让模块化软体机器人能持续学习新形态,不丢旧技能。
A Continual Learning Framework for Adaptive Control of Modular Soft Robots

- 用持续学习框架实现控制器渐进适应新结构
- 仿真与实机测试中均实现精准轨迹跟踪
- 可选择性激活模块,降低计算开销,适合动态重构场景
软体机器人因其固有的柔顺性、灵活性和高自由度,在医疗介入、康复训练和机器人操作等领域备受关注。模块化软体机器人(MSRs)由多个互连单元组成,具有高度可变形和可重构的结构,能够执行复杂任务。然而,由于其非线性动力学、建模复杂性和超冗余特性,为MSRs设计控制器仍具挑战性。现有方法在机器人形态改变时需从头重新训练控制器。本文提出一种受持续学习启发的控制框架,能够在不遗忘已有知识的前提下,增量式适应机器人形态变化。该框架支持控制器按顺序学习新的MSR配置;对于固定构型的MSRs,也可分布式地学习各模块的动力学特性,实现局部控制并提升精度。通过仿真实验使用肌腱驱动软体机器人进行闭环轨迹跟踪验证,并在三模块气动软体机械臂上完成实地测试。此外,通过到达实验展示框架的自适应能力:控制器仅激活必要模块以抵达虚拟目标位置,从而降低计算开销。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Soft robots have attracted significant attention in applications such as medical intervention, rehabilitation, and robotic manipulation due to their inherent compliance, flexibility, and high degrees of freedom. Modular soft robots (MSRs), composed of multiple interconnected segments, represent an emerging class of robotic systems with highly deformable and reconfigurable structures capable of performing complex tasks. However, designing controllers for MSRs remains challenging due to their nonlinear dynamics, modeling complexity, and hyper-redundant nature. Existing approaches typically require controllers to be retrained from scratch whenever the robot morphology changes. In this work, we address these challenges through a continual learning inspired control framework capable of incrementally adapting to changes in robot morphology while preserving previously acquired knowledge. Specifically, the proposed framework enables the controller to sequentially learn new MSR configurations without forgetting previously learned ones. In addition, for MSRs with fixed configurations, the same framework can be employed in a distributed manner to learn module-specific dynamics, enabling localized control and improved precision. The proposed approach is validated through closed-loop trajectory tracking experiments in simulation using a tendon-driven soft robot, as well as on a real-world three-module pneumatic soft robotic arm. Furthermore, we demonstrate the adaptive capabilities of the framework through a reaching experiment in which the controller selectively activates only the necessary modules to reach a virtual target position, thereby reducing computational overhead.
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