{"id":18,"date":"2022-10-17T15:25:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T19:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2025-04-27T08:43:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-27T12:43:19","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/SRC_banner_black-636x130.png\" alt=\"lab logo\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107 size-medium\" width=\"636\" height=\"130\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/SRC_banner_black-636x130.png 636w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/SRC_banner_black-1024x209.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/SRC_banner_black-768x157.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/SRC_banner_black-1536x314.png 1536w, https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/SRC_banner_black-2048x418.png 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Pre-Prints:<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Check out some of our recent work:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Dickson et al., &#8220;Safe Autonomous Environmental Contact for Soft Robots using Control Barrier Functions,&#8221; <em>arXiv:2504.14755<\/em>, Apr. 20th 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2504.14755\">https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2504.14755<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>The Soft Robotics Control Lab integrates the <em>embodied intelligence<\/em> of soft materials with <em>artificial<\/em> <em>intelligence<\/em> to make them move. We seek to answer fundamental questions about balancing these two methods.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Although physical contact with softer materials are intuitively more safe than rigid ones, how do we express that safety as as mathematical goal instead, and choose optimal actions?<\/li>\n<li>When robots are designed to conform to their environments, what morphological tradeoffs with precision and stiffness would best perform a complicated task?<\/li>\n<li>When soft materials are computationally difficult to model, how accurate do these models need to be for control?<\/li>\n<li>If softer robots are to assist in our everyday lives, how do we built them larger and stronger without sacrificing the benefits of softness?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We address these questions by three research directions:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Simplified Modeling<\/li>\n<li>Feedback Control for Safety and Interaction<\/li>\n<li>Design for Safety and Interaction<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>Videos on this page may take a while to load!<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>1. Simplified Modeling<\/h2>\n<p>Our group uses both physics-based methods and data-driven approximations to efficiently model complicated soft systems.<\/p>\n<p>For purposes of control, we can use <a href=\"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/abstract\/document\/10433745\">discrete differential geometry methods for fast simulations<\/a>, and incorporate approximations for smart artificial muscles. We have shown real-time simulation of a soft robot powered by shape memory alloy (SMA) muscles with low error. And if a soft robot is moving slowly, <a href=\"https:\/\/asmedigitalcollection.asme.org\/SMASIS\/proceedings-abstract\/SMASIS2023\/87523\/1171128\">a helpful approximation is static equilibrium<\/a>. We have also used static beam bending approximations as part of control for soft robot manipulators, and optimization-based methods for flexible cable-driven robots.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 1280px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-18-1\" width=\"1280\" height=\"704\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"\/srclab\/files\/2024\/03\/DisMech_2024-03-29.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"\/srclab\/files\/2024\/03\/DisMech_2024-03-29.mp4\">\/srclab\/files\/2024\/03\/DisMech_2024-03-29.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>2. Feedback Control and Safety<\/h2>\n<p>Robot safety is much simpler to express with artificial intelligence than embodied intelligence: if a control system can guarantee that a robot&#8217;s state remains within some bounds, we consider that to be safe. We have developed <a href=\"http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2208.01547\">verifiably-safe control systems for thermally-actuated robots<\/a>, keeping temperatures bounded even during human interactions.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 1000px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-18-2\" width=\"1000\" height=\"378\" loop=\"1\" autoplay=\"1\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/SoRo_FingerTouch_2022-11-10_2.mp4?_=2\" \/><a href=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/SoRo_FingerTouch_2022-11-10_2.mp4\">\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/SoRo_FingerTouch_2022-11-10_2.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>These controllers have been implemented in a <a href=\"http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2209.13715\">soft legged robot that can balance<\/a> without overheating its actuators:<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 1000px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-18-3\" width=\"1000\" height=\"400\" loop=\"1\" autoplay=\"1\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/HortonBalanceNoPlot_2022-11-11.mp4?_=3\" \/><a href=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/HortonBalanceNoPlot_2022-11-11.mp4\">\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/HortonBalanceNoPlot_2022-11-11.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We have also shown that computational methods, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/9682545\">robustness verification<\/a> and model-predictive control, can balance imperfect models with improvements from feedback:<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 1000px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-18-4\" width=\"1000\" height=\"400\" loop=\"1\" autoplay=\"1\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/RA-L_robustmanpulator_2022-11-11.mp4?_=4\" \/><a href=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/RA-L_robustmanpulator_2022-11-11.mp4\">\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/RA-L_robustmanpulator_2022-11-11.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p>For soft robots whose motions do not need to be exact, we could verify some safety properties in open-loop. We have developed methods for trajectory generation of soft robot limbs that <a href=\"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/9762226\">can safely mimic a human&#8217;s desired motion<\/a>:<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 1000px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-18-5\" width=\"1000\" height=\"374\" loop=\"1\" autoplay=\"1\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/RoboSoft_TrajOpt_2022-11-11.mp4?_=5\" \/><a href=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/RoboSoft_TrajOpt_2022-11-11.mp4\">\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/RoboSoft_TrajOpt_2022-11-11.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We have also developed <a href=\"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/9341008\">planning algorithms<\/a> for <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1002\/aisy.202200163\">dynamic motions<\/a> of aquatic soft robots, which can be used online:<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 1000px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-18-6\" width=\"1000\" height=\"400\" loop=\"1\" autoplay=\"1\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/FrogAndPatrickPathFollowing_2022-11-11.mp4?_=6\" \/><a href=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/FrogAndPatrickPathFollowing_2022-11-11.mp4\">\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/FrogAndPatrickPathFollowing_2022-11-11.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>3. Design for Control and Interaction<\/h2>\n<p>Implementing these control methods in hardware requires designs with <a href=\"http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2209.13715\">sensing and actuation for the robot&#8217;s full state<\/a>. Our recent work has developed soft walking robots with these capabilities:<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 1000px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-18-7\" width=\"1000\" height=\"400\" loop=\"1\" autoplay=\"1\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/HortonDesign_2022-11-11.mp4?_=7\" \/><a href=\"\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/HortonDesign_2022-11-11.mp4\">\/srclab\/files\/2022\/11\/HortonDesign_2022-11-11.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Our work has applied these sensing approaches for proprioception of a soft robot, so that we can detect contact by inferring the robot&#8217;s internal stresses:<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 570px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-18-8\" width=\"570\" height=\"480\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"\/srclab\/files\/2024\/03\/proprioception_shortened_2024-03-29.mp4?_=8\" \/><a href=\"\/srclab\/files\/2024\/03\/proprioception_shortened_2024-03-29.mp4\">\/srclab\/files\/2024\/03\/proprioception_shortened_2024-03-29.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, we have shown that our safe supervisory control system can be deployed to solve challenging design problems in soft robotics. In particular, by maintaining our smart muscles&#8217; states within some bounds, we can prevent functional fatigue. This in turn assists in control by maintaining a calibrated model for a long lifetime.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 1920px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-18-9\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"\/srclab\/files\/2024\/03\/SMA_Fatigue_RoboSoft2024_shortened_2024-03-29.mp4?_=9\" \/><a href=\"\/srclab\/files\/2024\/03\/SMA_Fatigue_RoboSoft2024_shortened_2024-03-29.mp4\">\/srclab\/files\/2024\/03\/SMA_Fatigue_RoboSoft2024_shortened_2024-03-29.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pre-Prints: Check out some of our recent work: Dickson et al., &#8220;Safe Autonomous Environmental Contact for Soft Robots using Control Barrier Functions,&#8221; arXiv:2504.14755, Apr. 20th 2025, https:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2504.14755 &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;- The Soft Robotics Control Lab integrates the embodied intelligence of soft materials with artificial intelligence to make them move. We seek to answer fundamental questions about balancing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20220,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/no-sidebars.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20220"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":489,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/srclab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}