English

Control of Soft Pneumatic Actuators with Approximated Dynamical Modeling

Robotics 2023-10-23 v2

Abstract

This paper introduces a full system modeling strategy for a syringe pump and soft pneumatic actuators(SPAs). The soft actuator is conceptualized as a beam structure, utilizing a second-order bending model. The equation of natural frequency is derived from Euler's bending theory, while the damping ratio is estimated by fitting step responses of soft pneumatic actuators. Evaluation of model uncertainty underscores the robustness of our modeling methodology. To validate our approach, we deploy it across four prototypes varying in dimensional parameters. Furthermore, a syringe pump is designed to drive the actuator, and a pressure model is proposed to construct a full system model. By employing this full system model, the Linear-Quadratic Regulator (LQR) controller is implemented to control the soft actuator, achieving high-speed responses and high accuracy in both step response and square wave function response tests. Both the modeling method and the LQR controller are thoroughly evaluated through experiments. Lastly, a gripper, consisting of two actuators with a feedback controller, demonstrates stable grasping of delicate objects with a significantly higher success rate.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2310.01740,
  title  = {Control of Soft Pneumatic Actuators with Approximated Dynamical Modeling},
  author = {Wu-Te Yang and Burak Kurkcu and Motohiro Hirao and Lingfeng Sun and Xinghao Zhu and Zhizhou Zhang and Grace X. Gu and Masayoshi Tomizuka},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2310.01740},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

8 pages, 10 figures, accepted by 2023 IEEE ROBIO conference

R2 v1 2026-06-28T12:39:01.922Z