I have developed "tennis elbow" from lugging this book around the past four weeks, but it is worth the pain, the effort, and the aspirin. It is also worth the (relatively speaking) bargain price. Including appendixes, this book contains 894 pages of text. The entire panorama of the neural sciences is surveyed and examined, and it is comprehensive in its scope, from genomes to social behaviors. The editors explicitly state that the book is designed as "an introductory text for students of biology, behavior, and medicine," but it is hard to imagine any audience, interested in any fragment of neuroscience at any level of sophistication, that would not enjoy this book. The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or

Principles of Neural Science

A number of materials have been explored for their use as artificial muscles Among these, dielectric elastomers (DEs) appear to provide the best combination of properties for true muscle-like actuation DEs behave as compliant capacitors, expanding in area and shrinking in thickness when a voltage is applied Materials combining very high energy densities, strains, and efficiencies have been known for some time To date, however, the widespread adoption of DEs has been hindered by premature breakdown and the requirement for high voltages and bulky support frames Recent advances seem poised to remove these restrictions and allow for the production of highly reliable, high-performance transducers for artificial muscle applications

Advances in dielectric elastomers for actuators and artificial muscles.

Traditional robots have rigid underlying structures that limit their ability to interact with their environment. For example, conventional robot manipulators have rigid links and can manipulate objects using only their specialised end effectors. These robots often encounter difficulties operating in unstructured and highly congested environments. A variety of animals and plants exhibit complex movement with soft structures devoid of rigid components. Muscular hydrostats e.g. octopus arms and elephant trunks are almost entirely composed of muscle and connective tissue and plant cells can change shape when pressurised by osmosis. Researchers have been inspired by biology to design and build soft robots. With a soft structure and redundant degrees of freedom, these robots can be used for delicate tasks in cluttered and/or unstructured environments. This paper discusses the novel capabilities of soft robots, describes examples from nature that provide biological inspiration, surveys the state of the art and outlines existing challenges in soft robot design, modelling, fabrication and control.

/pdf/soft-robotics-biological-inspiration-state-of-the-art-and-1esuws0p9g.pdf

Soft robotics: Biological inspiration, state of the art, and future research

This paper provides a broad overview of medical robot systems used in surgery. After introducing basic concepts of computer-integrated surgery, surgical CAD/CAM, and surgical assistants, it discusses some of the major design issues particular to medical robots. It then illustrates these issues and the broader themes introduced earlier with examples of current surgical CAD/CAM and surgical assistant systems. Finally, it provides a brief synopsis of current research challenges and closes with a few thoughts on the research/industry/clinician teamwork that is essential for progress in the field.

/pdf/medical-robotics-in-computer-integrated-surgery-551rsaf1dd.pdf

Medical robotics in computer-integrated surgery

https://ris.utwente.nl/ws/files/6520436/pp.pdf

Variable impedance actuators: A review

The McKibben artificial muscle is a pneumatic device characterized by its high level of functional analogy with human skeletal muscle. While maintaining a globally cylindrical shape, the McKibben muscle produces a contraction force decreasing with its contraction ratio, as does skeletal muscle. The maximum force-to-weight ratio can be surprisingly high for a limited radial dimension and for a conventional pressure range. A 50 g McKibben muscle can easily develop more than 1000 N under 5 bar pressure for an external radius varying from about 1.5 to 3 cm. Thus, robotics specialists are interested in this well-adapted artificial muscle for motorizing powerful yet compact robot arms. The basic McKibben muscle static modeling developed in the paper, which is based on the three main parameters (i.e., initial braid angle, initial muscle length, and initial muscle radius) and includes a three-parameter friction model of the thread against itself, has shown its efficiency in both isometric and isotonic contraction.

Modeling and control of McKibben artificial muscle robot actuators

The so-called McKibben artificial muscle is one of the most efficient and currently one of the most widely used fluidic artificial muscles, due to the simplicity of its design, combining ease of im...

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1045389X11435435

Modelling of the McKibben artificial muscle: A review

Braided pneumatic artificial muscles, and in particular the better known type with a double helical braid usually called the McKibben muscle, seem to be at present the best means for motorizing robot-arms with artificial muscles. Their ability to develop high maximum force associated with lightness and a compact cylindrical shape, as well as their analogical behavior with natural skeletal muscle were very well emphasized in the 1980s by the development of the Bridgestone "soft robot" actuated by "rubbertuators". Recent publications have presented ways for modeling McKibben artificial muscle as well as controlling its highly non-linear dynamic behavior. However, fewer studies have concentrated on analyzing the integration of artificial muscles with robot-arm architectures since the first Bridgestone prototypes were designed. In this paper we present the design of a 7R anthropomorphic robot-arm entirely actuated by antagonistic McKibben artificial muscle pairs. The validation of the robot-arm architecture was performed in a teleoperation mode.

/pdf/a-seven-degrees-of-freedom-robot-arm-driven-by-pneumatic-5admagc2n6.pdf

A Seven-degrees-of-freedom Robot-arm Driven by Pneumatic Artificial Muscles for Humanoid Robots

Describes the McKibben muscle and its major properties. Outlines the analogy between this artificial muscle and the skeletal muscle. Describes the actuator composed of two McKibben muscles set into antagonism based on the model of the biceps‐triceps system, and explains its natural compliance in analogy with our joint litheness. Reports some control experiments developed on a two d.o.f. robot actuated by McKibben muscles which emphasize the ability of these robot‐arms to move in contact with their environment as well as moving loads of high ratio to the robot’s own weight. Also outlines control difficulties and accuracy limitations and discusses applications.

The McKibben muscle and its use in actuating robot‐arms showing similarities with human arm behaviour

The quality of ultrasound based diagnosis highly depends on the operator's skills. Some healthcare centres may not have the required medical experts on hand when needed and therefore may not benefit from highly specialized ultrasound examinations. The aim of this project is to provide a reliable solution in order to perform expert ultrasound examinations in distant geographical areas and for the largest population possible. TER is a telerobotic system designed and developed by a French consortium composed of universities, hospitals and industrial companies. One originality of TER is the development of a compliant slave robot actuated by muscles. This slave robot is teleoperated by an expert clinician who remotely performs the exam. In this paper, we present the architecture of TER and describe its components.

/pdf/ter-a-system-for-robotic-tele-echography-4vijixibd0.pdf

Bertrand Tondu

Papers

Modeling and control of McKibben artificial muscle robot actuators

Modelling of the McKibben artificial muscle: A review

A Seven-degrees-of-freedom Robot-arm Driven by Pneumatic Artificial Muscles for Humanoid Robots

The McKibben muscle and its use in actuating robot‐arms showing similarities with human arm behaviour

TER: A System for Robotic Tele-echography