DEFORMATION MODELING AND SENSING FOR THE MANTLE IN OCTOPUS ROBOTS

Abstract

Soft robotics has experienced rapid development over the past decade. An important approach that pushes this field forward is the bioinspired approach. Octopus is an important inspiration origin of bioinspired soft robots. Until now, fruitful results have been achieved in the study of soft robot arms while little research has been done on another important part of the octopus body, the mantle. Deformation modeling and sensing are important aspects of the study of soft robots which play important roles in the design, control, and interaction. Based on these facts, the objective of this work is to develop a mathematical model and sensing approach for mantle deformation.