Professor Yonghua Chen and Professor James Lam from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, along with Professor Ning Xi from the Department of Data and Systems Engineering, and their research teams, collaborated on the research for the topic “Shape morphing of soft robotics by pneumatic torsion strip braiding”. The research findings were published by Nature Communications on April 22, 2025.
Details of the publication:
Shape morphing of soft robotics by pneumatic torsion strip braiding
Changchun Wu, Hao Liu, Senyuan Lin, James Lam, Ning Xi and Yonghua Chen
Article in Nature Communications
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59051-3
Abstract
Shape morphing technologies are significant in soft robotic applications. To this end, we introduce a new shape morphing approach using pneumatic torsion strips, inspired by the shape of a Möbius strip. A pneumatic torsion strip is simply formed by bending and twisting a ribbon of bladder. When locating a pneumatic torsion strip on a braided soft body, its intrinsic elastic energy always tends to bend the soft body. Meanwhile, its elastic energy is adjustable and correlated with the geometry and internal-pressure dependent material properties. Compared with common strain-mismatch based morphing methods, pneumatic torsion strips directly exert bending torque to the soft body without generating in-plane strain and affecting rigidity. As such, the local bending of a soft body over a large curvature range at almost any position can be realised through pneumatic torsion strips. A mathematical model describing the geometry and elastic energy of a pneumatic torsion strip is also established to explain its basic shape morphing mechanism. Finally, we provide several case studies to illustrate their performance and advantages in practical shape morphing applications, such as a 2 kg meter-scale transformable carpet that can curl like plant tendrils.