I disgree:oshr wrote:Thanks for the replies.
So some further points about where i see this going:
I too had at first thought soft robotics was the answer but unfortunately it's just not. Pneumatics is out of the question since air compressors are bulky and extremely noisy. It is also very hard to servo control pneumatic air-muscels. not to say it can't be done, but it's really hard. I had initially thought some sort of hydraulic equivalent to the air-muscel might be the way to go, but the difficulties in fabricating a pump that can deal with a water-based working fluid along with all the valves are just too much. trying to pursue the soft-robotc route turns the project into one of inventing the necessary components, rather than using off the shelf parts. It's just not practical unfortunately.
That brings us on to motors. The noise associated with motors is mostly the gearbox and gearing is not really suited to this project where limbs need to be able to be 'driven' manually when the robot is powered off, and take huge forces when it is operating. some compliance is needed. I propose to use high powered stepper motors, driven by DSP controllers to keep the noise down. I have some ideas for getting some mechanical advantage without an actual grarbox where it is absolutely necessary
The 3dprinting of the mould, i agree is sub-optimal but it allows people to contribute to the project and pick the bits they are interested in. with a requirement on a full-body profesional fiberglass mould . that wouldn't really be possible.
The hardest part of this thing is the skin. Yes it would need some reinforcement, i was wondering about the possibility of adding short kevlar fibers to the silicone rather than having to actually cast a fabric mesh into it. making the skin fit around the internals without leaving unnatural bulges or holes where some padding isn't quite right is a significant challenge. I understand they cast the silicone around the frame and foam filling for the pro dolls and have always wondered how they keep the frame/filling located in the center of the mould. This would be a harder problem where there are moving parts that need to not get gummed up. The whole mechanical internals would basically have to be in one big bag to keep the silicone out.
https://softroboticstoolkit.com/