Conceptualisation and specification of a biologically-inspired, soft-bodied gastric robot

Digestion of food is a regular activity in many species to maintain nourishment and growth. In humans, a typical digestion depends on the process of a churning action to break down the food in a stomach. Medical and biomedical experts stated that this physical motility frequency and deformation significantly affect the digestion process. Antral contraction wave (ACW) is the mechanical peristalsis action occurs in the smooth muscles of a stomach. Researchers from diverse disciplines are seeking more understanding of the ACW mechanism. The current state of physical stomach replicants is usually rigid models. The motility of these robots is different compared to the observed biological organ. In response to this gap, the interest of the proposed robot is to mimic the ACW physical deformation more similar to the gastric motility. It is assumed that the biologically-inspired robot will facilitate the investigation of ACW by physical peristaltic actuation model. The conceptualisation and specification of the soft gastric actuator discussed in this article. The primary robot conduit had been designed with geometry similar to that in the biological gastric. The proposed actuation method was tested by finite element analysis (FEA) software preceding the final conceptual gastric-soft robot design.

I. Introduction

Researchers and the food technology industry are becoming increasingly interested in physical gastric models, which are considered as an in-vivo alternative. The interest is in exploring the properties of the organ. For example, in the food industry, the development of particular food related to specific consumers requires investigation before delivering such a product.