Design and Analysis of StiffnessVariable Soft Fingers with Dielectric Elastomers This paper presents a novel kind of soft robotic finger with variable stiffness, which is realized by the geometric parameter change of the embedded dielectric elastomers(DEs) due to the electromechanical coupling mechanism. Based on finite element modeling and numeric analysis techniques, a nodebased finite element modeling approach with numeric iteration (nFENMNI) is proposed for kinematic modeling of the soft finger. According to the established kinematic model, the designed variable stiffness soft finger can have different postures with different input pulling load and input voltages. The numeric iteration in the nFEMNI method is used to establish the inputoutput model of the proposed cabledriven soft robotic finger. The finite element simulation experiments with Abaqus and Python are conducted to validate the performances of posture control of designed soft finger with different joint stiffness. The results indicate that the presented soft finger with dielectric elastomers has some degrees of capabilities of stiffness adaption under the same input load or different contact force requirements.

Configuration Modeling of a Soft Robotic Element with Selectable Bending Axes This paper presents an approach for modeling new soft robotic materials which possess the ability to control directional stiffness. These materials are inspired by biological systems where movements are enabled by variable stiffness tissue and contraction of localized muscle groups. Here a lowmeltingpoint (LMP) material lattice embedded in an elastomer serves as a rigid skeleton that may be locally melted to allow bending at selectable joint locations. The forward kinematics of the lattice has been modeled using the product of exponentials method with the incorporation of bending axis selectivity. In this paper, we develop this model to account for torques imposed by tendons, and we model the elastomerxe2x80x99s resistance to bending as a torsional spring at the selected joints. Thus we obtain a twoway relationship between tendon forces and joint anglesaxes. The concept of applying traditional robot modeling strategies to selectively compliant robotic structures could enable precise control of dexterous soft robots that satisfy stringent safety criteria.