Campisano, F, Calò, S, Ramirez, AA et al. (4 more authors) (2021) Closed-loop control of soft continuum manipulators under tip follower actuation. The International Journal of Robotics Research. ISSN 0278-3649
Abstract
Continuum manipulators, inspired by nature, have drawn significant interest within the robotics community. They can facilitate motion within complex environments where traditional rigid robots may be ineffective, while maintaining a reasonable degree of precision. Soft continuum manipulators have emerged as a growing subfield of continuum robotics, with promise for applications requiring high compliance, including certain medical procedures. This has driven demand for new control schemes designed to precisely control these highly flexible manipulators, whose kinematics may be sensitive to external loads, such as gravity. This article presents one such approach, utilizing a rapidly computed kinematic model based on Cosserat rod theory, coupled with sensor feedback to facilitate closed-loop control, for a soft continuum manipulator under tip follower actuation and external loading. This approach is suited to soft manipulators undergoing quasi-static deployment, where actuators apply a follower wrench (i.e., one that is in a constant body frame direction regardless of robot configuration) anywhere along the continuum structure, as can be done in water-jet propulsion. In this article we apply the framework specifically to a tip actuated soft continuum manipulator. The proposed control scheme employs both actuator feedback and pose feedback. The actuator feedback is utilized to both regulate the follower load and to compensate for non-linearities of the actuation system that can introduce kinematic model error. Pose feedback is required to maintain accurate path following. Experimental results demonstrate successful path following with the closed-loop control scheme, with significant performance improvements gained through the use of sensor feedback when compared with the open-loop case.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2021. This is an author produced version of an article published in International Journal of Robotics Research. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Mechanics, design and control, medical robots and systems, control architectures and programming |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Electronic & Electrical Engineering (Leeds) > Robotics, Autonomous Systems & Sensing (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Royal Society wm150122 National Institute of Health - NIH (PHS) 6R01EB018992 Royal Society CH160052 EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/P027938/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 17 Mar 2021 15:46 |
Last Modified: | 17 Mar 2021 15:46 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0278364921997167 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:172225 |