Multi-chamber soft pneumatic actuators are useful for many applications, including medical and surgical robotic devices. However, existing methods used for their manufacture often require multiple manual steps, leading to reduced precision and an increase in size and complexity. In this new work, we present Parallel Helix Actuators (PHAs) which use helical interlocking cores to significantly reduce fabrication complexity, and allow for single material, small (< 1 cm) designs with 3D mobility. We hope this approach will facilitate new and improved soft robot designs.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2020.00119/full