The long-term goal of this work is to develop transformative technologies for the actuation and control of mobile, soft robots in challenging field applications, such as disaster relief. This project is an innovative, feedback-based solution for enhancing soft-robot mobility. This solution is inspired by the caterpillar Manduca sexta, a remarkable, multi-segmented invertebrate that crawls, climbs and burrows in many terrains. Our approach is aimed at controlling the caterpillar-like, periodic movements of a fluid-filled soft robot, in which the robot's deformable structure makes it difficult to sense or model body configuration on-the-fly. The research has two specific research aims. Aim 1 will formulate a control design method for generating caterpillar-like gaits by exciting sustained oscillations (e.g., limit cycles) within a deformable, fluid-filled system. Aim 2 will quantify the in vivo kinematics of burrowing caterpillars to identify how they adapt their gait in response to rich patterns of tactile stimuli. New educational opportunities will be developed to foster interdisciplinary controls teaching for engineering and biology students.
Soft robots offer tremendous potential to enhance mobility, for example, by burrowing through debris or maneuvering through complex terrain not accessible to conventional rigid robots. The research will have a broader impact through its integration with the team's teaching activities. Major advances in soft robot technology are likely to come from insights gained at the interface between systems biology and controls engineering. Hence, existing courses will be modified to introduce undergraduate biologists to engineering control, and to introduce graduate engineers to neurobiology.
