Integral passivity-based control of an underactuated hydraulic soft manipulator with uncertain nonlinear stiffness

This work investigates the integral passivity-based control of an underactuated soft continuum manipulator that bends on a horizontal plane, that is actuated by pressurized fluid, and that is characterized by uncertain nonlinear stiffness. The main contribution of this work is the application of the integral passivity-based control methodology to a system that is not in affine form and that is subject to parameter uncertainty resulting in multiple position-dependent disturbances. The effectiveness of the controller is demonstrated with numerical simulations. Copyright (C) 2024 The Authors.