Stretchable Arduinos embedded in soft robots

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to embed complex, commercially available microcontrollers like Arduinos into soft robots, enabling stretchable, functional robotic systems capable of decision-making during active use.

Contribution

The authors develop a generalized approach to convert any two-layer circuit into a stretchable form, allowing integration of complex electronics into soft robots without simplification.

Findings

Successfully embedded Arduino Pro Minis into soft robots

Achieved >300% strain stretchability in embedded electronics

Demonstrated active decision-making in soft robotic systems

Abstract

To achieve real-world functionality, robots must have the ability to carry out decision-making computations. However, soft robots stretch and therefore need a solution other than rigid computers. Examples of embedding computing capacity into soft robots currently include appending rigid printed circuit boards (PCBs) to the robot, integrating soft logic gates, and exploiting material responses for material-embedded computation. Although promising, these approaches introduce limitations such as rigidity, tethers, or low logic gate density. The field of stretchable electronics has sought to solve these challenges, but a complete pipeline for direct integration of single-board computers, microcontrollers, and other complex circuitry into soft robots has remained elusive. We present a generalized method to translate any complex two-layer circuit into a soft, stretchable form. This enabled the creation of stretchable single-board microcontrollers (including Arduinos) and other commercial circuits (including Sparkfun circuits), without design simplifications. As demonstrations of the method's utility, we embed highly stretchable (>300% strain) Arduino Pro Minis into the bodies of multiple soft robots. This makes use of otherwise inert structural material, fulfilling the promise of the stretchable electronics field to integrate state-of-the-art computational power into robust, stretchable systems during active use.