A simple control strategy for increasing the soft bending actuator performance by using a pressure boost

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticle in conference proceedingsResearchpeer-review

Authors

High-speed actuation of soft actuators requires high source pressure to transfer air as quickly as possible into the actuator. Allowing high source pressure and having the deformation angle as the only control input may allow faster actuation, but there is a risk of bursting when the actuator is prevented from reaching the desired angle, for example, due to an obstacle. The other option to control the actuator’s deformation is based on controlling the pressure. In this paper, we present a simple control strategy that uses an initial pressure boost in a pressure-based PID controller showing the same performance as in angle-based PID control. The performance improvement is demonstrated experimentally on a standard soft bending actuator and a gecko-inspired, climbing soft robot.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationASME 2019 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition : Volume 4: Dynamics, Vibration, and Control
Number of pages9
PublisherThe American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Publication date11.11.2019
Article numberV004T05A065
ISBN (electronic)978-0-7918-5941-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11.11.2019
Externally publishedYes
EventASME 2019 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition - IMECE 2019: ASME’s largest research and development conference focused primarily on mechanical engineering - Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, United States
Duration: 11.11.201914.11.2019
https://event.asme.org/IMECE2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2019 ASME.

DOI