Design, analysis and trajectory tracking control of underactuated mobile capsule robots.

The research on capsule robots (capsubots) has received attraction in recent years because of their compactness, simple structure and their potential use in medical diagnosis (e.g. capsule endoscopy), treatment and surgical assistance. The medical diagnostic capability of a capsule endoscope - which moves with the aid of visceral peristalsis - in the GI (gastro-intestinal) tract can be improved by adding propulsion to it e.g. legged, magnetic or capsubot-type propulsion. Driven by the above needs this thesis presents the design, analysis, trajectory tracking control and implementation of underactuated mobile capsule robots. These capsule robots can be modified and used in in-vivo medical applications. Researches on the capsubottype underactuated system focus on the stabilization of the robot and tracking the actuated configuration. However trajectory tracking control of an unactuated configuration (i.e. the robotmotion)was not considered in the literature though it is the primary requirement of any mobile robot and also crucial for many applications such as in-vivo inspection. Trajectory tracking control for this class of underactuated mechanical systems is still an open issue. This thesis presents a strategy to solve this issue. This thesis presents three robots namely a one-dimensional (1D) capsule robot, a 2D capsule robot and a 2D hybrid capsule robot with incremental capability. Two new acceleration profiles (utroque and contrarium) for the inner mass (IM) - internal moving part of the capsule robot - are proposed, analysed and implemented for the motion generation of the capsule robots. This thesis proposes a two-stage control strategy for the motion control of an underactuated capsule robot. A segment-wise trajectory tracking algorithm is developed for the 1D capsule robot. Theoretical analysis of the algorithm is presented and simulation is performed in the Matlab/Simulink environment based on the theoretical analysis. The algorithm is implemented in the developed capsule robot, the experimentation is performed and the results are critically analyzed. A trajectory tracking control algorithm combining segment-wise and behaviour-based control is proposed for the 2D capsule robot. Detailed theoretical analysis is presented and the simulation is performed to investigate the robustness of the trajectory tracking algorithm to friction uncertainties. A 2D capsule robot prototype is developed and the experimentation is performed. A novel 2D hybrid robot with four modes of operation - legless motion mode, legged motion mode, hybrid motion mode and anchoring mode - is also designed which uses one set of actuators in all operating modes. The theoretical analysis, modelling and simulation is performed. This thesis demonstrates effective ways of propulsion for in-vivo applications. The outer-shape of the 1D and 2D capsule robots can be customized according to the requirement of the applications, as the propulsion mechanisms are completely internal. These robots are also hermetically sealable (enclosed) which is a safety feature for the in-vivo robots. This thesis addresses the trajectory tracking control of the capsubot-type robot for the first time. During the experimentation the 1D robot prototype tracks the desired position trajectory with some error (relative mean absolute error: 16%). The trajectory tracking performance for the 2D capsubot improves as the segment time decreases whereas tracking performance declines as the friction uncertainty increases. The theoretical analysis, simulation and experimental results validate the proposed acceleration profiles and trajectory tracking control algorithms. The designed hybrid robot combines the best aspects of the legless and legged motions. The hybrid robot is capable of stopping in a suspected region and remain stationary for a prolonged observation for the in-vivo applications while withstanding the visceral peristalsis.