Modeling Fabric-Type Actuator Using Point Clouds by Deep Learning

Abstract

Flexible actuators are popular in the consumer and medical fields because of their flexibility and compliance. However, they are typically difficult to model because of their viscoelasticity and nonlinearity. This letter proposes a method for correcting the deformation of the simulated flexible robots to make it similar to the deformation of real robots using point clouds by deep learning. Long shortterm memory (LSTM) can simulate the next frame of actuator deformation from the previous frames of deformations. In this study, we presented the robots with four different muscle structures. We found that using an encoder-LSTM-decoder network can improve the similarity between the deformation of a learned muscle structure and the real deformation and is also effective in correcting the deformation of the unlearned structures. Our correction method reduced the average Chamfer distance of the simulated point clouds of the basic-type structure actuator from 15.89 to 7.81. This research can provide a new concept for future flexible robot modeling using point clouds.

A review of rigid point cloud registration based on deep learning

“…In addition to the above fields, researchers have been exploring the application of deep learning point cloud registration technology in other fields in recent years (Peng et al, 2022 ; Mao et al, 2023 ).…”

A Review on Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) Pump

“…The mechanism uses a high electrical voltage to induce dynamic motion in a fluid medium, converting electrical energy into mechanical output. EHD pumps are generally quieter and smaller than high-pressure gas-driven soft robots such as [ 137 , 138 , 139 ]. For present applications in soft pumps, EHD pumps using the ion-drag working mode represent the primary type owing to high-flow rates and relatively simple design [ 140 , 141 ].…”

A Review on Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) Pump

“…The mechanism uses a high electrical voltage to induce dynamic motion in a fluid medium, converting electrical energy into a mechanical output. EHD pumps are generally quieter and smaller than high-pressure gas-driven soft robots such as [138][139][140]. For present applications in soft pumps, the EHD using the ion-drag working mode is the primary type because of high flow rate and relatively simple design [141,142].…”