RUBIC: An Untethered Soft Robot With Discrete Path Following
Soft robots have the potential to diminish the need for humans to venture into unsuitable environments or work in extreme conditions. While their soft nature gives them the advantage of being adaptable to changing environments, their control can be challenging because of the compliance that makes th...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frobt.2019.00052/full |
| _version_ | 1819070982830161920 |
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| author | Hsing-Yu Chen Hsing-Yu Chen Richard Suphapol Diteesawat Richard Suphapol Diteesawat Alice Haynes Alice Haynes Alixander James Partridge Alixander James Partridge Melanie Florine Simons Melanie Florine Simons Enrico Werner Enrico Werner Martin Garrad Martin Garrad Jonathan Rossiter Jonathan Rossiter Andrew T. Conn Andrew T. Conn |
| author_facet | Hsing-Yu Chen Hsing-Yu Chen Richard Suphapol Diteesawat Richard Suphapol Diteesawat Alice Haynes Alice Haynes Alixander James Partridge Alixander James Partridge Melanie Florine Simons Melanie Florine Simons Enrico Werner Enrico Werner Martin Garrad Martin Garrad Jonathan Rossiter Jonathan Rossiter Andrew T. Conn Andrew T. Conn |
| author_sort | Hsing-Yu Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Soft robots have the potential to diminish the need for humans to venture into unsuitable environments or work in extreme conditions. While their soft nature gives them the advantage of being adaptable to changing environments, their control can be challenging because of the compliance that makes them effective. In this paper we present RUBIC: the Rolling, Untethered, Ballooning, Intelligent Cube, that overcomes some of the difficulties of 2D control by constraining motion to a discretised Cartesian space. RUBIC's method of locomotion is by rolling from one face of the cube to another, in any one of four directions. This motion causes it to move within a 2D grid structure, the dimensions of which are defined by the cube's characteristic length. When in its resting position RUBIC is inherently stable and forms a safe platform for tasks including taking measurements and soil samples, for localization and ad hoc network infrastructure, and as the foundation for larger robots and structures. We present the design of RUBIC's body, the four pneumatic ballooning actuators per face that generate its unique gait, and the control systems for locomotion and obstacle climbing. We consider constraints imposed by the design and fabrication methods including physical dimension and weight, material properties and control fidelity. An alternative locomotion scheme is proposed to improve the speed and linearity which also increases the distance traveled per roll. RUBIC travels with a mean locomotion accuracy of 4.58° deviation and successfully traverses steps up to 35% of its own height. The discretisation of a soft robotics workspace, as demonstrated by RUBIC, has advantages for safe and predictable locomotion and has applications in both structured and hazardous environments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T17:14:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-696141c99e2b41eea5749a739e0dc466 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-9144 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T17:14:36Z |
| publishDate | 2019-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
| spelling | doaj.art-696141c99e2b41eea5749a739e0dc4662022-12-21T18:56:20ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Robotics and AI2296-91442019-07-01610.3389/frobt.2019.00052431713RUBIC: An Untethered Soft Robot With Discrete Path FollowingHsing-Yu Chen0Hsing-Yu Chen1Richard Suphapol Diteesawat2Richard Suphapol Diteesawat3Alice Haynes4Alice Haynes5Alixander James Partridge6Alixander James Partridge7Melanie Florine Simons8Melanie Florine Simons9Enrico Werner10Enrico Werner11Martin Garrad12Martin Garrad13Jonathan Rossiter14Jonathan Rossiter15Andrew T. Conn16Andrew T. Conn17Bristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomBristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomEPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (FARSCOPE), University of Bristol and University of the West of England, Bristol, United KingdomBristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomDepartment of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomBristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomBristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomDepartment of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomBristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomEPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (FARSCOPE), University of Bristol and University of the West of England, Bristol, United KingdomBristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomEPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (FARSCOPE), University of Bristol and University of the West of England, Bristol, United KingdomBristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomDepartment of Engineering Mathematics, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomBristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomSoft robots have the potential to diminish the need for humans to venture into unsuitable environments or work in extreme conditions. While their soft nature gives them the advantage of being adaptable to changing environments, their control can be challenging because of the compliance that makes them effective. In this paper we present RUBIC: the Rolling, Untethered, Ballooning, Intelligent Cube, that overcomes some of the difficulties of 2D control by constraining motion to a discretised Cartesian space. RUBIC's method of locomotion is by rolling from one face of the cube to another, in any one of four directions. This motion causes it to move within a 2D grid structure, the dimensions of which are defined by the cube's characteristic length. When in its resting position RUBIC is inherently stable and forms a safe platform for tasks including taking measurements and soil samples, for localization and ad hoc network infrastructure, and as the foundation for larger robots and structures. We present the design of RUBIC's body, the four pneumatic ballooning actuators per face that generate its unique gait, and the control systems for locomotion and obstacle climbing. We consider constraints imposed by the design and fabrication methods including physical dimension and weight, material properties and control fidelity. An alternative locomotion scheme is proposed to improve the speed and linearity which also increases the distance traveled per roll. RUBIC travels with a mean locomotion accuracy of 4.58° deviation and successfully traverses steps up to 35% of its own height. The discretisation of a soft robotics workspace, as demonstrated by RUBIC, has advantages for safe and predictable locomotion and has applications in both structured and hazardous environments.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frobt.2019.00052/fullsoft roboticslocomotionuntetheredfluidic elastomer actuatorsRoboSoft |
| spellingShingle | Hsing-Yu Chen Hsing-Yu Chen Richard Suphapol Diteesawat Richard Suphapol Diteesawat Alice Haynes Alice Haynes Alixander James Partridge Alixander James Partridge Melanie Florine Simons Melanie Florine Simons Enrico Werner Enrico Werner Martin Garrad Martin Garrad Jonathan Rossiter Jonathan Rossiter Andrew T. Conn Andrew T. Conn RUBIC: An Untethered Soft Robot With Discrete Path Following Frontiers in Robotics and AI soft robotics locomotion untethered fluidic elastomer actuators RoboSoft |
| title | RUBIC: An Untethered Soft Robot With Discrete Path Following |
| title_full | RUBIC: An Untethered Soft Robot With Discrete Path Following |
| title_fullStr | RUBIC: An Untethered Soft Robot With Discrete Path Following |
| title_full_unstemmed | RUBIC: An Untethered Soft Robot With Discrete Path Following |
| title_short | RUBIC: An Untethered Soft Robot With Discrete Path Following |
| title_sort | rubic an untethered soft robot with discrete path following |
| topic | soft robotics locomotion untethered fluidic elastomer actuators RoboSoft |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frobt.2019.00052/full |
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