Jammkle: Fibre jamming 3D printed multi-material tendons and their application in a robotic ankle

TL;DR

This paper introduces Jammkle, a novel multi-material 3D printed fibre jamming tendon for robotic ankles, demonstrating improved compliance, damping, and slip prevention through experimental validation and modeling.

Contribution

It presents a new modular, multi-material 3D printed fibre jamming tendon with a detailed multiphysics model and practical application in a robotic ankle, advancing soft robotic design.

Findings

Jammkle outperforms traditional structures in compliance and damping.

The multiphysics model aligns well with experimental data.

The tendon effectively prevents slip in robotic ankle applications.

Abstract

Fibre jamming is a relatively new and understudied soft robotic mechanism that has previously found success when used in stiffness-tuneable arms and fingers. However, to date researchers have not fully taken advantage of the freedom offered by contemporary fabrication techniques including multi-material 3D printing in the creation of fibre jamming structures. In this research, we present a novel, modular, multi-material, 3D printed, fibre jamming tendon unit for use in a stiffness-tuneable compliant robotic ankle, or Jammkle. We describe the design and fabrication of the Jammkle and highlight its advantages compared to examples from modern literature. We develop a multiphysics model of the tendon unit, showing good agreement with experimental data. Finally, we demonstrate a practical application by integrating multiple tendon units into a robotic ankle and perform extensive testing and characterisation. We show that the Jammkle outperforms comparative leg structures in terms of compliance, damping, and slip prevention.