DLR scientists receive Best Communication Award at the RoboSoft conference 2021
Congratulations to our colleague Cosimo Della Santina from the DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics and to Edoardo Milana from the
DLR institute for the Protection of Terrestrial Infrastructures
for winning the Communication Award at the
RoboSoft 2021 - IEEE International Conference
. Yale University/USA hosted the online conference. The jury recognises with the award the outstanding presentation and the poster presentation on the scientific paper "Model-Based Control Can Improve the Performance of Artificial Cilia". Other authors of the paper are Francesco Stella (TU Delft), Benjamin Gorissen (Harvard University) and Dominiek Reynaerts (KU Leuven).
Artificial cilia are miniaturised soft robotic systems inspired by the motion of biological cilia, which are the cellular appendages responsible for microorganisms locomotion and small-scale fluid propulsion. Analogously, artificial cilia can find applications in microrobotic swimmers and lab-on-a-chip devices for biomedical analysis. The efficiency of the ciliary fluid propulsion is directly related to the peculiar cilia movement, therefore a control system is paramount to assure optimal performances. In their communication paper, the autors present a model-based controller that enables artificial cilia to follow pre-determined optimal trajectories.
The artificial cilia considered in this work consist of soft inflatable actuators that bend when pressurised. The controller is thus suitable for any soft robotic system that is immersed in a liquid and composed of soft bending actuators.
This work is intended as a proof of concept, which will be further expanded in future work.
Publication
Milana, Edoardo & Stella, Francesco & Gorissen, Benjamin & Reynaerts, Dominiek & Della Santina, Cosimo. (2021). Model-Based Control Can Improve the Performance of Artificial Cilia. [elib]