Closed-Loop Control and Disturbance Mitigation of an Underwater Multi-Segment Continuum Manipulator

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Walker, Kyle L., Chen, Hsing-Yu, Partridge, Alix J., da Silva, Lucas Cruz, Stokes, Adam A., Giorgio-Serchi, Francesco
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Walker, Kyle L.
Chen, Hsing-Yu
Partridge, Alix J.
da Silva, Lucas Cruz
Stokes, Adam A.
Giorgio-Serchi, Francesco
author_facet Walker, Kyle L.
Chen, Hsing-Yu
Partridge, Alix J.
da Silva, Lucas Cruz
Stokes, Adam A.
Giorgio-Serchi, Francesco
contents The use of soft and compliant manipulators in marine environments represents a promising paradigm shift for subsea inspection, with devices better suited to tasks owing to their ability to safely conform to items during contact. However, limitations driven by material characteristics often restrict the reach of such devices, with the complexity of obtaining state estimations making control non-trivial. Here, a detailed analysis of a 1m long compliant manipulator prototype for subsea inspection tasks is presented, including its mechanical design, state estimation technique, closed-loop control strategies, and experimental performance evaluation in underwater conditions. Results indicate that both the configuration-space and task-space controllers implemented are capable of positioning the end effector to desired locations, with deviations of <5% of the manipulator length spatially and to within 5^{o} of the desired configuration angles. The manipulator was also tested when subjected to various disturbances, such as loads of up to 300g and random point disturbances, and was proven to be able to limit displacement and restore the desired configuration. This work is a significant step towards the implementation of compliant manipulators in real-world subsea environments, proving their potential as an alternative to classical rigid-link designs.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_12508
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Closed-Loop Control and Disturbance Mitigation of an Underwater Multi-Segment Continuum Manipulator
Walker, Kyle L.
Chen, Hsing-Yu
Partridge, Alix J.
da Silva, Lucas Cruz
Stokes, Adam A.
Giorgio-Serchi, Francesco
Robotics
Systems and Control
The use of soft and compliant manipulators in marine environments represents a promising paradigm shift for subsea inspection, with devices better suited to tasks owing to their ability to safely conform to items during contact. However, limitations driven by material characteristics often restrict the reach of such devices, with the complexity of obtaining state estimations making control non-trivial. Here, a detailed analysis of a 1m long compliant manipulator prototype for subsea inspection tasks is presented, including its mechanical design, state estimation technique, closed-loop control strategies, and experimental performance evaluation in underwater conditions. Results indicate that both the configuration-space and task-space controllers implemented are capable of positioning the end effector to desired locations, with deviations of <5% of the manipulator length spatially and to within 5^{o} of the desired configuration angles. The manipulator was also tested when subjected to various disturbances, such as loads of up to 300g and random point disturbances, and was proven to be able to limit displacement and restore the desired configuration. This work is a significant step towards the implementation of compliant manipulators in real-world subsea environments, proving their potential as an alternative to classical rigid-link designs.
title Closed-Loop Control and Disturbance Mitigation of an Underwater Multi-Segment Continuum Manipulator
topic Robotics
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.12508