From small unicellular organisms to large mammals, swallowing is an important way for them to interact with their external environment. The majority of these animals swallow their targets for the purpose of hunting, and some fish and amphibians protect their cubs from external injury by swallowing them. Thus, swallowing can produce an efficient capture, keep the integrity of targets, and provide effective protection for swallowed objects. Inspired by this, we propose a novel soft swallowing robot (SSR) capable of swallowing various objects that have different shapes and stiffnesses, protecting objects from squeeze and collision, and withstanding high temperature, which are enabled by a compliant guiding structure consisting of a double thin-walled capsule filled with fluid and a linearly movable traction body. In this article, we study the SSR supported by air and water, respectively; furthermore, we experimentally conclude that the working medium has a great influence on the inherent characteristics of the SSR. Our study helps lay the foundation for the research of soft robotic systems with swallowing characteristics, and the SSR is expected to enter the practical application field from the laboratory.

中文翻译：

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基于顺从导向结构的仿生软吞咽机器人。

从小型单细胞生物到大型哺乳动物，吞咽是它们与外部环境相互作用的重要方式。这些动物中的大多数为了狩猎而吞食它们的目标，一些鱼类和两栖动物通过吞食它们来保护它们的幼崽免受外部伤害。因此，吞咽可以产生有效的捕获，保持目标的完整性，并为被吞咽的物体提供有效的保护。受此启发，我们提出了一种新型软吞咽机器人（SSR），该机器人能够吞咽具有不同形状和刚度的各种物体，保护物体免受挤压和碰撞，并能承受高温，这是由一个由双结构组成的柔顺导向结构实现的。充满液体的薄壁胶囊和可线性移动的牵引体。在本文中，我们分别研究了由空气和水支持的 SSR；此外，我们通过实验得出结论，工作介质对 SSR 的固有特性有很大影响。我们的研究为具有吞咽特性的软机器人系统的研究奠定了基础，SSR有望从实验室进入实际应用领域。