Soft actuators with screen-printed curvature sensors

Koivikko, Anastasia; Raei, Ehsan Sadeghian; Sariola, Veikko; Mosallaei, Mahmoud; Mäntysalo, Matti

doi:10.1109/icsens.2017.8234045

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Existing algorithms for shape reconstruction of soft robots are oversimplified, and do not address complex / local deformations [12]. The global deformation of soft actuators is typically described by using a simple descriptor such as average curvature [26], [17], [25], [28] or bending angle [18], [19], [20]. These univariate models are representative Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Color-Based Proprioception of Soft Actuators Interacting With Objects

Scharff

Doornbusch

Doubrovski

et al. 2019

IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron.

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Actuators using soft materials feature a large number of degrees of freedom. This tremendous flexibility allows a soft actuator to passively adapt its shape to the objects under interaction. In this paper we propose a novel proprioception method for soft actuators during real-time interaction with priorly unknown objects. Firstly, we design a color-based sensing structure that instantly translates the inflation of a bellow into changes in color, which are subsequently detected by a miniaturized color sensor. The color sensor is small and thus multiple of them can be integrated into soft pneumatic actuators to reflect local deformations. Secondly, we make use of a Feedforward Neural Network (FNN) to reconstruct a multivariate global shape deformation from local color signals. Our results demonstrate that deformations of the actuator during interaction, including sigmoid-like shapes, can be accurately reconstructed. The accurate shape sensing represents a significant step towards closed-loop control of soft robots in unstructured environments.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Color-Based Proprioception of Soft Actuators Interacting With Objects

Scharff

Doornbusch

Doubrovski

et al. 2019

IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron.

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“…Soft robotics provided a solution to human-robot interfaces in a safe and effective manner and serve a multitude of functions in medical, industrial, or commercial applications [147][148][149][150]. Also, integration of various new technologies has helped push the boundaries of soft robotics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soft Robotics: A Review of Recent Developments of Pneumatic Soft Actuators

et al. 2020

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This paper focuses on the recent development of soft pneumatic actuators for soft robotics over the past few years, concentrating on the following four categories: control systems, material and construction, modeling, and sensors. This review work seeks to provide an accelerated entrance to new researchers in the field to encourage research and innovation. Advances in methods to accurately model soft robotic actuators have been researched, optimizing and making numerous soft robotic designs applicable to medical, manufacturing, and electronics applications. Multi-material 3D printed and fiber optic soft pneumatic actuators have been developed, which will allow for more accurate positioning and tactile feedback for soft robotic systems. Also, a variety of research teams have made improvements to soft robot control systems to utilize soft pneumatic actuators to allow for operations to move more effectively. This review work provides an accessible repository of recent information and comparisons between similar works. Future issues facing soft robotic actuators include portable and flexible power supplies, circuit boards, and drive components.

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“…While control efforts have largely shifted to machine learning techniques, especially those involving artificial neural networks (ANN) [16][17][18][19], model-based techniques have been pursued. Sensor measurement error [20,21] techniques show promise but remain preliminary. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is a well-established technique for analyzing continuously deformable structures, but computing complexity prevents the widespread real-time analysis needed for control.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One sensor-based approach consists of embedding commercially available bending sensors into the soft robotic gripper [22,23]. However, this approach causes excessive wear and rupture on most systems [21]. Inherently soft resistive and capacitive sensors [20,24,25] have been presented in which geometry changes cause a change in sensor resistance or capacitance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Position Control for Soft Actuators, Next Steps toward Inherently Safe Interaction

Dornadula

Lin

et al. 2021

Electronics

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Soft robots present an avenue toward unprecedented societal acceptance, utility in populated environments, and direct interaction with humans. However, the compliance that makes them attractive also makes soft robots difficult to control. We present two low-cost approaches to control the motion of soft actuators in applications common in human-interaction tasks. First, we present a passive impedance approach, which employs restriction to pneumatic channels to regulate the inflation/deflation rate of a pneumatic actuator and eliminate the overshoot/oscillation seen in many underdamped silicone-based soft actuators. Second, we present a visual servoing feedback control approach. We present an elastomeric pneumatic finger as an example system on which both methods are evaluated and compared to an uncontrolled underdamped actuator. We perturb the actuator and demonstrate its ability to increase distal curvature around the obstacle and maintain the desired end position. In this approach, we use the continuum deformation characteristic of soft actuators as an advantage for control rather than a problem to be minimized. With their low cost and complexity, these techniques present great opportunity for soft robots to improve human–robot interaction.

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Soft actuators with screen-printed curvature sensors

Cited by 11 publications

References 14 publications

Color-Based Proprioception of Soft Actuators Interacting With Objects

Color-Based Proprioception of Soft Actuators Interacting With Objects

Soft Robotics: A Review of Recent Developments of Pneumatic Soft Actuators

Position Control for Soft Actuators, Next Steps toward Inherently Safe Interaction

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