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Shu J, Wang J, Cheng KCC, Yeung LF, Li Z, Tong RKY. An End-to-End Dynamic Posture Perception Method for Soft Actuators Based on Distributed Thin Flexible Porous Piezoresistive Sensors. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 23:6189. [PMID: 37448037 DOI: 10.3390/s23136189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023]
Abstract
This paper proposes a method for accurate 3D posture sensing of the soft actuators, which could be applied to the closed-loop control of soft robots. To achieve this, the method employs an array of miniaturized sponge resistive materials along the soft actuator, which uses long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks to solve the end-to-end 3D posture for the soft actuators. The method takes into account the hysteresis of the soft robot and non-linear sensing signals from the flexible bending sensors. The proposed approach uses a flexible bending sensor made from a thin layer of conductive sponge material designed for posture sensing. The LSTM network is used to model the posture of the soft actuator. The effectiveness of the method has been demonstrated on a finger-size 3 degree of freedom (DOF) pneumatic bellow-shaped actuator, with nine flexible sponge resistive sensors placed on the soft actuator's outer surface. The sensor-characterizing results show that the maximum bending torque of the sensor installed on the actuator is 4.7 Nm, which has an insignificant impact on the actuator motion based on the working space test of the actuator. Moreover, the sensors exhibit a relatively low error rate in predicting the actuator tip position, with error percentages of 0.37%, 2.38%, and 1.58% along the x-, y-, and z-axes, respectively. This work is expected to contribute to the advancement of soft robot dynamic posture perception by using thin sponge sensors and LSTM or other machine learning methods for control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Shu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Junming Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Kenneth Chik-Chi Cheng
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
- Research Institute for Sports Science and Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Ling-Fung Yeung
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Zheng Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
- Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Raymond Kai-Yu Tong
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
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Shu J, Wang J, Lau SCY, Su Y, Heung KHL, Shi X, Li Z, Tong RKY. Soft Robots' Dynamic Posture Perception Using Kirigami-Inspired Flexible Sensors with Porous Structures and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Neural Networks. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 22:7705. [PMID: 36298057 PMCID: PMC9611759 DOI: 10.3390/s22207705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2022] [Revised: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Soft robots can create complicated structures and functions for rehabilitation. The posture perception of soft actuators is critical for performing closed-loop control for a precise location. It is essential to have a sensor with both soft and flexible characteristics that does not affect the movement of a soft actuator. This paper presents a novel end-to-end posture perception method that employs flexible sensors with kirigami-inspired structures and long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks. The sensors were developed with conductive sponge materials. With one-step calibration from the sensor output, the posture of the soft actuator could be calculated by the LSTM network. The method was validated by attaching the developed sensors to a soft fiber-reinforced bending actuator. The results showed the accuracy of posture prediction of sponge sensors with three kirigami-inspired structures ranged from 0.91 to 0.97 in terms of R2. The sponge sensors only generated a resistive torque value of 0.96 mNm at the maximum bending position when attached to a soft actuator, which would minimize the effect on actuator movement. The kirigami-inspired flexible sponge sensor could in future enhance soft robotic development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Shu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Junming Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | | | - Yujie Su
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Kelvin Ho Lam Heung
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Xiangqian Shi
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Zheng Li
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
- Department of Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
| | - Raymond Kai-yu Tong
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China
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Hedayati H, Suzuki R, Rees W, Leithinger D, Szafir D. Designing Expandable-Structure Robots for Human-Robot Interaction. Front Robot AI 2022; 9:719639. [PMID: 35480087 PMCID: PMC9035676 DOI: 10.3389/frobt.2022.719639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper, we survey the emerging design space of expandable structures in robotics, with a focus on how such structures may improve human-robot interactions. We detail various implementation considerations for researchers seeking to integrate such structures in their own work and describe how expandable structures may lead to novel forms of interaction for a variety of different robots and applications, including structures that enable robots to alter their form to augment or gain entirely new capabilities, such as enhancing manipulation or navigation, structures that improve robot safety, structures that enable new forms of communication, and structures for robot swarms that enable the swarm to change shape both individually and collectively. To illustrate how these considerations may be operationalized, we also present three case studies from our own research in expandable structure robots, sharing our design process and our findings regarding how such structures enable robots to produce novel behaviors that may capture human attention, convey information, mimic emotion, and provide new types of dynamic affordances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hooman Hedayati
- Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Ryo Suzuki
- Department of Computer Science, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Wyatt Rees
- Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Daniel Leithinger
- Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
- ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
| | - Daniel Szafir
- Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
- ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
- Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- *Correspondence: Daniel Szafir,
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Bai S, Ding R, Chirarattananon P. A Micro Aircraft With Passive Variable-Sweep Wings. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2022. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2022.3149034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Ding R, Hsiao YH, Jia H, Bai S, Chirarattananon P. Passive Wall Tracking for a Rotorcraft With Tilted and Ducted Propellers Using Proximity Effects. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2022. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2022.3140821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Runze Ding
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Yi-Hsuan Hsiao
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Huaiyuan Jia
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Songnan Bai
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China
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Chen Y, Xu S, Ren Z, Chirarattananon P. Collision Resilient Insect-Scale Soft-Actuated Aerial Robots With High Agility. IEEE T ROBOT 2021. [DOI: 10.1109/tro.2021.3053647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Towards reconfigurable and flexible multirotors. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT ROBOTICS AND APPLICATIONS 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s41315-021-00200-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Zhao N, Yang W, Peng C, Wang G, Shen Y. Comparative Validation Study on Bioinspired Morphology-Adaptation Flight Performance of a Morphing Quad-Rotor. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2021. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2021.3071673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Zhong S, Chirarattananon P. An Efficient Iterated EKF-Based Direct Visual-Inertial Odometry for MAVs Using a Single Plane Primitive. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2021. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2020.3047775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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Zhong S, Chirarattananon P. Direct Visual-Inertial Ego-Motion Estimation Via Iterated Extended Kalman Filter. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2020. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2020.2968071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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