Design and simulation analysis of a soft manipulator based on honeycomb pneumatic networks

In this paper, we introduce a systematic process of design, simulation and experimental validation of a manipulator based on the honeycomb pneumatic network (HPN) structure. The HPN structure shows potential in achieving balance between flexibility and load bearing capacity, which overcomes the shortcoming of pneumatic networks in strength. To reach the best performance of both features above, we establish explicit evaluation criteria and conduct specific simulation experiments employing nonlinear finite element method (FEM). Finally, the manipulator prototype is validated to have decent load bearing capacities as well as flexibility in experimental tests.