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Imitation-based Path Planning and Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of a Multi-Section Continuum Robots

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Abstract

Flexible robots have exhibited impressive features in working in congested environments due to their compliance behavior and morphological structure. However, designing motion planning techniques and robust control strategies that actively control their deformations are challenging in many applications. Thus, this article presents the learning by Demonstration (LbD) approach for planning the spatial point-to-point motions of a multi-section continuum robot. Via teleoperation, the human demonstrations are captured by moving the flexible interface with similar kinematics of the active robot in front of the Motion Capture System (MCS). Meanwhile, a Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) scheme is proposed based on the robot’s kinematic model to follow the reference trajectories while respecting the constraints imposed by the cable lengths and control actions. The simulation results prove the efficiency of the LbD approach in reproducing and generalizing the spatial motions of the robot’s tip and avoiding obstacles and external disturbances. On the other hand, the numerical simulations show the performance of NMPC scheme in terms of trajectory tracking and avoiding static and dynamic obstacles. Additionally, its robustness is analyzed by comparing it to the Pseudo-Inverse Jacobian Kinematic Control (PIJKC) while considering the constraints of cable lengths. Finally, the stability of NMPC is evaluated against input perturbations using the Monte Carlo simulations.

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Acknowledgements

Ibrahim A. Seleem would like to acknowledge the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for granting him scholarship to carry out his post graduate studies in Waseda University (ISHII lab) and fully support this research work.

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP22F21076, JP21H05055, JP19H01130.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

    Ibrahim A. Seleem & Hiroyuki Ishii

  2. Department of Industrial Electronics and Control Engineering, Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University, Shibin El Kom, Egypt

    Ibrahim A. Seleem

  3. Department of Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering, School of Innovative Design Engineering, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, Alexandria, Egypt

    Haitham El-Hussieny

Authors
  1. Ibrahim A. Seleem
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  2. Haitham El-Hussieny
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  3. Hiroyuki Ishii
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection, Analysis and methodology were performed by Ibrahim A. Seleem. The investigation was performed by Ibrahim A. Seleem and Haitham El-Hussieny. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Ibrahim A. Seleem and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ibrahim A. Seleem.

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Seleem, I.A., El-Hussieny, H. & Ishii, H. Imitation-based Path Planning and Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of a Multi-Section Continuum Robots. J Intell Robot Syst 108, 9 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-023-01811-8

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