A Control Method for SMA Robotic Actuators

Soft robots show remarkable benefits over conventional rigid robots due to their high energy density and other factors. We propose a circular soft robot integrating the control system, actuating it with several shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators. Our research methodology involved connecting the DC voltage supply and L298N module to provide uninterrupted power to the actuator and thence control the actuator via Arduino Uno MCU and TOF camera. We designed the controller to simultaneously complete the positioning and manipulation tasks. A novel method utilizing visual servo and closed-loop control algorithm was proposed and integrated into the controller. This method involves the implementation of multi-gait locomotion using SMA actuators. Additionally, the development of closed-loop dynamic controllers for a continuous soft robot is also evaluated. The proposed control model is designed and simulated on the MATLAB tool. To verify the efficiency of the proposed forward-feedback controller, simulations and experiments were conducted in the current study. A new control method using PID control based on the Kalman filtering algorithm and visual servo for the SMA actuator designed in this research is introduced. We conclude that applying spike excitation voltage would benefit the actuating performance. Overall, the experimental results demonstrated a promising future for the purposed control method.