Adaptive PI-Fuzzy Like Control of a Stack Pneumatic Actuators Testbed for Multi-Configuration Small Scale Soft Robotics

It has become evident that pneumatic muscle-based robots are the most compliant of all soft and semi-soft robotic testbeds under investigation, despite the fact that the artificial muscle-based robot is the most challenging due to its hyperelastic behavior resulting from the constitutive elastic material. The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of a physical pneumatic actuation testbed and the application of control strategies for precision small scale soft robotics control. Moreover, an adaptive PI-Fuzzy like control is proposed for reference signal tracking. It is imperative to note that in this application, the controller's performance is determined by its ability to track a reference signal as well as its ability to minimize the absolute tracking error. The Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) controller, including the nature of the membership functions and the rule base, is described in detail. Simulations and hardware testing have revealed that the adaptive PI-Fuzzy like controller outperforms the traditional FLC controller in terms of experimental results. Additionally, the actuation speed is controlled under different loading conditions. It is considered that the proposed testbed is capable of controlling and managing multi-configurations of medium to small scale soft-based robots efficiently and effectively.