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SUMMARY:Stay in control by letting go: The embodiment of behaviors in soft
 -bodied robots
DTSTART:20100706T110000
DTSTAMP:20260917T081923Z
UID:49b594c27bc2a48d958f783967e94a172546729edad209cde19e2031
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Huai-Ti Lin\, Tufts University\, Boston USA\nSoft structures i
 mpose a great challenge to any control system both in biology and robotics
 . With flexibility in the geometry\, the degrees of freedom quickly become
  unmanageable to monitor. Ground reaction forces data and gait analysis of
  caterpillars suggest that a soft-bodied animal may not rely on body posit
 ion as the primary feedback for locomotor control. Using a variety of sili
 con elastomer and shape memory alloy coils\, we implemented a soft-bodied 
 robotic system that requires no position feedback to generate stable locom
 otion. Such physical simulation led to three reasons why exact posture and
  environmental mapping is not ideal for controlling soft structures. First
  of all\, due to the nature of large deformation most mechanical propertie
 s in soft structures cannot be linear and therefore measured consistently.
  Secondly\, by definition\, a soft-bodied robot cannot force any particula
 r rigid posture and still be considered soft. Finally\, compliance and var
 iability enhance the robustness of the locomotion. Attempts to increase ac
 tuators for fixing the kinematics have been counter-productive.  For soft 
 robotics\, a systematic material tuning exercise may take the place of PID
  controller in traditional robotics as we learn how to “program” behav
 iors in structures and materials. 
LOCATION:MXF 1 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==MXF%201
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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