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Variable Stiffness and Impedance Control of a Soft Pneumatic Actuator With Tunable Collision Dynamics and Trajectory Following.

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Title: Variable Stiffness and Impedance Control of a Soft Pneumatic Actuator With Tunable Collision Dynamics and Trajectory Following.
Authors: Kim, Sung Y.1 sung.joel.kim@gmail.com, Kumar, Nithin S.1 nithin.s.kumar@vanderbilt.edu, Barth, Eric J.1 eric.j.barth@vanderbilt.edu
Source: Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, & Control. May2026, Vol. 148 Issue 3, p1-13. 13p.
Subjects: Pneumatic actuators, Impedance control, Stiffness (Engineering), Robotic trajectory control, Soft robotics, Impact (Mechanics), Adaptive control systems
Abstract: State-of-the-art soft manipulators are unable to vary stiffness continuously, are complex to manufacture, and have limited control bandwidth. In this work, we present a novel planar bidirectional pneumatically actuated soft manipulator that advances all three limitations--the stiffness is continuously tunable by a factor of 1.6, the actuator is manufactured from a single 3D print, and we are able to demonstrate free-space tracking of a time-varying signal. We are also able to modify the impedance of the actuator during a collision using a dynamic model-based feed-forward and feedback controller and demonstrate an increase in virtual stiffness by a factor of 4. The incorporation of feedback resulted in 0.7mm tip position root-mean-square error (RMSE) (a reduction of 47% over the purely feed-forward controller) while tracking a 5'mm amplitude sinusoid up to 0.75'Hz across the entire stiffness range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, & Control is the property of American Society of Mechanical Engineers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
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PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
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  Data: Variable Stiffness and Impedance Control of a Soft Pneumatic Actuator With Tunable Collision Dynamics and Trajectory Following.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kim%2C+Sung+Y%2E%22">Kim, Sung Y.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> sung.joel.kim@gmail.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kumar%2C+Nithin+S%2E%22">Kumar, Nithin S.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> nithin.s.kumar@vanderbilt.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Barth%2C+Eric+J%2E%22">Barth, Eric J.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> eric.j.barth@vanderbilt.edu</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Dynamic+Systems%2C+Measurement%2C+%26+Control%22">Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, & Control</searchLink>. May2026, Vol. 148 Issue 3, p1-13. 13p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pneumatic+actuators%22">Pneumatic actuators</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Impedance+control%22">Impedance control</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Stiffness+%28Engineering%29%22">Stiffness (Engineering)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Robotic+trajectory+control%22">Robotic trajectory control</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Soft+robotics%22">Soft robotics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Impact+%28Mechanics%29%22">Impact (Mechanics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adaptive+control+systems%22">Adaptive control systems</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: State-of-the-art soft manipulators are unable to vary stiffness continuously, are complex to manufacture, and have limited control bandwidth. In this work, we present a novel planar bidirectional pneumatically actuated soft manipulator that advances all three limitations--the stiffness is continuously tunable by a factor of 1.6, the actuator is manufactured from a single 3D print, and we are able to demonstrate free-space tracking of a time-varying signal. We are also able to modify the impedance of the actuator during a collision using a dynamic model-based feed-forward and feedback controller and demonstrate an increase in virtual stiffness by a factor of 4. The incorporation of feedback resulted in 0.7mm tip position root-mean-square error (RMSE) (a reduction of 47% over the purely feed-forward controller) while tracking a 5'mm amplitude sinusoid up to 0.75'Hz across the entire stiffness range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, & Control is the property of American Society of Mechanical Engineers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1115/1.4070266
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 13
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    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Pneumatic actuators
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Impedance control
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Stiffness (Engineering)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Robotic trajectory control
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Soft robotics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Impact (Mechanics)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Adaptive control systems
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Variable Stiffness and Impedance Control of a Soft Pneumatic Actuator With Tunable Collision Dynamics and Trajectory Following.
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            NameFull: Kim, Sung Y.
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            NameFull: Kumar, Nithin S.
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            NameFull: Barth, Eric J.
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            – D: 01
              M: 05
              Text: May2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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              Value: 148
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            – TitleFull: Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, & Control
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