Development of a High Flow Rate Soft Pump Driven by Intersected Twisted Artificial Muscles Units

Abstract

Small soft pumps are extensively explored in medical fields and soft robotics, but the insufficient flow rate constrains their applications. In this article, an intersected twisted artificial muscle unit (ITAMU) is proposed to achieve a large contraction ratio, which is adapted to drive the developed soft pump, and characteristics of high flow rate and no noise pollution are achieved. The configuration and principle of the ITAMU and the soft pump are depicted. Besides, the contraction ratio of ITAMU and the flow rate of the soft pump are calculated theoretically. Then, the prototypes are manufactured and tested. The results indicate that the maximum contraction ratio of ITAMU reaches 41.2%, and the output force is 3.27 N. Ultimately, the experiments on the flow rate and pressure of the soft pump are carried out. The maximum flow rate is 680 mL/min, and the pressure reaches 2.3 kPa. To sum up, the proposed soft pump exhibits a high flow rate, which shows its application prospect in the field like soft exploration robots.