Model Predictive Wave Disturbance Rejection for Underwater Soft Robotic Manipulators

Kyle L. Walker, Cosimo Della Santina, Francesco Giorgio-Serchi*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeConference contributionScientificpeer-review

Abstract

Inspired by the octopus and other animals living in water, soft robots should naturally lend themselves to underwater operations, as supported by encouraging validations in deep water scenarios. This work deals with equipping soft arms with the intelligence necessary to move precisely in wave-dominated environments, such as shallow waters where marine renewable devices are located. This scenario is sub-stantially more challenging than calm deep water since, at low operational depths, hydrodynamic wave disturbances can represent a significant impediment. We propose a control strategy based on Nonlinear Model Predictive Control that can account for wave disturbances explicitly, optimising control actions by considering an estimate of oncoming hydrodynamic loads. The proposed strategy is validated through a set of tasks covering set-point regulation, trajectory tracking and mechanical failure compensation, all under a broad range of varying significant wave heights and peak spectral periods. The proposed control methodology displays positional error reductions as large as 84% with respect to a baseline controller, proving the effectiveness of the method. These initial findings present a first step in the development and deployment of soft manipulators for performing tasks in hazardous water environments.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the IEEE 7th International Conference on Soft Robotics, RoboSoft 2024
PublisherIEEE
Pages40-47
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)979-8-3503-8181-8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024
Event7th IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics, RoboSoft 2024 - San Diego, United States
Duration: 14 Apr 202417 Apr 2024

Conference

Conference7th IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics, RoboSoft 2024
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego
Period14/04/2417/04/24

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care
Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

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