protocols, methods, and Letters to the Editor. The journal is dedicated to serving the community as an easily accessible, open, and efficient scientific resource that supports the work taking place in this dynamic field.
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Robotics Reports
Experimental study
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Autonomous Testing of the Repeatable Healability of Pneumatic Self-Healing Soft Actuators