15 accepted papers
Pneumatic actuated soft robots attract increasing interest of the researchers due to the availability and simplicity in actuation. The soft robots driven by soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) of various active volumes demand pneumatic systems with various range of flow rate. However, the usually bulky
This paper aims at unifying simplified models of balancing – based on linear, centre-of-mass (CoM) expressions – and articulated-soft floating-base (ASFB) robot dynamics models, for control design. Two distinct controller variations are introduced: the first operates by mapping gross applied force r
Stretchable sensors indicate promising prospects for soft robotics, medical devices, and human-machine interactions due to the high compliance of soft materials. Discrete sensing strategies, including sensor arrays and distributed sensors, are broadly involved in tactile sensors across versatile app
Load-bearing walking is an important requirement for defense and military, logistics and transportation. In this letter, a novel quasi-passive non-anthropomorphic lower limb exoskeleton is proposed to augment human load-bearing capacities. The exoskeleton employs a rigid leg rod that transmits loads
Soft robotic arms have gained significant attention owing to their flexibility and adaptability. Nonetheless, the instability due to their high-elasticity structure further leads to the difficulty of precise kinematic modeling and control. This letter introduces a novel solution employing foam-embed
Hydraulic-driven soft robots have received much less attention than their pneumatic counterparts. However, the incompressibility of liquid could bring a series of desirable attributes to soft robotic control, despite the apparent disadvantage of weight addition and compliance compromise resulting fr
Interactions with environmental objects can induce substantial alterations in both exteroceptive and proprioceptive signals. However, the deployment of exteroceptive sensors within underwater soft manipulators encounters numerous challenges and constraints, thereby imposing limitations on their perc
Sign language recognition devices are effective approaches to breaking the communication barrier between signers and non-signers and exploring human-machine interactions. Wearable gloves have been developed for gesture recognition and virtual reality applications by employing flexible sensors for mo
To improve the environmental adaptability of the mechanism, this letter proposes a metamorphic mechanism configuration synthesis method based on environmental constraint characteristics. In particular, a novel 6R line-symmetric double-centered metamorphic mechanism is synthesized and the multi-bifur
Soft robots undergo complex deformations during actuation and interaction due to the flexibility and compliance of their soft materials. This characteristic presents challenges in proprioception, particularly in characterizing their spatial deformations. Soft optical waveguide sensors have emerged a
This letter presents a novel control methodology that is based on an amalgamation of model-based, power-shaping control (PSC), and feedback deactivation. It has been hypothesised that proportional position control of flexible-joint robots can impinge on their interactional performance, since positio
Soft robotic manipulators have been created and investigated for a number of applications due to their advantages over rigid robots. In minimally invasive surgery, for instance, soft robots have successfully demonstrated a number of benefits due to the compliant and flexible nature of the material t…
This paper presents novel control techniques for passivation and stabilisation of floating-base systems with contacts, whose dynamical models comprise both joint-space, and Cartesian floating-base coordinates. The aforementioned results are achieved using both minimally model-based, and completely m…
Serial manipulator kinematics provide a mapping between joint variables in joint-space coordinates, and end-effector configurations in task-space Cartesian coordinates. Velocity mappings are represented via the manipulator Jacobian produced by direct differentiation of the forward kinematics. Acquis…
Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is a minimally invasive approach for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) treatment. Compared to open surgery, the benefits of EVAR include faster recovery and shorter time in hospital as well as no general anesthesia (in most cases). Though EVAR has become a preferred…