Shape sensing of variable stiffness soft robots using electrical impedance tomography
File(s)1904.02429v1.pdf (891.43 KB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Avery, James
Runciman, Mark
Darzi, Ara
Mylonas, George P
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
Soft robotic systems offer benefits over traditional rigid systems through reduced contact trauma with soft tissues and by enabling access through tortuous paths in minimally invasive surgery. However, the inherent deformability of soft robots places both a greater onus on accurate modelling of their shape, and greater challenges in realising intraoperative shape sensing. Herein we present a proprioceptive (self-sensing) soft actuator, with an electrically conductive working fluid. Electrical impedance measurements from up to six electrodes enabled tomographic reconstructions using Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT). A new Frequency Division Multiplexed (FDM) EIT system was developed capable of measurements of 66 dB SNR with 20 ms temporal resolution. The concept was examined in two two-degree-of-freedom designs: a hydraulic hinged actuator and a pneumatic finger actuator with hydraulic beams. Both cases demonstrated that impedance measurements could be used to infer shape changes, and EIT images reconstructed during actuation showed distinct patterns with respect to each degree of freedom (DOF). Whilst there was some mechanical hysteresis observed, the repeatability of the measurements and resultant images was high. The results show the potential of FDM-EIT as a low-cost, low profile shape sensor in soft robots.
Editor(s)
Howard, A
Althoefer, K
Arai, F
Arrichiello, F
Caputo, B
Castellanos, J
Hauser, K
Isler, V
Kim, J
Liu, H
Oh, P
Santos, V
Scaramuzza, D
Ude, A
Voyles, R
Yamane, K
Okamura, A
Date Issued
2019-08-12
Date Acceptance
2019-05-01
Citation
2019 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION (ICRA), 2019, pp.9066-9072
ISSN
1050-4729
Publisher
IEEE
Start Page
9066
End Page
9072
Journal / Book Title
2019 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION (ICRA)
Copyright Statement
© 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
Sponsor
National Institute for Health Research
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000494942306095&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Grant Number
NF SI 061710038
Source
International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Automation & Control Systems
Robotics
Publication Status
Published
Start Date
2019-05-20
Finish Date
2019-05-24
Coverage Spatial
Montreal, CANADA
Date Publish Online
2019-08-12