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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Schindler, Leon, de Payrebrune, Kristin Miriam
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.16138
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author Schindler, Leon
de Payrebrune, Kristin Miriam
author_facet Schindler, Leon
de Payrebrune, Kristin Miriam
contents The design of soft robots is still commonly driven by manual trial-and-error approaches, requiring the manufacturing of multiple physical prototypes, which in the end, is time-consuming and requires significant expertise. To reduce the number of manual interventions in this process, topology optimization can be used to assist the design process. The design is then guided by simulations and numerous prototypes can be tested in simulation rather than being evaluated through laborious experiments. To implement this simulation-driven design process, the possible design space of a slender soft pneumatic actuator is generalized to the design of the circular cross-section. We perform a black-box topology optimization using genetic algorithms to obtain a cross-sectional design of a soft pneumatic actuator that is capable of reaching a target workspace defined by the end-effector positions at different pressure values. This design method is evaluated for three different case studies and target workspaces, which were either randomly generated or specified by the operator of the design assistant. The black-box topology optimization based on genetic algorithms proves to be capable of finding good designs under given plausible target workspaces. We considered a simplified simulation model to verify the efficacy of the employed method. An experimental validation has not yet been performed. It can be concluded that the employed black-box topology optimization can assist in the design process for slender soft pneumatic actuators. It supports at searching for possible design prototypes that reach points specified by corresponding actuation pressures. This helps reduce the trial-and-error driven iterative manual design process and enables the operator to focus on prototypes that already offer a good viable solution.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_16138
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Cross-sectional Topology Optimization of Slender Soft Pneumatic Actuators using Genetic Algorithms and Geometrically Exact Beam Models
Schindler, Leon
de Payrebrune, Kristin Miriam
Robotics
Computational Physics
The design of soft robots is still commonly driven by manual trial-and-error approaches, requiring the manufacturing of multiple physical prototypes, which in the end, is time-consuming and requires significant expertise. To reduce the number of manual interventions in this process, topology optimization can be used to assist the design process. The design is then guided by simulations and numerous prototypes can be tested in simulation rather than being evaluated through laborious experiments. To implement this simulation-driven design process, the possible design space of a slender soft pneumatic actuator is generalized to the design of the circular cross-section. We perform a black-box topology optimization using genetic algorithms to obtain a cross-sectional design of a soft pneumatic actuator that is capable of reaching a target workspace defined by the end-effector positions at different pressure values. This design method is evaluated for three different case studies and target workspaces, which were either randomly generated or specified by the operator of the design assistant. The black-box topology optimization based on genetic algorithms proves to be capable of finding good designs under given plausible target workspaces. We considered a simplified simulation model to verify the efficacy of the employed method. An experimental validation has not yet been performed. It can be concluded that the employed black-box topology optimization can assist in the design process for slender soft pneumatic actuators. It supports at searching for possible design prototypes that reach points specified by corresponding actuation pressures. This helps reduce the trial-and-error driven iterative manual design process and enables the operator to focus on prototypes that already offer a good viable solution.
title Cross-sectional Topology Optimization of Slender Soft Pneumatic Actuators using Genetic Algorithms and Geometrically Exact Beam Models
topic Robotics
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.16138