Fabrication

The steps for obtaining a multi-module manipulator are:

1. Fabrication of the single modules;
2. Fabrication of custom membranes for managing the granular jamming;
3. Thermoforming of the sheath;
4. Integration of all components.

Each step is in details described in the next sections.

The final result is the manipulator shown in the following movie:

Contributors

Iris De Falco

Bibliography

Cianchetti et al. (2013) STIFF-FLOP Surgical Manipulator: mechanical design and experimental characterization of the single module. 

De Falco et al. (2014) A soft and controllable stiffness manipulator for minimally invasive surgery: preliminary characterization of the modular design. 

De Falco et al. (2014) STIFF-FLOP surgical manipulator: design and preliminary motion evaluation.

De Falco et al. (2015) Design and fabrication of an elastomeric unit for soft modular robots in minimally invasive surgery.

Ranzani et al. (2013) A modular soft manipulator with variable stiffness.

Elsayed et al. (2014) Finite Element Analysis and Design Optimization of a Pneumatically Actuating Silicone Module for Robotic Surgery Applications.

L. Vyas et al. (2011) Flexible Robotics.

Laschi et al. (2014) Soft Robotics: new perspectives for robot bodyware and control.

Cheng et al. (2012) Design and Analysis of a Robust, Low-cost, Highly Articulated Manipulator Enabled by Jamming of Granular Media.

Allen et al. (2014) Robotic Granular Jamming: Does the Membrane Matter?