Task Space Trajectory Planning for an Articulated Dielectric Elastomer Soft Robot with Input Saturation and Underactuation

In this paper we propose a new trajectory planning algorithm for an underactuated soft robot based on dielectric elastomer actuators. The planning of the dynamic trajectories is addressed by accounting for the constraints imposed by the underactuated nature of the robot, the physical limits of its operational space, as well as control input saturation. After deriving all the feasible equilibrium configurations of the robot, a trajectory planning algorithm is proposed to achieve a desirable motion in the configuration space of the system. The obtained trajectories provide a feasible reference for trajectory tracking motion control algorithms. The effectiveness of the approach is verified via numerical simulations conducted on an experimentally validated, physics-based model of the system.