Energy-saving trajectory optimization of a fluidic soft robotic arm

Soft robots have attracted increasing attention due to inherent environmental adaptability and reliable human–machine interaction. However, there is relatively few research about their energy efficiency which acts as an important indicator. This paper firstly derives the time-domain model of energy consumption for a fluidic soft robotic arm. With the introduction of forward kinematics, the trajectory of the soft robotic arm is optimized for energy saving under motion constraints and solved using interior point method. A series of experiments are implemented to evaluate the performance of the proposed model and the optimized trajectory. The results show that the time-based model can capture the dynamical energy behaviors of the fluidic soft actuators under various motions. It is also found that the energy consumption of the soft robotic arm is effectively reduced when the trajectory optimization is applied. This work can provide further reference to the energy-based optimization of the soft robots.