Design, Modeling and Control of a Soft Robotic Arm

In this paper we present the design of a hybrid robotic arm using soft, inflatable bladders for actuation. Low cost switching valves are used for pressure control, where the valve model is identified experimentally. A model of the robotic arm is derived based on system identification and used to derive a linear quadratic Gaussian controller. A method to solve limitations of the employed switching valves is proposed and experimentally proven to improve tracking performance. The closed loop control performance of the robotic arm is demonstrated by stabilizing a rotational inverted pendulum known as the Furuta pendulum.