Design, Validation, and Case Studies of 2D-VSR-Sim, an Optimization-friendly Simulator of 2-D Voxel-based Soft Robots

01/23/2020
by   Eric Medvet, et al.
2

Voxel-based soft robots (VSRs) are aggregations of soft blocks whose design is amenable to optimization. We here present a software, 2D-VSR-Sim, for facilitating research concerning the optimization of VSRs body and brain. The software, written in Java, provides consistent interfaces for all the VSRs aspects suitable for optimization and considers by design the presence of sensing, i.e., the possibility of exploiting the feedback from the environment for controlling the VSR. We experimentally characterize, from a mechanical point of view, the VSRs that can be simulated with 2D-VSR-Sim and we discuss the computational burden of the simulation. Finally, we show how 2D-VSR-Sim can be used to repeat the experiments of significant previous studies and, in perspective, to provide experimental answers to a variety of research questions.

READ FULL TEXT

page 6

page 10

research
01/23/2020

2D-VSR-Sim: an Optimization-friendly Simulator of 2-D Voxel-based Soft Robots

Voxel-based soft robots (VSRs) are aggregations of soft blocks whose des...
research
03/03/2022

Collision-Aware Fast Simulation for Soft Robots by Optimization-Based Geometric Computing

Soft robots are able to safely interact with environments because of the...
research
02/09/2022

Soft Robots Learn to Crawl: Jointly Optimizing Design and Control with Sim-to-Real Transfer

This work provides a complete framework for the simulation, co-optimizat...
research
04/14/2023

An Open Source Design Optimization Toolbox Evaluated on a Soft Finger

In this paper, we introduce a novel open source toolbox for design optim...
research
10/04/2021

Model Based Control of Soft Robots: A Survey of the State of the Art and Open Challenges

Continuum soft robots are mechanical systems entirely made of continuous...
research
02/02/2012

The implications of embodiment for behavior and cognition: animal and robotic case studies

In this paper, we will argue that if we want to understand the function ...

Please sign up or login with your details

Forgot password? Click here to reset