Design Concept and Applications of Inflatable Robots: Single and Dual Arm with Internal Drop-Stitch Structure and Rigid Joints

In this research, we focus on the design and applications of a 12DoF(degrees of freedom) dual-arm inflatable robot. The design utilizes a combination of soft bodies, such as inflatable links, and hard joints as servo actuators. This com- bination enables us to retain the passive safety and compliance of soft robots while leveraging the control accuracy of hard joints. First, we built a 6DoF inflatable arm with a gripper (1DoF). Then, we replicated the single arm to construct a 12DoF dual-arm robot. We then examine the feasibility of this robot for several contact-based tasks, like hammering a nail, pick and place of a handkerchief, and dressing assistance. For our evaluation, we report successful trials and servo faults observed during experiments, as verified by video recordings. With the tasks shown, we confirm the robot’s inherent compliance and showcase the qualitative report for the feasibility of contact-rich tasks based on a small number of trials.