Cedric Fovel

Mr. Cedric Fovel


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

3Years (2024-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

View All Publications
28 March 2024 in Actuators
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
STSeyedreza Kashef Tabrizian
Seyedreza Kashef Tabrizian
CFCedric Fovel
Cedric Fovel
STSeppe Terryn
Seppe Terryn
Bram VanderborghtBram Vanderborght
Bram Vanderborght
Soft fiber-reinforced actuators have demonstrated significant potential across various robotics applications. However, the actuation motion in these actuators is typically limited to a single type of motion behavior, such as bending, extending, and twisting. Additionally, a combination of bending with twisting and extending with twisting can occur in fiber-reinforced actuators. This paper presents two novel hybrid actuators in which shape memory alloy (SMA) wires are used as reinforcement for pneumatic actuation, and upon electrical activation, they create a twisting motion. As a result, the hybrid soft SMA-reinforced actuators can select between twisting and bending, as well as twisting and extending. In pneumatic mode, a bending angle of 40° and a longitudinal strain of 20% were achieved for the bending/twisting and extending/twisting actuators, respectively. When the SMA wires are electrically activated by the Joule effect, the actuators achieved more than 90% of the maximum twisting angle (24°) in almost 2 s. Passive recovery, facilitated by the elastic response of the soft chamber, took approximately 10 s. The double-helical reinforcement by SMA wires not only enables twisting in both directions but also serves as an active recovery mechanism to more rapidly return the finger to the initial position (within 2 s). The resulting pneumatic–electric-driven soft actuators enhance dexterity and versatility, making them suitable for applications in walking robots, in-pipe crawling robots, and in-hand manipulation.