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Closed-Loop Control of Electro-Ribbon Actuators.

Richard Suphapol Diteesawat1,2, Aaron Fishman1,2, Tim Helps1,2

  • 1Department of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.

Frontiers in Robotics and AI
|January 27, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

New control methods enable precise manipulation of electro-ribbon actuators for soft robotics. A Boost-PI controller overcomes pull-in instability, allowing for advanced staircase and oscillatory movements in soft robotic applications.

Keywords:
actuatorcontroldielectrophoretic liquid zippingelectro-ribbonelectrostaticpull-in instabilitysoft roboticszipping

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Area of Science:

  • Soft robotics
  • Actuation technologies
  • Control systems engineering

Background:

  • Electro-ribbon actuators offer lightweight, flexible, high-performance actuation for soft robotics.
  • Dielectrophoretic liquid zipping (DLZ) enables extreme contractions (>99%) but suffers from pull-in instability, limiting control.
  • Traditional feedforward control has a narrow operational range due to pull-in voltage thresholds.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop advanced control strategies for electro-ribbon actuators.
  • To overcome the limitations imposed by pull-in instability in DLZ actuators.
  • To enable precise control for staircase and oscillatory movements in soft robotics.

Main Methods:

  • Implemented a time-varying voltage profile starting above the pull-in threshold.
  • Developed a modified proportional-integral (Boost-PI) closed-loop controller with a variable boost voltage.
  • Utilized a multi-objective parameter-space approach to optimize controller gains (rise time, overshoot, steady-state error, settle time).

Main Results:

  • The Boost-PI controller provides access to intermediate steady-states previously unattainable.
  • Demonstrated drastically reduced rise times compared to traditional PI controllers.
  • Successfully enabled staircase and oscillatory control tasks for electro-ribbon actuators.

Conclusions:

  • The proposed Boost-PI control method effectively addresses the pull-in instability challenge.
  • This advancement significantly expands the applicability of DLZ actuation technology in soft robotics.
  • Enhanced control opens new possibilities for sophisticated soft robotic systems.