A Wireless Compact Control Unit (WiCCU) for Untethered Pneumatic Soft Robots

TY - GEN

T1 - A Wireless Compact Control Unit (WiCCU) for Untethered Pneumatic Soft Robots

AU - Manfredi, Luigi

AU - Cuschieri, Alfred

N1 - Conference code: 2

PY - 2019/5/27

Y1 - 2019/5/27

N2 - The performance of a soft pneumatic robot (SPR) relies on the synergy between the mechanical design and the control unit that implements a closed-loop control between sensors and actuators. Most controllers are designed by using off-the-shelf components. Although commercial parts present high precision and reliability, they are heavy and bulky, limiting the realisation and design of untethered robots. The present study describes a wireless pneumatic control unit of a compact and light design that can control up to 3 pneumatic chambers. The unit includes pressure sensors and high precision miniaturised proportional valves. To simplify both the electrical cabling and the air tubes connections, a compact manifold is used to connect valves and pressure sensors. The control unit uses a Bluetooth RS232 serial module for a wireless communication. The mechatronic design is reported describing the electronic hardware, the manifold solution, and the firmware implementation. Experiments report i) the control of a linear pneumatic actuator (LPA), and ii) a simultaneous activation of 3 LPAs connected to a base providing 3 degrees of freedom (DOFs).

AB - The performance of a soft pneumatic robot (SPR) relies on the synergy between the mechanical design and the control unit that implements a closed-loop control between sensors and actuators. Most controllers are designed by using off-the-shelf components. Although commercial parts present high precision and reliability, they are heavy and bulky, limiting the realisation and design of untethered robots. The present study describes a wireless pneumatic control unit of a compact and light design that can control up to 3 pneumatic chambers. The unit includes pressure sensors and high precision miniaturised proportional valves. To simplify both the electrical cabling and the air tubes connections, a compact manifold is used to connect valves and pressure sensors. The control unit uses a Bluetooth RS232 serial module for a wireless communication. The mechatronic design is reported describing the electronic hardware, the manifold solution, and the firmware implementation. Experiments report i) the control of a linear pneumatic actuator (LPA), and ii) a simultaneous activation of 3 LPAs connected to a base providing 3 degrees of freedom (DOFs).

KW - Valves

KW - Manifolds

KW - Pressure sensors

KW - Robots

KW - Pneumatic systems

KW - Bluetooth

KW - Wireless communication

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85067091961

U2 - 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2019.8722788

DO - 10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2019.8722788

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9781538692615

T3 - RoboSoft 2019 - 2019 IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics

SP - 31

EP - 36

BT - 2019 2nd IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft)

PB - IEEE

T2 - 2019 2nd IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics

Y2 - 14 April 2019 through 18 April 2019

ER -