Reconfigurable modular soft robots with modulating stiffness and versatile task capabilities

Soft robots have revolutionized machine interactions with humans and the environment to enable safe operations. The fixed morphology of these soft robots dictates their mechanical performance, including strength and stiffness, which limits their task range and applications. Proposed here are modular, reconfigurable soft robots with the capabilities of changing their morphology and adjusting their stiffness to perform versatile object handling and planar or spatial operational tasks. The reconfiguration and tunable interconnectivity between the elemental soft, pneumatically driven actuation units is made possible through integrated permanent magnets with coils. The proposed concept of attaching/detaching actuators enables these robots to be easily rearranged in various configurations to change the morphology of the system. While the potential for these actuators allows for arbitrary reconfiguration through parallel or serial connection on their four sides, we demonstrate here a configuration called ManusBot. ManusBot is a hand-like structure with digits and palm capable of individual actuation. The capabilities of this system are demonstrated through specific examples of stiffness modulation, variable payload capacity, and structure forming for enhanced and versatile object manipulation and operations. The proposed modular, soft robotic system with interconnecting capabilities significantly expands the versatility of operational tasks as well as the adaptability of handling objects of various shapes, sizes, and weights using a single system.