Study on nonlinear crawling locomotion of modular differential drive soft robot

Wang, Jiangbei; Min, J.; Fei, Yanqiong; Pang, Wu

doi:10.1007/s11071-019-05035-0

Cited by 27 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…An iconic example of soft actuator is the pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM), which provides actuator compliance that resembles that of physiologi-cal systems [21]. Pneumatic actuation has been one of the preferred strategies for soft continuum manipulators due to its high power density [41], ease of miniaturization, and affordability, which is highly desirable in low-income countries. The flexible micro actuator (FMA) has been one of the first designs to achieve bending on any plane due to pressurization of its internal chambers [37] so that a manipulator can be constructed with a single FMA, thus it has inspired various subsequent versions [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear energy-based control of soft continuum pneumatic manipulators

et al. 2021

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This paper investigates the model-based nonlinear control of a class of soft continuum pneumatic manipulators that bend due to pressurization of their internal chambers and that operate in the presence of disturbances. A port-Hamiltonian formulation is employed to describe the closed loop system dynamics, which includes the pressure dynamics of the pneumatic actuation, and new nonlinear control laws are constructed with an energy-based approach. In particular, a multi-step design procedure is outlined for soft continuum manipulators operating on a plane and in 3D space. The resulting nonlinear control laws are combined with adaptive observers to compensate the effect of unknown disturbances and model uncertainties. Stability conditions are investigated with a Lyapunov approach, and the effect of the tuning parameters is discussed. For comparison purposes, a different control law constructed with a backstepping procedure is also presented. The effectiveness of the control strategy is demonstrated with simulations and with experiments on a prototype. To this end, a needle valve operated by a servo motor is employed instead of more sophisticated digital pressure regulators. The proposed controllers effectively regulate the tip rotation of the prototype, while preventing vibrations and compensating the effects of disturbances, and demonstrate improved performance compared to the backstepping alternative and to a PID algorithm.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear energy-based control of soft continuum pneumatic manipulators

et al. 2021

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“…The inlets of both network segments are connected to Elveflow R OB1 MK3 pressure controller in order to impose prescribed pressure functions. For comparison with the analytical results, we investigate periodic pressure inputs of the form (11). Also, since rubber-like materials are known to have complex frictional behaviour which does not fit the simplified dry friction model, smooth masking tape was applied to the contact areas.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The supplementary video [43] contains experimental demonstration of reversing the crawling direction by reversing the phase difference. This feature enables achieving bi-directional motion of the soft inchworm robot, in contrast to some other works that rely on directional friction by ratchet-like mechanisms [9], [11], [14].…”

Section: Parametric Studymentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The actual inchworm and similar biological creatures use sophisticated methods, like gripping spines, to actively change the contact interaction [12]. This is implemented in some robots by active adhesion [13] or active directional friction manipulation [5], [8], [11], [14] while others perform crawling locomotion with passive frictional contacts [7], [9]. It is also typical that crawling soft robots and animals move rather slowly (relatively to their dynamic natural frequencies), such that the inertial effects are negligible, and they transition within a continuum of static equilibria.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding Inchworm Crawling for Soft-Robotics

Gamus

Salem

Gat

et al. 2020

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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Crawling is a common locomotion mechanism in soft robots and nonskeletal animals. In this work we propose modeling soft-robotic legged locomotion by approximating it with an equivalent articulated robot with elastic joints. For concreteness we study the inchworm crawling of our soft robot with two bending actuators, via an articulated three-link model. The solution of statically indeterminate systems with stick-slip contact transitions requires for a novel hybrid-quasistatic analysis. Then, we utilize our analysis to investigate the influence of phase-shifted harmonic inputs on performance of crawling gaits, including sensitivity analysis to friction uncertainties and energetic cost of transport. We achieve optimal values of gait parameters. Finally, we fabricate and test a fluid-driven soft robot. The experiments display good agreement with the theoretical analysis, proving that our simple model correctly captures and explains the fundamental principles of inchworm crawling and can be applied to other softrobotic legged robots.

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“…In each crawling cycle, firstly, inchworm anchors on the front feet and bends the body through the contraction of abdominal longitudinal muscles so that the back feet crawl forward. Subsequently, inchworm changes its anchors from the front feet to the rear feet and extends the body as the stretch of abdominal longitudinal muscles, which causes the front feet to crawl forward [101] . And inchworm nearly supports most of its body all the time [102] .…”

Section: Shape-morphing Locomotion Inspirationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building Magnetoresponsive Composite Elastomers for Bionic Locomotion Applications

Sheng

Zhang

et al. 2020

J Bionic Eng

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The ability of natural living organisms, transferring deformations into locomotion, has attracted researchers’ increasing attention in building bionic actuators and smart systems. As a typical category of functional materials, magnetoresponsive composite elastomers, comprised of flexible elastomer matrices and rigid magnetic particles, have been playing critical roles in this field of research due to their dynamic changes in response to applied magnetic field direction and intensity. The magnetically driven bionic actuators based on magnetoresponsive composite elastomers have been developed to achieve some specific functions in some special fields. For instance, under the control of the applied magnetic field, the bionic actuators can not only generate time-varying deformation, but also motion in diverse environments, suggesting new possibilities for target gripping and directional transporting especially in the field of artificial soft robots and biological engineering. Therefore, this review comprehensively introduces the component, fabrication, and bionic locomotion application of magnetoresponsive composite elastomers. Moreover, existing challenges and future perspectives are further discussed.

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Study on nonlinear crawling locomotion of modular differential drive soft robot

Cited by 27 publications

References 25 publications

Nonlinear energy-based control of soft continuum pneumatic manipulators

Nonlinear energy-based control of soft continuum pneumatic manipulators

Understanding Inchworm Crawling for Soft-Robotics

Building Magnetoresponsive Composite Elastomers for Bionic Locomotion Applications

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