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Autori principali: Tan, Xiangyi, McDonald-Bowyer, Aoife, Stoyanov, Danail, Stilli, Agostino
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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Accesso online:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24461
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author Tan, Xiangyi
McDonald-Bowyer, Aoife
Stoyanov, Danail
Stilli, Agostino
author_facet Tan, Xiangyi
McDonald-Bowyer, Aoife
Stoyanov, Danail
Stilli, Agostino
contents Miniaturised soft pneumatic actuators are crucial for robotic intervention within highly constrained anatomical pathways. This work presents the design and validation of a fibre-reinforced soft actuator at the centimetre scale for inte- gration into an endoluminal robotic platform for natural-orifice interventional and diagnostic applications. A single-chamber geometry reinforced with embedded Kevlar fibre was de- signed to maximise curvature while preserving sealing integrity, fabricated using a multi-stage multi-stiffness silicone casting process, and validated against a high-fidelity Abaqus FEM using experimentally parametrised hyperelastic material models and embedded beam reinforcement. The semi-cylindrical actuator has an outer diameter of 18,mm and a length of 37.5,mm. Single and double helix winding configurations, fibre pitch, and fibre density were investigated. The optimal 100 SH configuration achieved a bending angle of 202.9° experimentally and 297.6° in simulation, with structural robustness maintained up to 100,kPa and radial expansion effectively constrained by the fibre reinforcement. Workspace evaluation confirmed suitability for integration into the target device envelope, demonstrating that fibre-reinforcement strategies can be effectively translated to the centimetre regime while retaining actuator performance.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_24461
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Design, Modelling and Characterisation of a Miniature Fibre-Reinforced Soft Bending Actuator for Endoluminal Interventions
Tan, Xiangyi
McDonald-Bowyer, Aoife
Stoyanov, Danail
Stilli, Agostino
Robotics
Miniaturised soft pneumatic actuators are crucial for robotic intervention within highly constrained anatomical pathways. This work presents the design and validation of a fibre-reinforced soft actuator at the centimetre scale for inte- gration into an endoluminal robotic platform for natural-orifice interventional and diagnostic applications. A single-chamber geometry reinforced with embedded Kevlar fibre was de- signed to maximise curvature while preserving sealing integrity, fabricated using a multi-stage multi-stiffness silicone casting process, and validated against a high-fidelity Abaqus FEM using experimentally parametrised hyperelastic material models and embedded beam reinforcement. The semi-cylindrical actuator has an outer diameter of 18,mm and a length of 37.5,mm. Single and double helix winding configurations, fibre pitch, and fibre density were investigated. The optimal 100 SH configuration achieved a bending angle of 202.9° experimentally and 297.6° in simulation, with structural robustness maintained up to 100,kPa and radial expansion effectively constrained by the fibre reinforcement. Workspace evaluation confirmed suitability for integration into the target device envelope, demonstrating that fibre-reinforcement strategies can be effectively translated to the centimetre regime while retaining actuator performance.
title Design, Modelling and Characterisation of a Miniature Fibre-Reinforced Soft Bending Actuator for Endoluminal Interventions
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24461