Soft robotics

Picture_soft

Description

Although advances in robotics have been undisputed for the past 50 years, robots made of rigid materials still have many limitations. Nowadays, there exists a new trend on biologically inspired robots with “soft” elements that are able to perform tasks which are not available to robots with rigid limbs. This new paradigm is known as Soft Robotics and is presented as an innovation beyond already existing flexible robots or other robots that include variable stiffness actuators (VSA). The technological challenge is in the incorporation of soft links into the robotic structure.

In the case of humanoid robotics, and in comparison with a rigid design, a robot with soft links has the following main advantages: a) simplicity of design, favouring an underactuated architecture without the need of increasing the number of degrees of freedom; b) increased accessibility and adaptability to complex environments, with a postural control that can hardly be implemented in rigid robots; and c) safer interaction with the human and the environment, with a high level of absorption of possible impacts, increasing the stability of the robot.
The main objective of this research topic is the development of a new type of links to create softer humanoid robots that meet the characteristics of simplicity, accessibility and safety. These soft links may be used interchangeably in various limbs of the humanoid robots, like arms, neck and spine, under the constraints of scalability, controllability of their stiffness and integration. To achieve this goal, this research proposes the following sub-objectives: 1) design and development of a prototype of soft link with definition of its material and its actuation system. As a result the electromechanical prototype will be obtained with the premise of easy integration into the rigid structure of a humanoid robot; 2) reconfigurable embedded control system for the soft link, using fractional order and robust control techniques. As a result a controller easily implementable in the humanoid robot TEO will be obtained; 3) substitution (integration) of various links of the life-size humanoid robot TEO by soft links properly scaled to act like arms, neck and spine. As a result a new soft humanoid will be available; and 4) final evaluation of the system, developing new metrics for the analysis of the behaviour of the soft robot, especially in human-robot interaction.

Entries:
Real-Time Gait Planning for Rh-1 Humanoid Robot Using Local Axis Gait Algorithm
International Journal of Humanoid Robotics. Print ISSN: 0219-8436. Online ISSN: 1793-6942. num. 1 , vol. 6 , pages: 71 – 91 , 2009
M. Arbulu
The Rh-1 full-size humanoid robot: design, walking pattern generation and control
Journal of Applied Bionics and Biomechanics (Print ISSN: 1176-2322, Online: ISSN: 1754-2103). num. 3 , vol. 6 , pages: 301 – 344 , 2009
M. Arbulu D. Kaynov L.M. Cabas

Entries:
Aiming for multibody dynamics on stable humanoid motion with Special Euclideans groups, called SE(3) (Accepted)
2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2010), Taipei, Taiwan
M. Arbulu S. Martinez A. Jardon C.A. Monje
Aiming for Multibody Dynamics on Stable Humanoid Motion with Special Euclidean Groups
2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS’2010, 2010, Taipei, China
M. Arbulu S. Martinez A. Jardon C.A. Monje
Optimal gait synthesis of biped robot pasibot using artificial intelligence based predictive control
12th International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots (Clawar'09), Istanbul,
J.G. Quijano A. Jardon
K., Yokoi, A., Kheddar, C., Balaguer<br>Dynamic acyclic motion from a planar contact-stance to another
IEEE/RSJ 2008 International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Nice, France
M. Arbulu
Real -Time gait planning for Rh-1 humanoid robot, using Local Axis Gait algorithm
IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids'2007), Pittsburg-Pensi, USA
M. Arbulu
Trends of new robotics platform, designing Humanoid Robot Rh-1
CARS & FOF 0723rd ISPE International Conference on CAD/CAM Robotics and Factories of the Future, 2007, Bogota, Colombia
M. Arbulu D. Kaynov L.M. Cabas P. Staroverov
Nuevas tendencias en plataformas de robótica, caso robot humanoide Rh-1
Intercon 2007XIV Congreso Internacional de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y Sistemas, 2007, Piura, Peru
M. Arbulu D. Kaynov L.M. Cabas P. Staroverov
Rh-0 humanoid full size robot`s control strategy based on the Lie logic technique
IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids'2005), 2005, Tsukuba, Japan
M. Arbulu D. Kaynov J. M. Pardos-Gotor P. Staroverov
Rh-0 Humanoid Robot Bipedal Locomotion and Navigation Using Lie Groups and Geometric Algorithms
International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS'2005), Edmonton, Canada
J. M. Pardos-Gotor
Inverse Dynamics of Humanoid Robot by Balanced Mass Distribution Method
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS'2004), 2004, Sendai, Japan
M. Arbulu
User friendly graphical environment for gait optimization of the humanoid robot Rh-0
7tn International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots (Clawar'2004), 2004, Madrid, Spain
M. Arbulu P. Staroverov
Humanoid Robot Kinematics Modeling Using Lie Groups
7th International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots (Clawar'2004), Madrid, Spain
J. M. Pardos-Gotor

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