Modeling and Dynamic Analysis of a Novel Rotary Soft Robotic Arm by Transfer Matrix Method

Soft continuum robots are highly deformable and maneuverable manipulators. Jamming, as a phenomenon, enables amorphous systems to switch reversibly between solid-like rigidity and fluid-like plasticity, has been exploited for a novel continuum robot design. This novel Soft Articulated Granular Manipulator (SAGM) is suitable for complex linear as well as rotary motion. This continuum soft robot features a continuous backbone connected to the rotating mechanism. The actuation mechanism is based on the jamming of granular material. This highly articulated manipulator is a new type of continuum manipulator, which combines a wide range of soft actuation advantages and thus exhibits excellent comprehensive performance. It is required to perceive a precise model of the soft link for dynamic motion analysis. As vibration can be generated in the articulating operations, this paper studies the mathematical model for the arm undergoing planar flexural deformation. This rotation creates a variable axial force, and this causes difficulty in solving the differential equation. Due to free vibration analysis, the transfer matrix method based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam differential equation is implemented, and the soft link is discretized with a constant axial force for each element. This paper includes the design, modeling, kinematic and dynamic analysis of this soft continuum robot. The dynamic results are compared with FEM, Rayleigh–Ritz, and ADAMS models. These show agreement despite low computational costs and it gives us a wide exposure towards real-time applications.