NRI/Collaborative Research: Robust Design and Reliable Autonomy for Transforming Modular Hybrid Rigid-Soft Robots

软机器人是一种很有前途的探索任务技术，在解开生物的秘密和创造适应性强、多功能和对人类友好的机器人方面显示出巨大的潜力。另一方面，刚性机器人在精度和易于控制方面具有许多优势。本项目中考虑的新型混合机器人设计将联合收割机结合这两种技术，以提供两者的优点。该补助金支持使用这种混合设计范式产生与模块化设计和可靠的人机协作相关的新知识的研究。新的模块化机器人将能够适应新的环境，在各种地形上移动，并在各种环境条件下运行。该项目将提高机器人探索困难地形的能力，例如在搜索和救援、检查、监视和侦察过程中发现的地形。新的机器人能力也将有利于未来的外星任务。该项目包括为本科生提供暑期研究机会，并为K-12学生提供教育推广活动，以支持软机器人教育。该资助支持的研究将通过创建新颖和混合（包含刚性和柔性元素）的物理硬件设计来抵消每种技术的局限性，从而显着推进软机器人理论和实践的最先进水平。这些研究任务旨在推进非并置人机团队的无缝集成和操作，并在两个方面保持一致。第一个推力考虑了极端环境下的模块化设计，使用由可逆的、完全密封的永磁连接器连接的低自由度模块。模块通过无线协议相互通信，以实现分布式控制算法。动力学建模和仿真用于发现一种基于学习中央模式发生器的混合运动策略。该项目还为生物启发的拓扑可重构软机器人创建运动规划算法。第二个重点是可靠的非同位人类机器人协作，包括高级遥操作，拓扑变换策略，以减轻模块故障，基于故障诊断技术的自动步态重新选择，一个共识的决定-该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Soft robots are a promising technology for exploration tasks and have shown great potential for unlocking the secrets of biological creatures and creating adaptable, versatile, and human-friendly robots. On the other hand, rigid robots offer many advantages in terms of precision and ease of control. The novel hybrid robot design considered in this project will combine these two technologies to provide the advantages of both. This grant supports research to produce new knowledge related to modular design and reliable human-robot collaboration using this hybrid design paradigm. The new modular robots will be able to adapt to new environments, move across varied terrains, and operate in a wide variety of environmental conditions. This project will result in improved robotic capability for exploration of difficult terrains such as those found during search and rescue, inspection, surveillance, and reconnaissance. The new robot capabilities will also benefit future extra-terrestrial missions. The project includes summer research opportunities for undergraduate students and educational outreach activities to K-12 students to support soft robotics education.The research supported by this grant will significantly advance the state-of-the-art in the theory and practice of soft robots by creating novel and hybrid (incorporating both stiff and soft elements) physical hardware designs to offset limitations of each individual technology. The research tasks are aimed at advancing the seamless integration and operation of non-collocated human-robot teams and are aligned in two thrusts. The first thrust considers modular design for extreme environments using low-degree-of freedom modules connected by reversible, completely sealed permanent magnet connectors. Modules communicate with each other via wireless protocols to enable distributed control algorithms. Dynamic modeling and simulation are used to discover a hybrid locomotion strategy based on a learning central pattern generator. The project also creates motion planning algorithms for bioinspired, topologically reconfigurable soft robots. The second thrust focuses on reliable non-collocated human robot collaboration, including high-level teleoperation, topological transformation strategies to mitigate module failures, automatic gait re-selection based on fault diagnosis techniques, and a consensus decision-making system to enable functional modules to disable nonfunctional ones.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.