Soft Finger Modelling and Co-Simulation Control towards Assistive Exoskeleton Hand Glove

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Mechanical Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering
• Control Systems

Background:

• Assistive exoskeleton hand gloves require precise and robust soft pneumatic actuators.
• Existing actuator designs may face limitations in controlled bending and resistance to unwanted elongation or twisting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and model soft pneumatic actuators for an assistive exoskeleton hand glove.
• To optimize actuator parameters for enhanced performance and system robustness.
• To implement and validate a Software-in-the-loop (SiL) control system for the actuators.

Main Methods:

• Finite element modeling using ABAQUS/CAE to simulate actuator behavior.
• Design of Experiments (DOE) to assess system robustness.
• Software-in-the-loop (SiL) simulation integrating ABAQUS/CAE with FORTRAN-coded PID controller.
• Development of a user subroutine for bidirectional communication between simulation software.

Main Results:

• Optimized actuator parameters were identified for optimal performance.
• The integrated SiL control system demonstrated effective management of actuator bending.
• The system showed robustness against external disturbances, such as tip forces.
• Closed-loop control successfully achieved desired bending angles.

Conclusions:

• The designed soft pneumatic actuators meet the requirements for assistive exoskeleton gloves.
• The integrated modeling and control approach provides a robust platform for actuator development.
• The validated control system enhances the potential for effective human-robot interaction in assistive devices.