Mechanoreception for Soft Robots via Intuitive Body Cues

Wang, Liangliang1; Wang, Zheng1,2

2019-11-05

10.1089/soro.2018.0135

Soft Robotics   影响因子和分区

2169-5172

2169-5180

Mechanoreception, the ability of robots to detect mechanical stimuli from the internal and external environments, contributes significantly to improving safety and task performance during the operation of robots in unstructured environments. Various approaches have been proposed to endow robot systems with mechanoreception. In the case of soft robots, the state-of-the-art mechanosensory solutions typically embedded dedicated deformable sensors into the soft body, giving rise to fabrication complexity and signal sophistication. In this study, we propose a novel mechanoreception scheme to enable pneumatic-driven soft robots to perceive proprioceptive movements as well as external contacts. Both internal and external mechanical parameters can be decoded from intuitive cues of body deformation and pneumatic pressure signals. In contrast to most existing solutions employing dedicated deformable sensors, the proposed approach only utilizes pressure feedback, which is typically available from the pneumatic pressure sensors incorporated in the control loop of most pneumatic soft robots. The concept was implemented and validated on a proprietary robotic gripper with a linear soft pneumatic actuator, demonstrating the capability in simultaneous detection of actuator position and external contact forceAfter the proposed approach, the gripper can achieve both active and passive mechanosensation, with demonstrated experiments in grasping force estimation, contact loss detection, object stiffness identification, and contour measurements. This approach offers an alternative route to achieving excellent internal/environmental awareness without requiring dedicated sensing modalities.

soft robot mechanoreception linear pneumatic actuator body deformation soft-rigid hybrid gripper

SCI ; EI

英语

通讯

HKU Seed Funding[201711160023] ; HKU Seed Funding[201711159158]

Robotics

Robotics

WOS:000494342900001

MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC

20205209672812

Grippers ; Object detection ; Pneumatic actuators ; Pneumatics

Pneumatics:632.3 ; Data Processing and Image Processing:723.2 ; Robotics:731.5 ; Control Equipment:732.1

Web of Science

1.Univ Hong Kong, Dept Mech Engn, Hong Kong, Peoples R China
2.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Dept Mech & Energy Engn, Shenzhen, Peoples R China

Wang, Liangliang,Wang, Zheng. Mechanoreception for Soft Robots via Intuitive Body Cues[J]. Soft Robotics,2019,7:198-217.

Wang, Liangliang,&Wang, Zheng.(2019).Mechanoreception for Soft Robots via Intuitive Body Cues.Soft Robotics,7,198-217.

Wang, Liangliang,et al."Mechanoreception for Soft Robots via Intuitive Body Cues".Soft Robotics 7(2019):198-217.