Dynamically Closed-Loop Controlled Soft Robotic Arm using a Reduced Order Finite Element Model with State Observer

This work presents a computationally efficient method to model and simulate soft robots. Finite element methods enable us to simulate and control soft robots, but require us to work with a large dimensional system. This limits their use in real-time simulation and makes those methods less suitable for control design tools. Using model order reduction, it is possible to create a reduced order system for building controllers and observers. Model reduction errors are taken into account in the design of the low-order feedback, and it is then applied to the large dimensional, unreduced model. The control architecture is based on a linearized model of the robot and enables the control of the robot around this equilibrium point. To show the performance of this control method, pose-to-pose and trajectory tracking experiments are conducted on a pneumatically actuated soft arm. The soft arm has 12 independent interior cavities that can be pressurized and cause the arm to move in three dimensions. The arm is made of a rubber material and is casted through a lost-wax fabrication technique.