GesSo: A Steerable Soft-Bodied Robot Based on Gesture Control

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This is a Matlab simulator that allows you to play with a virtual soft robot using a Leap Motion - if you have one - in real-time maneuvering.

Preparation

To run the code, ensure that you have:

• A Leap Motion Controller [Where to buy]
• Leap Motion SDK
• MATLAB, proabably 2015 or above. I am using the 2020.
• In Matlab:
  • Include the GesSo and its subfiles in the path
  • Use Visual Studio as C++ compiler for MEX files. In command windows, type mex -setup cpp and select Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 as the complier.

How

Step 1 - Download this GesSo repo

Step 2 - Run main_xxxx.m

Step 3 - You will see the drawnow figure window showing a real-time animation of a soft robot with two segment, and on a linear slide.

Test the Matleap - Hand Detection with Kalman Filter and LPF-SLERP

• Run the play_hand_kalman.m in the hand_matleap file. You will see the performance of hand motion estimation/filtering.

Customization

• The physical parameters - such as bending stiffness, segment length, etc. - can be cumstomized in the drawAnimation.m in the misc file. You can make it softer or stiffer, longer or shorter.
• A Matlab interface to show the gesture reading using matleap is written in drawHandFrame.m in the misc.