Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Soft robotic manipulators exhibit pronounced nonlinearities due to, for instance, hyperelastic materials and fluidic actuation. Hysteresis is one of the most challenging effects to model and compensate and can significantly degrade tracking accuracy. While data-driven and model-free techniques for hysteresis compensation have been explored, they require extensive experimentation that accelerates material fatigue and reduces long-term reliability. This work presents a model-based control scheme that estimates and compensates, in real time, the hysteretic elasticity of a soft manipulator. A state observer is designed to estimate the internal state in a Bouc–Wen hysteresis model. This is combined with a nonlinear controller designed with a Lyapunov-based approach. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate improved performance and better disturbance rejection compared to an adaptive baseline controller.
Source: Applied Sciences
DOI: 10.3390/app16083807
Authors: Afonso Dias, Kaiwen Chen, Enrico Franco
Institution: Imperial College London
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
OpenAlex ID: W7154363536