NRI:FND:COLLAB: M3SoRo - Mobility and Morphing using Modular Soft Robots

NRI:FND:COLLAB：M3SoRo - 使用模块化软机器人的移动性和变形

• 批准号: 1830575
• 负责人: Barry Trimmer
• 金额: $ 19.93万
• 依托单位: Tufts University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-15 至 2022-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1830575&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NRI; FND; COLLAB; M3SoRo; Mobility

The main objective of this National Robotics Initiative (NRI) award is to develop collaborative Modular Soft Robots (MSoRos) that can move in complex terrestrial and climbing environments and change size and shape. A swarm of MSoRos could be used in disaster relief (search and rescue operations), space exploration and precision agriculture. For example, search and rescue scenarios require small robots to autonomously navigate holes and to crawl through narrow cracks/spaces. The collaborative MSoRos will be composed of soft individual units that can deform to penetrate these spaces without prior programming. In agriculture, where the environment is complex, unstructured (soil) and adverse (changes include heat-cold and rain), these robotic modular devices will be capable of multiple behaviors to match their tasks. For example, individual modules could crawl around locally to monitor soil-health and then re-configure as a three-dimensional ball to roll to a centralized station after the task is complete. The ability to form different structures in this way can minimize locomotion costs. Furthermore, this research is easy to disseminate among high-school and undergraduate students as soft robots are cheap, safe to operate and intriguing. The MSoRos will excite young minds by connecting popular robot icons such as Transformers or Big Hero 6, with real-life morphing soft robots. Simultaneously, it will introduce them to futuristic robotics and mechatronics technologies with applications to wearable robotics, collaborative robotics and robots-in-homes, and encourage them to pursue career in STEM and robotics.This combination of morphing and modularity can dramatically increase the adaptability of a robot. The proposed research will: a) learn principles for robot mobility in complex environments. This is analogous to building reduced-order models (ROMs). Environment-specific ROMs for a highly deformable, soft, continuum robot will be reverse-engineered by learning factors that dominate robot-environment interactions; b) design open-source, untethered MSoRos that will increase the versatility, robustness and cost effectiveness of traditional modular robots; c) establish that environment awareness is a powerful strategy for controlling deformable robots. MSoRos will use their interaction with the environment to learn and deploy appropriate behaviors. This will lead to the development of hybrid robots that will combine environment-centric exploratory learning (this research) with existing model-centric strategies, to carryout complex autonomous tasks.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个国家机器人计划（NRI）奖项的主要目标是开发协作模块化软机器人（MSoRos），可以在复杂的陆地和攀爬环境中移动，并改变大小和形状。一群MSoRos可用于救灾（搜索和救援行动）、空间探索和精准农业。例如，搜索和救援场景需要小型机器人自主导航洞并在狭窄的裂缝/空间中爬行。协作的MSoRos将由柔软的个体单元组成，这些单元可以变形以穿透这些空间，而无需事先编程。在农业中，环境复杂，非结构化（土壤）和不利（变化包括冷热和降雨），这些机器人模块化设备将能够进行多种行为以匹配其任务。例如，单个模块可以在本地爬行以监测土壤健康，然后在任务完成后重新配置为三维球以滚动到集中站。以这种方式形成不同结构的能力可以最小化运动成本。此外，这项研究很容易在高中和大学生中传播，因为软机器人便宜，操作安全，有趣。MSoRos将通过连接流行的机器人图标，如变形金刚或大英雄6，与现实生活中的变形软机器人，激发年轻人的思想。同时，它将向他们介绍未来机器人和机电一体化技术，并将其应用于可穿戴机器人，协作机器人和家庭机器人，并鼓励他们从事STEM和机器人技术的职业。这种变形和模块化的结合可以大大提高机器人的适应性。拟议的研究将：a）学习机器人在复杂环境中移动的原则。这类似于构建降阶模型（ROM）。环境特定的ROM的高度可变形，软，连续体机器人将通过学习因素，主导机器人与环境的相互作用进行逆向工程; B）设计开源，不受约束的MSoRos，这将增加传统的模块化机器人的多功能性，鲁棒性和成本效益; c）建立环境意识是一个强大的战略控制变形机器人。MSoRos将使用它们与环境的交互来学习和部署适当的行为。这将导致混合机器人的发展，将结合联合收割机以环境为中心的探索性学习（本研究）与现有的模型为中心的战略，以执行复杂的自主任务。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

项目成果

Metal or muscle? The future of biologically inspired robots

金属还是肌肉？

• DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aba6149
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Science Robotics
• 影响因子: 25
• 作者: Trimmer, Barry Andrew

Design and Manufacturing of Tendon-Driven Soft Foam Robots

• DOI: 10.1017/s0263574719000481
• 发表时间: 2019-05
• 期刊: Robotica
• 影响因子: 2.7
• 作者: Nikolas Kastor;R. Mukherjee;Eliad Cohen;V. Vikas;B. Trimmer;R. White

MONOLITh: a soft non-pneumatic foam robot with a functional mesh skin for use in delicate environments

• DOI: 10.1080/01691864.2022.2029764
• 发表时间: 2022-02
• 期刊: Advanced Robotics
• 影响因子: 2
• 作者: Anthony E. Scibelli;C. Donatelli;Ben Tidswell;Micah R. Payton;E. Tytell;B. Trimmer