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Ms. Ellen Roels
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)

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Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Soft Robot
0 soft robot materials and design
0 additive manufacturing
0 Self-Healing Materials
0 Soft actuation and sensing

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Review
Published: 20 March 2021 in Materials Today
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The intrinsic compliance of soft robots provides safety, a natural adaptation to its environment, allows to absorb shocks, and protects them against mechanical impacts. However, a literature study shows that the soft polymers used for their construction are susceptible to various types of damage, including fatigue, overloads, interfacial debonding, and cuts, tears and perforations by sharp objects. An economic and ecological solution is to construct future soft robotic systems out of self-healing polymers, incorporating the ability to heal damage. This review paper proposes criteria to evaluate the potential of a self-healing polymer to be used in soft robotic applications. Based on these soft robotics requirements and on defined performance parameters of the materials, linked to the mechanical and healing properties, the different types of self-healing polymers already available in literature are critically assessed and compared. In addition to a description of the state of the art on self-healing soft robotics, the paper discusses the driving forces and limitations to spur the interdisciplinary combination between self-healing polymer science and soft robotics.

ACS Style

Seppe Terryn; Jakob Langenbach; Ellen Roels; Joost Brancart; Camille Bakkali-Hassani; Quentin-Arthur Poutrel; Antonia Georgopoulou; Thomas George Thuruthel; Ali Safaei; Pasquale Ferrentino; Tutu Sebastian; Sophie Norvez; Fumiya Iida; Anton W. Bosman; François Tournilhac; Frank Clemens; Guy Van Assche; Bram Vanderborght. A review on self-healing polymers for soft robotics. Materials Today 2021, 47, 187 -205.

AMA Style

Seppe Terryn, Jakob Langenbach, Ellen Roels, Joost Brancart, Camille Bakkali-Hassani, Quentin-Arthur Poutrel, Antonia Georgopoulou, Thomas George Thuruthel, Ali Safaei, Pasquale Ferrentino, Tutu Sebastian, Sophie Norvez, Fumiya Iida, Anton W. Bosman, François Tournilhac, Frank Clemens, Guy Van Assche, Bram Vanderborght. A review on self-healing polymers for soft robotics. Materials Today. 2021; 47 ():187-205.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Seppe Terryn; Jakob Langenbach; Ellen Roels; Joost Brancart; Camille Bakkali-Hassani; Quentin-Arthur Poutrel; Antonia Georgopoulou; Thomas George Thuruthel; Ali Safaei; Pasquale Ferrentino; Tutu Sebastian; Sophie Norvez; Fumiya Iida; Anton W. Bosman; François Tournilhac; Frank Clemens; Guy Van Assche; Bram Vanderborght. 2021. "A review on self-healing polymers for soft robotics." Materials Today 47, no. : 187-205.

Journal article
Published: 19 March 2021 in Sensors
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Sensing pressure at the physical interface between the robot and the human has important implications for wearable robots. On the one hand, monitoring pressure distribution can give valuable benefits on the aspects of comfortability and safety of such devices. Additionally, on the other hand, they can be used as a rich sensory input to high level interaction controllers. However, a problem is that the commercial availability of this technology is mostly limited to either low-cost solutions with poor performance or expensive options, limiting the possibilities for iterative designs. As an alternative, in this manuscript we present a three-dimensional (3D) printed flexible capacitive pressure sensor that allows seamless integration for wearable robotic applications. The sensors are manufactured using additive manufacturing techniques, which provides benefits in terms of versatility of design and implementation. In this study, a characterization of the 3D printed sensors in a test-bench is presented after which the sensors are integrated in an upper arm interface. A human-in-the-loop calibration of the sensors is then shown, allowing to estimate the external force and pressure distribution that is acting on the upper arm of seven human subjects while performing a dynamic task. The validation of the method is achieved by means of a collaborative robot for precise force interaction measurements. The results indicate that the proposed sensors are a potential solution for further implementation in human–robot interfaces.

ACS Style

Kevin Langlois; Ellen Roels; Gabriël Van De Velde; Cláudia Espadinha; Christopher Van Vlerken; Tom Verstraten; Bram Vanderborght; Dirk Lefeber. Integration of 3D Printed Flexible Pressure Sensors into Physical Interfaces for Wearable Robots. Sensors 2021, 21, 2157 .

AMA Style

Kevin Langlois, Ellen Roels, Gabriël Van De Velde, Cláudia Espadinha, Christopher Van Vlerken, Tom Verstraten, Bram Vanderborght, Dirk Lefeber. Integration of 3D Printed Flexible Pressure Sensors into Physical Interfaces for Wearable Robots. Sensors. 2021; 21 (6):2157.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kevin Langlois; Ellen Roels; Gabriël Van De Velde; Cláudia Espadinha; Christopher Van Vlerken; Tom Verstraten; Bram Vanderborght; Dirk Lefeber. 2021. "Integration of 3D Printed Flexible Pressure Sensors into Physical Interfaces for Wearable Robots." Sensors 21, no. 6: 2157.

Journal article
Published: 09 December 2020 in IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine
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Healable soft robotic systems have been developed by constructing flexible membranes out of Diels?Alder (DA) polymer networks. In these components, relatively large amounts of damage, on the centimeter scale, can be healed, provided that the temperature is increased to 80?90 ?C. This article presents a new DA polymer network that can heal at room temperature through a smart design of the network that increases the molecular mobility in the material. This new material is used to develop the first healable soft robotic prototype that can autonomously recover from severe, realistic damage. The soft pneumatic hand can recover from various types of injuries, including being cut completely in half, without the need for a temperature increase. After healing, the performance of the soft robotic prototype is recovered.

ACS Style

Seppe Terryn; Joost Brancart; Ellen Roels; Guy Van Assche; Bram Vanderborght. Room Temperature Self-Healing in Soft Pneumatic Robotics: Autonomous Self-Healing in a Diels-Alder Polymer Network. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine 2020, 27, 44 -55.

AMA Style

Seppe Terryn, Joost Brancart, Ellen Roels, Guy Van Assche, Bram Vanderborght. Room Temperature Self-Healing in Soft Pneumatic Robotics: Autonomous Self-Healing in a Diels-Alder Polymer Network. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine. 2020; 27 (4):44-55.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Seppe Terryn; Joost Brancart; Ellen Roels; Guy Van Assche; Bram Vanderborght. 2020. "Room Temperature Self-Healing in Soft Pneumatic Robotics: Autonomous Self-Healing in a Diels-Alder Polymer Network." IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine 27, no. 4: 44-55.

Journal article
Published: 01 December 2020 in Soft Robotics
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The field of self-healing soft robots was initiated a few years ago. A healing ability can be integrated in soft robots by manufacturing their soft membranes out of synthetic self-healing polymers, more specifically elastomeric Diels–Alder (DA) networks. As such they can recover completely from macroscopic damage, including scratches, cuts, and ruptures. Before this research, these robots were manufactured using a technique named “shaping-through-folding-and-self-healing.” This technique requires extensive manual labor, is relatively slow, and does not allow for complex shapes. In this article, an additive manufacturing methodology, fused filament fabrication, is developed for the thermoreversible DA polymers, and the approach is validated on a soft robotic gripper. The reversibility of their network permits manufacturing these flexible self-healing polymers through reactive printing into the complex shapes required in soft robotics. The degree of freedom in the design of soft robotics that this new manufacturing technique offers is illustrated through the construction of adaptive DHAS gripper fingers, based on the design by FESTO. Being constructed out of self-healing soft flexible polymer, the fingers can recover entirely from large cuts, tears, and punctures. This is highlighted through various damage–heal cycles.

ACS Style

Ellen Roels; Seppe Terryn; Joost Brancart; Robrecht Verhelle; Guy Van Assche; Bram Vanderborght. Additive Manufacturing for Self-Healing Soft Robots. Soft Robotics 2020, 7, 711 -723.

AMA Style

Ellen Roels, Seppe Terryn, Joost Brancart, Robrecht Verhelle, Guy Van Assche, Bram Vanderborght. Additive Manufacturing for Self-Healing Soft Robots. Soft Robotics. 2020; 7 (6):711-723.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ellen Roels; Seppe Terryn; Joost Brancart; Robrecht Verhelle; Guy Van Assche; Bram Vanderborght. 2020. "Additive Manufacturing for Self-Healing Soft Robots." Soft Robotics 7, no. 6: 711-723.

Journal article
Published: 30 April 2020 in Actuators
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In new-generation soft robots, the actuation performance can be increased by using multiple materials in the actuator designs. However, the lifetime of these actuators is often limited due to failure that occurs at the weak multi-material interfaces that rely almost entirely on physical interactions and where stress concentration appears during actuation. This paper proposes to develop soft pneumatic actuators out of multiple Diels–Alder polymers that can generate strong covalent bonds at the multi-material interface by means of a heat–cool cycle. Through tensile testing it is proven that high interfacial strength can be obtained between two merged Diels–Alder polymers. This merging principle is exploited in the manufacturing of multi-material bending soft pneumatic actuators in which interfaces are no longer the weakest links. The applicability of the actuators is illustrated by their operation in a soft hand and a soft gripper demonstrator. In addition, the use of Diels–Alder polymers incorporates healability in bending actuators. It is experimentally illustrated that full recovery of severe damage can be obtained by subjecting the multi-material actuators to a healing cycle.

ACS Style

Seppe Terryn; Ellen Roels; Joost Brancart; Guy Van Assche; Bram VanderBorght. Self-Healing and High Interfacial Strength in Multi-Material Soft Pneumatic Robots via Reversible Diels–Alder Bonds. Actuators 2020, 9, 34 .

AMA Style

Seppe Terryn, Ellen Roels, Joost Brancart, Guy Van Assche, Bram VanderBorght. Self-Healing and High Interfacial Strength in Multi-Material Soft Pneumatic Robots via Reversible Diels–Alder Bonds. Actuators. 2020; 9 (2):34.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Seppe Terryn; Ellen Roels; Joost Brancart; Guy Van Assche; Bram VanderBorght. 2020. "Self-Healing and High Interfacial Strength in Multi-Material Soft Pneumatic Robots via Reversible Diels–Alder Bonds." Actuators 9, no. 2: 34.

Conference paper
Published: 01 April 2019 in 2019 2nd IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)
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In the field of soft robotics, the material selection plays an important role and markedly influences the properties of the actuators. More complex actuators can be manufactured by combining the strengths of multiple materials in a single design. To allow this, a good connection between the different materials is indispensable. Making a physical connection between flexible materials, having different properties, is difficult and leads to failure and damage due to stress concentrations at the interface. This is why in soft robots, most of the time single-material actuators are used. In this work, re-mendable elastomeric polymers are used to construct multi-material soft actuators. These Diels-Alder polymers consist of a thermore-versible covalent network that allows chemical bonding at the interface between two parts. Two Diels-Alder polymers were synthesised with contrasting mechanical properties. Although, having dissimilar Young's moduli, these different materials can chemically bind at the interface, resulting in a very strong connection. This principle was elaborated in a dual-material tendon-driven soft gripper. Additionally, the reversible network allows to heal damages using mild heating. This healing ability was demonstrated by subsequently damaging and completely healing the dual-material soft actuator multiple times.

ACS Style

Ellen Roels; Seppe Terryn; Joost Brancart; Guy Van Assche; Bram Vanderborght. A Multi-Material Self-Healing Soft Gripper. 2019 2nd IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft) 2019, 316 -321.

AMA Style

Ellen Roels, Seppe Terryn, Joost Brancart, Guy Van Assche, Bram Vanderborght. A Multi-Material Self-Healing Soft Gripper. 2019 2nd IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft). 2019; ():316-321.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ellen Roels; Seppe Terryn; Joost Brancart; Guy Van Assche; Bram Vanderborght. 2019. "A Multi-Material Self-Healing Soft Gripper." 2019 2nd IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft) , no. : 316-321.