Self-Sensing Origami-Inspired Soft Twisting Actuators and Its Application in Soft Robots

The good compliance of soft robots provides a reliable safety environment for human-robot interaction; however, it also creates challenges for adding sensors to soft robots. In this letter, we propose a self-sensing origami-inspired soft twisting actuator. The actuator is designed based on the structure of origami, enabling the compound motion of twist and contraction. The position sensor made from flexible fabric material is integrated in the soft actuator body. With twisting angle feedback, the self-sensing twisting actuator can not only provide expected motion but also acquire additional environment information based on real-time sensing. This letter discusses the design, fabrication, and experimental validation of proposed self-sensing twisting actuator. Based on the self-sensing twisting actuator, a soft gripper, a soft robotic arm, and a soft hexapod robot, all vacuum-powered, are designed and prototyped to validate their performance. The proposed soft actuator has great potential for applications in scenarios that require self-sensing information and closed-loop control.