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Modelling of a Soft Sensor for Exteroception and Proprioception in a Pneumatically Actuated Soft Robot

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Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS 2019)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 11650))

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Abstract

Soft sensors are crucial to enable feedback in soft robots. Soft capacitive sensing is a reliable technology that can be embedded into soft pneumatic robots for obtaining proprioceptive and exteroceptive feedback. In this paper, we model a soft capacitive sensor that measures both the actuated state as well as applied external forces. We develop a Finite Element Model using a multiphysics software (COMSOL®). Using this model, we investigate the change in capacitance with the application of external force, for a range of different internal pressures and strains. We hope this study is helpful in understanding the coupling of internal inputs and external stimuli on the feedback obtained from the sensors and help us design better sensory systems for soft robots.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the EPSRC National Centre for Nuclear Robotics project (EP/R02572X/1), the Innovate UK WormBot project (104059).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Advanced Robotics @ Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Abu Bakar Dawood, Hareesh Godaba & Kaspar Althoefer

Authors
  1. Abu Bakar Dawood
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  2. Hareesh Godaba
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  3. Kaspar Althoefer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abu Bakar Dawood .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Kaspar Althoefer

  2. Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Jelizaveta Konstantinova

  3. Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

    Ketao Zhang

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Dawood, A.B., Godaba, H., Althoefer, K. (2019). Modelling of a Soft Sensor for Exteroception and Proprioception in a Pneumatically Actuated Soft Robot. In: Althoefer, K., Konstantinova, J., Zhang, K. (eds) Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems. TAROS 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11650. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25332-5_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25332-5_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25331-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25332-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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