Johann Licher

Henrik Krauss, Johann Licher, Naoya Takeishi et al.

This work addresses open-loop control of a soft continuum robot (SCR) from video-learned latent dynamics. Visual Oscillator Networks (VONs) from previous work are used, that provide mechanistically interpretable 2D oscillator latents through an attention broadcast decoder (ABCD). Open-loop, single-shooting optimal control is performed in latent space to track image-specified waypoints without camera feedback. An interactive SCR live simulator enables design of static, dynamic, and extrapolated targets and maps them to model-specific latent waypoints. On a two-segment pneumatic SCR, Koopman, MLP, and oscillator dynamics, each with and without ABCD, are evaluated on setpoint and dynamic trajectories. ABCD-based models consistently reduce image-space tracking error. The VON and ABCD-based Koopman models attains the lowest MSEs. Using an ablation study, we demonstrate that several architecture choices and training settings contribute to the open-loop control performance. Simulation stress tests further confirm static holding, stable extrapolated equilibria, and plausible relaxation to the rest state. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that interpretable, video-learned latent dynamics enable reliable long-horizon open-loop control of an SCR.

Henrik Krauss, Johann Licher, Naoya Takeishi et al.

Data-driven learning of soft continuum robot (SCR) dynamics from high-dimensional observations offers flexibility but often lacks physical interpretability, while model-based approaches require prior knowledge and can be computationally expensive. We bridge this gap by introducing (1) the Attention Broadcast Decoder (ABCD), a plug-and-play module for autoencoder-based latent dynamics learning that generates pixel-accurate attention maps localizing each latent dimension's contribution while filtering static backgrounds. (2) By coupling these attention maps to 2D oscillator networks, we enable direct on-image visualization of learned dynamics (masses, stiffness, and forces) without prior knowledge. We validate our approach on single- and double-segment SCRs, demonstrating that ABCD-based models significantly improve multi-step prediction accuracy: 5.7x error reduction for Koopman operators and 3.5x for oscillator networks on the two-segment robot. The learned oscillator network autonomously discovers a chain structure of oscillators. Unlike standard methods, ABCD models enable smooth latent space extrapolation beyond training data. This fully data-driven approach yields compact, physically interpretable models suitable for control applications.

Johann Licher, Max Bartholdt, Henrik Krauss et al.

Dynamic control of soft continuum robots (SCRs) holds great potential for expanding their applications, but remains a challenging problem due to the high computational demands of accurate dynamic models. While data-driven approaches like Koopman-operator-based methods have been proposed, they typically lack adaptability and cannot capture the full robot shape, limiting their applicability. This work introduces a real-time-capable nonlinear model-predictive control (MPC) framework for SCRs based on a domain-decoupled physics-informed neural network (DD-PINN) with adaptable bending stiffness. The DD-PINN serves as a surrogate for the dynamic Cosserat rod model with a speed-up factor of 44000. It is also used within an unscented Kalman filter for estimating the model states and bending compliance from end-effector position measurements. We implement a nonlinear evolutionary MPC running at 70 Hz on the GPU. In simulation, it demonstrates accurate tracking of dynamic trajectories and setpoint control with end-effector position errors below 3 mm (2.3% of the actuator's length). In real-world experiments, the controller achieves similar accuracy and accelerations up to 3.55 m/s2.