RI: Small: Collaborative Research: A Modular Approach to Robot Systems Incorporating Compliant and Soft Elements

RI：小型：协作研究：结合合规和软元件的机器人系统模块化方法

• 批准号: 1718075
• 负责人: Ian Walker
• 金额: $ 21万
• 依托单位: Clemson University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-09-01 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1718075&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RI; Small; Collaborative; Research; Modular

Biological systems can demonstrate impressive energy efficient manipulation, from picking up fragile objects to lifting heavy weights. To do so, they rely on building blocks of varying stiffness, such as bones and muscles. Inspired by these biological systems, this project is investigating the combination of "stiff" and "soft" robotic components, creating novel "hybrids" that exploit the advantages, and conceal the inherent weaknesses, of the individual technologies. Such "hybrids" aim to bring safe and practical soft robotics to previously inaccessible domains and applications, including urban search/rescue, disaster relief, and assistance for the elderly and people with disabilities. The project will also promote robotics among underrepresented groups at both DePaul and Clemson.The project is collaboratively designing, modeling, creating, and demonstrating a series of innovative soft, modular robots. The modules are exploiting the hard/soft component interaction and constrained actuator arrangement to control stiffness independently from bending. Exploiting modularity, these robots can reassemble, or "evolve", into different manipulators and locomotors. The project is developing a unified design and optimization framework to optimize, per user specifications, the composition of hard/soft modules and optimal sensor placement. Resulting modules are fabricated and assembled into a variety of robotic configurations to demonstrate the importance of stiffness modulation in dealing with unforeseen circumstances. Using these modules, the project is also creating a sophisticated physical platform for providing new theoretical insights and innovative operational modes for soft modular robots, as well as demonstrating the fundamentals of morphological computation. Morphological computation utilizes physical body properties (e.g., stiffness and bending shape) as a computational resource that can share the burden of control to optimize stability and locomotion efficiency in real-time. This thrust is exploiting the intrinsic resonant motions of modular systems, via stiffness and shape modulation, to minimize energy loss and improve stability.

从捡起脆弱的物体到举重重物，生物系统可以表现出令人印象深刻的能源效率操纵。 为此，他们依靠僵硬的构建块，例如骨骼和肌肉。 受这些生物系统的启发，该项目正在研究“僵硬”和“软”机器人组件的组合，创建了利用优势并掩盖各个技术的固有弱点的新颖的“混合动力”。这种“混合动力”旨在为以前无法​​接近的领域和应用带来安全，实用的软机器人，包括城市搜救/救援，救灾以及对老年人和残疾人的援助。 该项目还将在Depaul和Clemson的代表性群体中促进机器人技术。该项目正在协作设计，建模，创建和展示一系列创新的软体动物机器人。这些模块正在利用硬/软组件的相互作用和约束执行器排列，以独立于弯曲而控制刚度。这些机器人利用模块化，可以重新组装或“进化”到不同的操纵器和运动器中。该项目正在开发一个统一的设计和优化框架，以优化根据用户规格，硬/软模块的组成以及最佳传感器放置。制造并组装成各种机器人配置，以证明刚度调制在处理不可预见的情况中的重要性。使用这些模块，该项目还创建了一个复杂的物理平台，用于为软模块化机器人提供新的理论见解和创新的操作模式，并展示形态计算的基本原理。形态计算利用物理身体特性（例如刚度和弯曲形状）作为一种计算资源，可以分担控制负担，以实时优化稳定性和运动效率。这种推力是通过刚度和形状调制来利用模块化系统的固有谐振运动，以最大程度地减少能量损失并提高稳定性。

项目成果

Center-of-Gravity-Based Approach for Modeling Dynamics of Multisection Continuum Arms

• DOI: 10.1109/tro.2019.2921153
• 发表时间: 2019-01
• 期刊: IEEE Transactions on Robotics
• 影响因子: 7.8
• 作者: I. Godage;R. Webster;I. Walker

A Discrete-Jointed Robot Model Based Control Strategy for Spatial Continuum Manipulators

• DOI: 10.1109/iecon43393.2020.9255340
• 发表时间: 2020-10
• 期刊: IECON 2020 The 46th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society
• 作者: Chengshi Wang;Chase G. Frazelle;J. Wagner;I. Walker

Modeling Variable Curvature Parallel Continuum Robots Using Euler Curves

• DOI: 10.1109/icra.2019.8794238
• 发表时间: 2019-05
• 期刊: 2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
• 作者: Phanideep Gonthina;Apoorva D. Kapadia;I. Godage;I. Walker

Dynamic Control of Multisection Three-Dimensional Continuum Manipulators Based on Virtual Discrete-Jointed Robot Models

• DOI: 10.1109/tmech.2020.2999847
• 发表时间: 2021-04-01
• 期刊: IEEE-ASME TRANSACTIONS ON MECHATRONICS
• 影响因子: 6.4
• 作者: Wang, Chengshi;Frazelle, Chase G.;Walker, Ian D.
• 通讯作者: Walker, Ian D.

Encoder-less Robot Control for Space Operations with Continuum Robots

用于 Continuum 机器人空间操作的无编码器机器人控制

• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: IEEE Aerospace Conference
• 作者: Frazaelle, C.G.;Walker, I.D.;AlAttar, A.;Kormushev, P.
• 通讯作者: Kormushev, P.