Abstract
Manipulators based on soft robotic technologies exhibit compliance and dexterity which ensures safe human–robot interaction. This article is a novel attempt at exploiting these desirable properties to develop a manipulator for an assistive application, in particular, a shower arm to assist the elderly in the bathing task. The overall vision for the soft manipulator is to concatenate three modules in a serial manner such that (i) the proximal segment is made up of cable-based actuation to compensate for gravitational effects and (ii) the central and distal segments are made up of hybrid actuation to autonomously reach delicate body parts to perform the main tasks related to bathing. The role of the latter modules is crucial to the application of the system in the bathing task; however, it is a nontrivial challenge to develop a robust and controllable hybrid actuated system with advanced manipulation capabilities and hence, the focus of this article. We first introduce our design and experimentally characterize its functionalities, which include elongation, shortening, omnidirectional bending. Next, we propose a control concept capable of solving the inverse kinetics problem using multiagent reinforcement learning to exploit these functionalities despite high dimensionality and redundancy. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the design and control of this module by demonstrating an open-loop task space control where it successfully moves through an asymmetric 3-D trajectory sampled at 12 points with an average reaching accuracy of 0.79 cm ± 0.18 cm. Our quantitative experimental results present a promising step toward the development of the soft manipulator eventually contributing to the advancement of soft robotics.
Highlights
Activities of daily living (ADLs) refer to the daily tasks people should be able to independently accomplish[1] and are grouped into two general categories: (i) basic ADLs (BADLs) and (ii) instrumental ADLs
This has brought about an interest to the development of advanced assistive technical devices in order to promote independent living and provide the possibility to the elderly generation to improve their quality of life.[2,4,5]
This article aims to apply the powerful properties of soft robotic systems to design the first system to assist the elderly community in the task of bathing
Summary
Activities of daily living (ADLs) refer to the daily tasks people should be able to independently accomplish[1] and are grouped into two general categories: (i) basic ADLs (BADLs) and (ii) instrumental ADLs. Achieving these is a significant challenge for the elderly generation with chronic ailments and loss of abilities.[2,3] Initially, children took care of their elders; nowadays the majority of the population is dependent upon professional healthcare services This has brought about an interest to the development of advanced assistive technical devices ( referred to as assistive robotics) in order to promote independent living and provide the possibility to the elderly generation to improve their quality of life.[2,4,5] This work focuses on the development of assistive devices for BADLs, in particular, the task of bathing which. Literature reveals, that this area has been scarcely investigated, with only two commercially available technical solutions
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