This paper details the design, fabrication and experimental verification of a complete, tetherless, pressure-operated soft robotic platform. Miniature CO_2 cartridges in conjunction with a custom pressure regulating system are used as an onboard pressure source and embeddable electro-permanent magnet (EPM) valves are used to address supporting hardware requirements. It is shown that this system can repeatedly generate and regulate supply pressure while driving a fluidic elastomer actuator (FEA). To demonstrate our approach in creating tetherless soft mobile robots, this paper focuses on an example case-study: a soft robotic fish. An underactuated propulsion system emulating natural caudal fin and peduncle movement is designed, fabricated, and subsequently experimentally characterized.
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