For examining whether someone has for example breast or prostate cancer, a biopsy can be used, a procedure in which a small amount of tissue is extracted from the body for further examination. To improve the accuracy of a biopsy, multiple MRI-safe pneumatic robots have already been developed.
However, each of these pneumatic robots features different, on perfboard soldered hardware. In this research, a general, modular Arduino PCB shield is designed, which can be used on new pneumatic robots. The PCB features valve drivers, fiber-based light sensors, a pressure sensor, buttons and toggle switches. The light sensors, which can be used for light-based homing, required a new, smaller 3D design. The shield is tested on a new six-axis pneumatic robot arm, which uses only eight pneumatic tubes, as each tube is shared among three motors. Software was made that controls the robot in either a sequential or simultaneous way. A miniature, hand-moveable robot arm was connected to the controller which provides input angles that the robot arm should copy.
The PCB needed a minor fix for one trace. The new light sensor design is 3.07 times smaller in area compared to state of the art light sensors and homing was implemented successfully on one axis. The robot was able to copy the orientation of the miniature arm using either sequential or simultaneous control. However, more calibration is needed to translate the measured analogue values into position, as the angles show some deviation.