Open Loop Position Control of Soft Hydraulic Actuators for Minimally Invasive Surgery
Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) presents many constraints on the design of robotic devices that can assist medical staff with a procedure. The limitations of conventional, rigid robotic devices have sparked interest in soft robotic devices for medical applications. However, problems still remain wi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/16/7391 |
| _version_ | 1827686022336479232 |
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| author | Mark Runciman James Avery Ara Darzi George Mylonas |
| author_facet | Mark Runciman James Avery Ara Darzi George Mylonas |
| author_sort | Mark Runciman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) presents many constraints on the design of robotic devices that can assist medical staff with a procedure. The limitations of conventional, rigid robotic devices have sparked interest in soft robotic devices for medical applications. However, problems still remain with the force exertion and positioning capabilities of soft robotic actuators, in conjunction with size restrictions necessary for MIS. In this article we present hydraulically actuated soft actuators that demonstrate highly repeatable open loop positioning and the ability to exert significant forces in the context of MIS. Open loop position control is achieved by changing the actuator volume, which causes contraction. In one degree of freedom (DOF) configurations, root mean square error (RMSE) values of 0.471 mm, 1.506 mm, and 0.350 mm were recorded for a single actuator against gravity, a single actuator with a pulley, and a horizontal antagonistic configuration, respectively. Hysteresis values of 0.711 mm, 0.958 mm, and 0.515 mm were reported in these experiments. In addition, different numbers of soft actuators were used in configurations two and three DOFs to demonstrate position control. When deactivated, the soft actuators are low-profile and flexible as they are constructed from thin films. As such, a robot with a deployable structure and three soft actuators was constructed. The robot is therefore able to reversibly transition from low to high volume and stiffness, which has potential applications in MIS. A user successfully controlled the deployable robot in a circle tracing task. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:02:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a56ae66aed2b40999b120e9dbeec86ea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:02:38Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-a56ae66aed2b40999b120e9dbeec86ea2023-11-22T06:40:54ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-08-011116739110.3390/app11167391Open Loop Position Control of Soft Hydraulic Actuators for Minimally Invasive SurgeryMark Runciman0James Avery1Ara Darzi2George Mylonas3The Hamlyn Centre, Imperial College London, London W2 1NY, UKThe Hamlyn Centre, Imperial College London, London W2 1NY, UKDepartment of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London W2 1PE, UKThe Hamlyn Centre, Imperial College London, London W2 1NY, UKMinimally invasive surgery (MIS) presents many constraints on the design of robotic devices that can assist medical staff with a procedure. The limitations of conventional, rigid robotic devices have sparked interest in soft robotic devices for medical applications. However, problems still remain with the force exertion and positioning capabilities of soft robotic actuators, in conjunction with size restrictions necessary for MIS. In this article we present hydraulically actuated soft actuators that demonstrate highly repeatable open loop positioning and the ability to exert significant forces in the context of MIS. Open loop position control is achieved by changing the actuator volume, which causes contraction. In one degree of freedom (DOF) configurations, root mean square error (RMSE) values of 0.471 mm, 1.506 mm, and 0.350 mm were recorded for a single actuator against gravity, a single actuator with a pulley, and a horizontal antagonistic configuration, respectively. Hysteresis values of 0.711 mm, 0.958 mm, and 0.515 mm were reported in these experiments. In addition, different numbers of soft actuators were used in configurations two and three DOFs to demonstrate position control. When deactivated, the soft actuators are low-profile and flexible as they are constructed from thin films. As such, a robot with a deployable structure and three soft actuators was constructed. The robot is therefore able to reversibly transition from low to high volume and stiffness, which has potential applications in MIS. A user successfully controlled the deployable robot in a circle tracing task.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/16/7391soft roboticsminimally invasive surgeryparallel mechanism |
| spellingShingle | Mark Runciman James Avery Ara Darzi George Mylonas Open Loop Position Control of Soft Hydraulic Actuators for Minimally Invasive Surgery Applied Sciences soft robotics minimally invasive surgery parallel mechanism |
| title | Open Loop Position Control of Soft Hydraulic Actuators for Minimally Invasive Surgery |
| title_full | Open Loop Position Control of Soft Hydraulic Actuators for Minimally Invasive Surgery |
| title_fullStr | Open Loop Position Control of Soft Hydraulic Actuators for Minimally Invasive Surgery |
| title_full_unstemmed | Open Loop Position Control of Soft Hydraulic Actuators for Minimally Invasive Surgery |
| title_short | Open Loop Position Control of Soft Hydraulic Actuators for Minimally Invasive Surgery |
| title_sort | open loop position control of soft hydraulic actuators for minimally invasive surgery |
| topic | soft robotics minimally invasive surgery parallel mechanism |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/16/7391 |
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