Air-Powered Soft Robotic Toy

University of California, San Diego

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

About

The goal of this project is to improve on the design of the "Huggable Pet", a soft robotic toy for children ages 6-12 that is designed to hug using a completely air powered system.

Why Soft Robotics?

Soft Robotics is a field of robotics that takes inspiration from the way animals move and adapt to their surroundings. They are made out of soft materials so that they can twist, bend, and deform in ways that that typical electronic robots cannot. Sammy the Sloth has been designed and manufactured using materials that are soft and safe for children to play with.

Project Objectives

The project requires a finalized design of the "Huggable Pet" which must improve on the initial mechanical issues, which include:

decreased noise level (below 50 dB)
increased speed of actuation (inflate in under 10 seconds)
increased toy longevity/ battery life (3 hour battery life)
reduced overheating of pump (cannot exceed 2ºC increase in temperature during use)

The final design must include drawings of the components to prepare for manufacturing. Customer interviews must be conducted to assess product-market fit.

Our Design

Sammy the Sloth

The final design consists of three main components: a hug button, actuators, and a release system.

When the user hugs the toy, they squeeze the "hug button" which starts the flow of air through a pump. This increased air pressure causes the actuators to inflate and create a curling motion that feels like a hug! Once the pump reaches full actuation, a pressure switch turns off the pump. The hug can be released by pressing the release button on the foot.