EFRI C3 SoRo: Model-Based Design and Control of Power-Dense Soft Hydraulic Robots for Demanding and Uncertain Environments

这个项目将为高度变形的结构创建改进的动态建模方法。它将展示如何为具有挑战性的软机器人应用中的动力传输定制微型液压系统，以及如何将纺织品和弹性橡胶结合起来制造新型流体动力软执行器。它将演示使用嵌入式光纤传感器来测量软机器人的形状。这些进步将被整合到一种新型软机器人的设计框架中，这种机器人可以安全地与人一起工作，也可以安全地在人周围工作，并且可以重新配置自己以适应不断变化的环境。这个项目将是实现软机器人在医疗保健、制造业、农业、勘探、环境监测和国家安全方面的变革潜力的重大进步。两个实验测试平台代表了应用的多样性，将验证项目的结果——一个柔软的触手状机器人将执行模拟骨科手术，一个柔软的鳗鱼状机器人将演示游泳和攀爬，以导航和探索具有挑战性的环境。参与大学的外展活动将鼓励当地社区观看、触摸和学习软机器人的最新科学发展，每年在纳什维尔、诺克斯维尔和塔拉哈西约有1万人参加。软机器人要实现其巨大的前景，需要在建模、传感、驱动和控制软机器人方面进行基础研究，这些软机器人是欠驱动的，具有无限的自由度，并且受与人类、其他机器人、环境甚至自己的相互作用的高度影响。这项研究在建模、估计和控制方面的智力贡献将扩展动态Cosserat杆理论，以解释软体机器人的横截面变形。在传感领域，新型光纤形状传感器技术将揭示软机器人形状和实时无视线限制交互的新基础知识。在设计方面，使用具有多功能和特定任务的材料层的2D制造方法的新制造方法将创建复杂的可扩展3D结构，高功率密度微型液压动力系统将被开发为软机器人的驱动和动力传输的未来。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will create improved methods of dynamic modeling for highly deformable structures. It will show how miniature hydraulic systems can be customized for power transmission in challenging soft robotic applications, and how textiles and elastic rubbers can be combined to manufacture novel fluid-powered soft actuators. It will demonstrate the use of embedded fiber optic sensors to measure soft robot shape. These advances will be integrated into a design framework for a new class of soft robots that can safely work with and around people, and that can reconfigure themselves to adapt to a changing environment. This project will be a significant advance towards realizing the transformative potential of soft robots in healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture, exploration, environmental monitoring, and national security. Two experimental testbeds representing the diversity of applications will validate the results of the project -- a soft tentacle-like robot will perform simulated orthopedic surgery and a soft eel-like robot will demonstrate swimming and climbing for navigating and exploring challenging environments. Outreach activities at the participating universities will encourage local communities to see, touch, and learn about the most recent scientific developments in soft robotics, reaching an estimated 10,000 people annually in Nashville, Knoxville, and Tallahassee.For soft robots to fulfil their enormous promise, fundamental research is needed in modeling, sensing, actuating, and controlling soft robots that are underactuated, have infinite degrees of freedom, and are highly influenced by interaction with humans, other robots, the environment, and even themselves. The intellectual contribution of this research in modeling, estimation, and control will extend dynamic Cosserat rod theory to account for soft robot cross section deformations. In sensing, novel fiber optic shape sensor technology will reveal new fundamental knowledge of soft robot shape and interaction in real-time and without line-of-sight restrictions. In design, new manufacturing methods that use a 2D fabrication approach with multifunctional and task-specific material layers will create complex scalable 3D structures, and high power-density miniature hydraulic power systems will be developed as the future of actuation and power transmission for soft robotics.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.