Real time control and fabrication of a soft robotic glove by two parallel sensors with MBD approach. (February 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rakhtala, Seyed Mehdi; Ghayebi, Roozbeh
• Is Part Of: Medical engineering & physics. Volume 100(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-02
• Subjects: Soft robotic glove -- Soft actuator -- Two parallel sensors -- Model-based design -- Rehabilitation robots; Biomedical engineering -- Periodicals; Biomedical Engineering -- Periodicals; Physics -- Periodicals; Génie biomédical -- Périodiques; Biomedical engineering; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 610.28
• DOI: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2021.103743
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1350-4533

Abstract

Highlights: Design and implementation of soft actuator. Design and implementation the closed-loop control unit with two parallel sensors as bending sensors and pressure sensor in soft robotic glove. Pressure sensor (FSR 402) that used to detect physical pressure as a feedback signal of the soft actuators for component gripping. The structure of FSR's are based on resistance changing value, which is depending on pressure on components. The proposed sensor is used to regulate pressure of pneumatic system to how much components are pressed. Using the closed-loop system based on the bending sensor, gripping accuracy and soft gripping will be achieved far more than previous methods which used a pressure sensor in a closed-loop system. The bending sensor- Artma is used in the closed-loop system to drive the air compressor instead of approaches that used one pressure sensor in closed-loop system. Abstract: Soft robotic gloves were designed to aid the rehabilitation process with hand pathologies and coordination of gripping exercises. The main issue in soft robotic actuators is to design a control strategy to overcome deformation in grasping exercises. In this paper, a new soft robotic actuator is developed to be protected against swell and deformation. This soft robotic glove is equipped with two sensors; these sensors make the robotic glove more intelligent. In the hardware, it was used two sensors in the new closed-loop method which include an air pressure sensor in the figure tip and a flex sensor to measure finger flexion rate. Two closed-loop control system is developed to regulate inlet air pressure and regulate the angle of the fingers for the soft robotic actuator. A Model-Based Design (MBD) method is presented as a very cost-effective, favorable, and robust method. PID programming on an embedded controller is applied by MBD approach. The soft actuator process contains a molded wooden chamber and fiber reinforcement. Experimental results show that the proposed soft robotic has a soft gripping mechanism, accurate gripping against various objects during daily activities.