Soft POLY-LIMBS

Project brief

We present the design and development of the fluid-driven, wearable, Soft Poly-Limb (SPL), from the Greek word polys, meaning many. The SPL utilizes the numerous traits of soft robotics to enable a novel approach in providing safe and compliant mobile manipulation assistance to healthy and impaired users. This wearable system equips the user with a controllable additional limb that is capable of complex three-dimensional motion in space. Similar to an elephant trunk, the SPL is able to manipulate objects using a variety of end-effectors, such as suction adhesion or a soft grasper, as well as its entire soft body to conform around an object.

Two versions have been designed; one with elastomeric soft actuators and another with fabric soft actuators