Modeling and Control of A Soft Circular Crawling Robot

Soft robots have exhibited significant advantages compared to conventional rigid robots due to the high-energy density and strong environmental compliance. Among the soft materials explored for soft robots, dielectric elastomers (DEs) stand out with the muscle-like actuation behaviors. However, recently, modeling and control of a DE-based soft robot still remain a challenging because of the nonlinearity and viscoelasticity of DE actuators. This paper focuses on the design, modeling and control of a soft circular robot which is able to achieve a 2D motion. To facilitate the design of a motion controller, a dynamic model of the robot is investigated through experimental identification. Based on the model, a feedforward plus feedback control scheme is adopted for the motion control of the robot. Finally, both simulations and experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model and control approach.