RoboSoft 2019
I am delighted to write about my recent paper acceptance for the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft). My research topic is in soft robotics and as the name suggests, it is related to my topic. I am proud for my work to be accepted in such a prestigious event. I mostly look forward to present in front of hundreds of delegates in Seoul, South Korea. I am really thankful to the members of Stokes Research Group for their contributions in this paper.
What is the paper about? (Spoiler alert!)
The paper is titled, “Towards more Energy Efficient Pneumatic Soft Actuators using a Port-Hamiltonian Approach”. It is about the application of port-Hamiltonian approach to a soft robotic system. I used a soft pneumatic system (see figure), which is widely used in the Soft Robotics research community. The port-Hamiltonian structure is about describing the system in terms of energy and arranging the energy into internal and external interactions. A soft robotic system is a machine which converts stored energy into useful work done. The power continuous nature of the structure enables the investigation into the different interactions. The external interactions provide a comparison between energy-in and useful work-done to obtain the mechanical efficiency. The internal interactions provide information about the energy dissipation and the temporary energy storage, which can be used to describe any system. The port-Hamiltonian approach forms the basis of a development framework for soft robotic systems. The framework focuses on each energy interaction and enables a system level approach to soft robotic system development.
What is the impact? (More spoiler alert!)
The port-Hamiltonian structure provides an energy-based empirical model of the soft robotic system. This model can be used in the characterisation and control of the system. The use of energy to generalise the system means that the framework is applicable with every physical domain common to soft robotics, such as, thermal, pneumatic, hydraulic, chemical, electrical and magnetic. The laws of thermodynamics are obviously useful in soft robotic system development, given how fundamental these laws are to our everyday lives. We can develop soft robotic systems that are, 1. task-orientated by focusing on the external energy interaction, 2. efficient by minimising the internal energy dissipation and storage, and 3. suitable dynamic response by focusing on the internal energy interaction.
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