Development of stem structure for flower robot using SMA actuators

As a smart home service robot, the flower robot has various intelligent functions, such as moving mechanism, sensing ability, and home appliance functions. Especially, the moving function is very important function among the various function. The moving function of flower robot consists of the blooming of flower, the swaying of the stem and the stirring of the leaves in the wind. In this paper, we focused on the swaying of the stem structure. As an actuator for stem structure, we adopted coil type SMA and then proposed silicone stem structure with 3 coil type SMA. Using SMA actuator, we designed and fabricated the stem structure with 8 mm of diameter and 50 mm of length. Firstly, we calculated the displacement of the stem structure through mathematical analysis. Secondly, by using numerical simulation, the displacements of the stem structure are simulated. Thirdly, through the experiment of the fabricated stem structure, the displacements can be measured. In addition, the results from the mathematical analysis, the numerical simulation and the experiment are compared. Finally, through the various experiments of the stem structure, its performances are evaluated.