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Autori principali: Johnson, Curtis C., Clawson, Andrew, Killpack, Marc D.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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Accesso online:https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.08420
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author Johnson, Curtis C.
Clawson, Andrew
Killpack, Marc D.
author_facet Johnson, Curtis C.
Clawson, Andrew
Killpack, Marc D.
contents Soft robotic actuators can simplify the design of controllers when operating in contact-rich environments. Importantly, their passive compliance fundamentally alters contact mechanics by smoothing impacts and distributing forces over large areas. By integrating soft actuators, we can perform high-impact, dynamic, and contact-rich tasks that are challenging or impossible for traditional rigid robots. In order to explore the benefits of passive structural compliance and learn to utilize it effectively, we present a prototype robotic torso named Baloo. Baloo's hybrid soft-rigid design incorporates both adaptability from soft components and strength from rigid components with two meter-long, pneumatic robot arms mounted on a rigid torso. The hybrid design is capable of lifting end effector payloads of up to 19 kg, far exceeding many hybrid robot designs. Such payloads are competitive with similar-sized rigid robots, but with a much higher strength-to-weight ratio. Through 30 physical whole-body grasping experiments, we also demonstrate how a simple control strategy can generalize for effective lifting across six challenging objects with diverse shapes, sizes, and weights. A 100% success rate across all objects--achieved with the simple control strategy--underscores the potential of our hybrid soft-rigid robot design for contact-rich, whole-body tasks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_08420
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Baloo: A Large-Scale Hybrid Soft Robotic Torso for Whole-Arm Manipulation
Johnson, Curtis C.
Clawson, Andrew
Killpack, Marc D.
Robotics
Soft robotic actuators can simplify the design of controllers when operating in contact-rich environments. Importantly, their passive compliance fundamentally alters contact mechanics by smoothing impacts and distributing forces over large areas. By integrating soft actuators, we can perform high-impact, dynamic, and contact-rich tasks that are challenging or impossible for traditional rigid robots. In order to explore the benefits of passive structural compliance and learn to utilize it effectively, we present a prototype robotic torso named Baloo. Baloo's hybrid soft-rigid design incorporates both adaptability from soft components and strength from rigid components with two meter-long, pneumatic robot arms mounted on a rigid torso. The hybrid design is capable of lifting end effector payloads of up to 19 kg, far exceeding many hybrid robot designs. Such payloads are competitive with similar-sized rigid robots, but with a much higher strength-to-weight ratio. Through 30 physical whole-body grasping experiments, we also demonstrate how a simple control strategy can generalize for effective lifting across six challenging objects with diverse shapes, sizes, and weights. A 100% success rate across all objects--achieved with the simple control strategy--underscores the potential of our hybrid soft-rigid robot design for contact-rich, whole-body tasks.
title Baloo: A Large-Scale Hybrid Soft Robotic Torso for Whole-Arm Manipulation
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.08420