# Design Optimizer for Soft Growing Robot Manipulators in Three-Dimensional Environments

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.00368 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.00368/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 10 of its 104 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 31 Dec 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [A Minimal Developmental Model Can Increase Evolvability in Soft Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.07296/) (2017)
- [Task-Specific Design Optimization and Fabrication for Inflated-Beam Soft Robots with Growable Discrete Joints](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.04942/) (2021)
- [Constrained Motion Planning of A Cable-Driven Soft Robot With Compressible Curvature Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.08250/) (2021)
- [Vine Robots: Design, Teleoperation, and Deployment for Navigation and Exploration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.00069/) (2019)
- [Optimizing Modular Robot Composition: A Lexicographic Genetic Algorithm Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.08399/) (2023)
- [Retraction of Soft Growing Robots without Buckling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.11863/) (2019)
- [Human Interface for Teleoperated Object Manipulation with a Soft Growing Robot](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.12998/) (2019)
- [Design Optimizer for Planar Soft-Growing Robot Manipulators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.03374/) (2023)
- [Shared-Control Teleoperation Paradigms on a Soft Growing Robot Manipulator](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.00677/) (2021)
- [Stiffness Change for Reconfiguration of Inflated Beam Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.03247/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Soft growing robots are novel devices that mimic plant-like growth for navigation in cluttered or dangerous environments. Their ability to adapt to surroundings, combined with advancements in actuation and manufacturing technologies, allows them to perform specialized manipulation tasks. This work presents an approach for design optimization of soft growing robots; specifically, the three-dimensional extension of the optimizer designed for planar manipulators. This tool is intended to be used by engineers and robot enthusiasts before manufacturing their robot: it suggests the optimal size of the robot for solving a specific task. The design process models a multi-objective optimization problem to refine a soft manipulator's kinematic chain. Thanks to the novel Rank Partitioning algorithm integrated into Evolutionary Computation (EC) algorithms, this method achieves high precision in reaching targets and is efficient in resource usage. Results show significantly high performance in solving three-dimensional tasks, whereas comparative experiments indicate that the optimizer features robust output when tested with different EC algorithms, particularly genetic algorithms.