A novel soft manipulator based on beehive structure

This paper presents a novel design for the soft continuum manipulator based on beehive structure. Our design inspiration derives from the beehive hexagon structure, which has some characteristics of compact layout, low material consumption, thinner thickness of wall, and higher structure strength. The manipulator includes several same modules which composed of many hexagon cell units, the deformation of these cell units synthesize the module macroscopic movement. By installing several modules in series, we can form the manipulator arm. For module fabrication, we adopt 3D printing technology and use the silicone rubber as the flexible material; these measures ensure that the complex shape of the module can be achieved and make the module easier to deform elastically. Based on pneumatic technology, we build the control system and verify its operation via some experiments. In the gravity environment, three-section (about 180mm long at uninflated state) manipulator's maximum bending angle reaches about 90°, its elongation is close to 2:1. We also do a five-section experiment to acquire the manipulator's motion under different section combinations. The experiments verified that the manipulator has both good flexibility and operational capabilities.