Simultaneous position and stiffness control for an inflatable soft robot

Gillespie, Morgan T.; Best, Charles M.; Killpack, Marc D.

doi:10.1109/icra.2016.7487240

Cited by 67 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…These algorithms implement impedance matching the structure of the robot. Active compliance methods for soft medical robots, whereby the stiffness or compliance characteristic is commanded through an intelligent control algorithm, have been investigated in previous studies …”

Section: Sensing and Intelligent Control Algorithmmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of recent advancements in soft and flexible robots for medical applications

Zhang

2020

Robotics Computer Surgery

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Background: Soft and flexible robots for medical applications are needed to change their flexibility over a wide range to perform tasks adequately. The mechanism and theory of flexibility has been a scientific issue and is of interest to the community. Methods: Recent advancements of bionics, flexible actuation, sensing, and intelligent control algorithms as well as tunable stiffness have been referenced when soft and flexible robots are developed. The benefits and limitations of these relevant studies and how they affect the flexibility are discussed, and possible research directions are explored. Results: The bionic materials and structures that demonstrate the potential capabilities of the soft medical robot flexibility are the fundamental guarantee for clinical medical applications. Flexible actuation that used to provide power, intelligent control algorithms which are the exact executors, and the wide range stiffness of the soft materials are the three important influence factors for soft medical robots. Conclusion: Some reasonable suggestions and possible solutions for soft and flexible medical robots are proposed, including novel materials, flexible actuation concepts with a built-in source of energy or power, programmable flexibility, and adjustable stiffness. K E Y W O R D S bionics, flexible actuation, sensing and intelligent control algorithm, soft and flexible robots, tunable stiffness 1 | INTRODUCTION The application of robots in the medical field dates back to a few decades ago, but the recent use of soft materials in medical robots has enabled new capabilities that create possibilities for medical treatments in which much safer human-robot interaction is preferred. 1-3 Soft medical robots are defined as soft and flexible electro-mechanical systems with high flexibility performing medical applications. Soft medical robots are multidisciplinary emerging technologies 4 such as materials science, bionics, mechanics, electronics, and computer science. At present, soft medical robots have been used for surgery, 5diagnosis, 6 rehabilitation, 7 prostheses, 8 artificial organs, 9 drug delivery 10 and many other medical applications. [11][12][13][14][15][16] The movements such as bending, torsion, extension, and contact operations 17 required high flexibility and deformability 18 of soft medical robots.Soft medical robots exhibit a range of degrees of flexibility during medical applications. In this paper, flexibility is used to describe the characteristics of soft medical robots that have a proper combination of stiffness and compliance and it is on the scientific level. Actually, flexibility reflects in three aspects: the variety of shape, the wide range of stiffness, and the adequate force applied. It is necessary for soft medical robots that it can change their flexibility degree over a wide range to perform tasks adequately. For example, there has certainly been a longterm demand in minimally invasive surgery (MIS) applications for soft medical robots that can move, deform, navigate narrow gaps, and int...

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Section: Sensing and Intelligent Control Algorithmmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of recent advancements in soft and flexible robots for medical applications

Zhang

2020

Robotics Computer Surgery

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“…The profile of the central cable was defined by Eq. (13). The geometric paths describing the circular loops of current were transformed via Eq.…”

Section: Measuring Non-uniform Curvaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some situations, IMUs can be used to estimate the motion of difficult-to-sense joints in robots and humans [13,4]. Orientation estimates from IMUs, however, are not always accurate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Inductance-Based Sensing System for Bellows-Driven Continuum Joints in Soft Robots

Felt¹,

Telleria

Allen

et al. 2017

Robotics: Science and Systems XIII

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Abstract-In this work we present a novel, inductance-based system to measure and control the motion of bellows-driven continuum joints in soft robots. The sensing system relies on coils of wire wrapped around the minor diameters of each bellows on the joint. As the bellows extend, these coils of wire become more distant, decreasing their mutual inductance. Measuring this change in mutual inductance allows us to measure the motion of the joint. By dividing the sensing of the joint into two sections and measuring the motion of each section independently, we are able to measure the overall deformation of the joint with a piecewise constant-curvature approximation. This technique allows us to measure lateral displacements that would be otherwise unobservable. When measuring bending, the inductance sensors measured the joint orientation with an RMS error of 1.1• . The inductance sensors were also successfully used as feedback to control the orientation of the joint. The sensors proposed and tested in this work provided accurate motion feedback that would be difficult to achieve robustly with other sensors. This sensing system enables the creation of robust, self-sensing, and soft robots based on bellows-driven continuum joints.

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“…Different design paradigms exist for inflatable manipulators that vary in the degree of softness. The authors of [9] propose an entirely soft inflatable manipulator, where the actuator, supporting structure and joints are all made from fabric. Using only fabric reduces the inertia and consequently the risk of causing damage, but introduces a high number of potentially uncontrollable degrees of freedom.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, Modeling and Control of a Soft Robotic Arm

Hofer

D’Andrea

2018

2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)

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In this paper we present the design of a hybrid robotic arm using soft, inflatable bladders for actuation. Low cost switching valves are used for pressure control, where the valve model is identified experimentally. A model of the robotic arm is derived based on system identification and used to derive a linear quadratic Gaussian controller. A method to solve limitations of the employed switching valves is proposed and experimentally proven to improve tracking performance. The closed loop control performance of the robotic arm is demonstrated by stabilizing a rotational inverted pendulum known as the Furuta pendulum.

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Simultaneous position and stiffness control for an inflatable soft robot

Cited by 67 publications

References 31 publications

A review of recent advancements in soft and flexible robots for medical applications

A review of recent advancements in soft and flexible robots for medical applications

An Inductance-Based Sensing System for Bellows-Driven Continuum Joints in Soft Robots

Design, Modeling and Control of a Soft Robotic Arm

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