Design and Characterisation of Cross-sectional Geometries for Soft Robotic Manipulators with Fibre-reinforced Chambers

Shi, Jialei; Gaozhang, Wenlong; Würdemann, Helge A.

doi:10.1109/robosoft54090.2022.9762157

Cited by 8 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…This is due to the fact that the cross-sectional area of the actuation chamber of the 9.5 mm robot is 2.25 times larger than the area of the 7.8 mm robot. Similar to other large-scale soft robots [26], Fig. 4 shows that these miniaturised soft robots also exhibit non-negligible hysteresis when they bend or elongate under various pressures.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…MATLAB communicating with the Arduino DUE is used to send pressure and record data. Details of the experimental hardware are reported in [33].…”

Section: A Experimental Hardwarementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The diameter of the manipulator, when miniaturised, ranges from 14 mm to 15 mm [24], [25]. A key finding was that the shape of the reinforced chamber significantly influences the kinematics, stiffness and force generation of the soft robot [26]. Inspired by the STIFF-FLOP design, a two-segment soft instrument was designed in [27], envisioned for cancer imaging and controlled using the Simulation Open Framework Architecture (SOFA), a software specifically developed for implementing FEMbased simulation and control.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Miniaturised Soft Manipulators with Reinforced Actuation Chambers on the Sub-Centimetre Scale

Shi,

Abad,

Menciassi

et al. 2024

2024 IEEE 7th International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)

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Fibre-reinforced soft robots are often considered in the design of fluid elastomer actuators, to counter ballooning and potential bursting when exposed to high levels of pressure. They also enhance deformation and navigation through confined spaces. These attributes are critical in applications such as minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures that use sub-12 mm diameter trocar ports. While soft robots with fully reinforced actuation chambers have not yet attained this level of miniaturisation, this paper outlines the fabrication and characterisation of miniaturised soft manipulators with reinforced actuation chambers on the sub-centimetre scale (i.e., less than 10 mm). Two robots are presented with diameters of 9.5 mm and 7.8 mm. They have four pneumatic actuation chambers per robotic segment, with a free central working lumen. Additionally, two robotic segments are serially connected to enhance dexterity and flexibility. This research advances the miniaturisation of soft manipulators with reinforced chambers and an inner free lumen, enhancing their use in applications within confined and unstructured environments.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

“…MATLAB communicating with the Arduino DUE is used to send pressure and record data. Details of the experimental hardware are reported in [33].…”

Section: A Experimental Hardwarementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Miniaturised Soft Manipulators with Reinforced Actuation Chambers on the Sub-Centimetre Scale

Shi,

Abad,

Menciassi

et al. 2024

2024 IEEE 7th International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)

Self Cite

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“…The fundamental design and manufacturing process (as shown in Fig. 9) has been introduced in an EU FP7 project called STIFF-FLOP [83]- [85]. Hence, the soft robot in this paper is referred to as the STIFF-FLOP manipulator, a cylindrical robotic device made of silicone (Ecoflex 00-50 Supersoft, SmoothOn), with six fully fibre-reinforced chambers.…”

Section: Physical Environment a Stiff-flop Continuum Robotmentioning

confidence: 99%

Static Shape Control of Soft Continuum Robots Using Deep Visual Inverse Kinematic Models

Almanzor

Shi

et al. 2023

IEEE Trans. Robot.

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Soft continuum robots are highly flexible and adaptable, making them ideal for unstructured environments such as the human body and agriculture. However, their high compliance and manoeuvrability make them difficult to model, sense, and control. Current control strategies focus on Cartesian space control of the end-effector, but few works have explored full-body control. This study presents a novel image-based deep learning approach for closed-loop kinematic shape control of soft continuum robots. The method combines a local inverse kinematics formulation in the image-space with deep convolutional neural networks for accurate shape control that is robust to feedback noise and mechanical changes in the continuum arm. The shape controller is fast and straightforward to implement; it takes only a few hours to generate training data, train the network, and deploy, requiring only a web camera for feedback. This method offers an intuitive and user-friendly way to control the robot's 3D shape and configuration through teleoperation using only 2D hand-drawn images of the desired target state without the need for further user instruction or consideration of the robot's kinematics.

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“…From a control perspective, the mechanical design of the soft actuator significantly impacts its performance and controllability. Shi et al explored two circular and semi-circular designs to measure and contrast the two models' performance (Figure 7) (Shi et al, 2022). They assessed the actuators performance using two criteria, including the response-to-actuation ratio and hysteresis ratio.…”

Section: Control Design Of Soft Pneumatic Robotsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review on model-based and model-free approaches to control soft actuators and their potentials in colonoscopy

Asgari,

Magerand,

Manfredi

2023

Front. Robot. AI

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide and responsible for approximately 1 million deaths annually. Early screening is essential to increase the chances of survival, and it can also reduce the cost of treatments for healthcare centres. Colonoscopy is the gold standard for CRC screening and treatment, but it has several drawbacks, including difficulty in manoeuvring the device, patient discomfort, and high cost. Soft endorobots, small and compliant devices thatcan reduce the force exerted on the colonic wall, offer a potential solution to these issues. However, controlling these soft robots is challenging due to their deformable materials and the limitations of mathematical models. In this Review, we discuss model-free and model-based approaches for controlling soft robots that can potentially be applied to endorobots for colonoscopy. We highlight the importance of selecting appropriate control methods based on various parameters, such as sensor and actuator solutions. This review aims to contribute to the development of smart control strategies for soft endorobots that can enhance the effectiveness and safety of robotics in colonoscopy. These strategies can be defined based on the available information about the robot and surrounding environment, control demands, mechanical design impact and characterization data based on calibration.

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Design and Characterisation of Cross-sectional Geometries for Soft Robotic Manipulators with Fibre-reinforced Chambers

Cited by 8 publications

References 27 publications

Miniaturised Soft Manipulators with Reinforced Actuation Chambers on the Sub-Centimetre Scale

Miniaturised Soft Manipulators with Reinforced Actuation Chambers on the Sub-Centimetre Scale

Static Shape Control of Soft Continuum Robots Using Deep Visual Inverse Kinematic Models

A review on model-based and model-free approaches to control soft actuators and their potentials in colonoscopy

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