Static modeling and analysis of soft manipulator considering environment contact based on segmented constant curvature method

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to estimate the deformation of soft manipulators caused by obstacles accurately and the contact force and workspace can be also predicted. Design/methodology/approach The continuum deformation of the backbone of the soft manipulator under contact is regarded as two constant curvature arcs and the curvatures are different according to the fluid pressure and obstacle location based on piecewise constant curvature framework. Then, this study introduces introduce the moment balance and energy conservation equation to describe the static relationship between driving moment, elastic moment and contact moment. Finally, simulation and experiments are carried out to verify the accuracy of the proposed model. Findings For rigid manipulators, environmental contact except for the manipulated object was usually considered as a “collision” which should be avoided. For soft manipulators, an environment is an important tool for achieving manipulation goals and it might even be considered to be a part of the soft manipulator’s end-effector in some specified situations. Research limitations/implications There are also some limitations to the presented study. Although this paper has made progress in the static modeling under environmental contact, some practical factors still limit the further application of the model, such as the detection accuracy of the environment location and the deformation of the contact surface. Originality/value Based on the proposed kinematic model, the bending deformation with environmental contact is discussed in simulations and has been experimentally verified. The comparison results show the correctness and accuracy of the presented SCC model, which can be applied to predict the slender deformation under environmental contact without knowing the contact force.

Flexible Design of the Connecting Plate in Pneumatic Soft Manipulators

“…The novel flexible connection plate proposed in this paper has fine mechanical properties and can be used as a general design method for multi-segment structures [16]. A popular approach to modeling continuum robots has been already established to model rigid manipulators: researchers select the key kinematic parameters in a model-the arc, the curvature, and the orientation angle-to establish a transformation equation in the task space and apply it at every segment of the manipulator [17][18][19]. The shape and position of the soft manipulator are hard to describe because of the flexibility of the material.…”

Exploring relationships between Lean 4.0 and manufacturing industry

“…This integrates functional areas, including design, analysis, planning, purchasing, cost accounting, inventory control and materials handling, into a single system. In the future, new technologies will emerge for Industry 4.0 and improve the efficiency and quality of manufacturing (Chen et al , 2021; Bogue, 2021).…”

Dynamic Modeling and Experimental Validation of a Water Hydraulic Soft Manipulator Based on an Improved Newton—Euler Iterative Method

“…The Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Wen Li team analyzed the mapping relationship between the fluid driving pressure and the elongation of the driving unit, and established a kinematics model of the manipulator arm while ignoring the radial expansion of the driving unit [15]. Dalian Maritime University improved the constant curvature model and proposed a soft manipulator kinematics modeling method based on the curvature division of the contact point [16]. In addition, in order to further study and derive the kinematics of the soft manipulator, a plane static mechanics model and a space static mechanics model were also developed.…”