A Geometric Variable-Strain Approach for Static Modeling of Soft Manipulators With Tendon and Fluidic Actuation

Renda, Federico; Armanini, Costanza; Lebastard, Vincent; Candelier, Fabien; Boyer, Frédéric

doi:10.1109/lra.2020.2985620

Cited by 79 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In [9], [10], a novel variable-strain approach has been presented to model soft manipulators driven by tendons and pneumatic chambers. This section aims to apply this technique to CTRs to obtain a minimum set of closed-form equations describing the system equilibrium.…”

Section: Variable-strain Ctr Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, a general soft robot is composed of flexible and rigid elements arranged in a parallel or serial fashion and capable of locomoting in the environment. A novel coordinate system has been proposed to model these kinds of systems, which discretizes the continuous Cosserat model of the flexible components onto a finite set of strain basis functions [9], [10]. This Piecewise Variable-strain (PVS) approach is a generalization of traditional robotics' geometric model [11] to the case of highly flexible or soft robots [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Sliding-Rod Variable-Strain Model for Concentric Tube Robots

Renda

Messer

Rucker

et al. 2021

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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In this work, the Piecewise Variable-strain (PVS) approach is applied to the case of Concentric Tube Robots (CTRs) and extended to include the tubes' sliding motion. In particular, the currently accepted continuous Cosserat rod model is discretized onto a finite set of strain basis functions. At the same time, the insertion and rotation motions of the tubes are included as generalized coordinates instead of boundary kinematic conditions. Doing so, we obtain a minimum set of closed-form algebraic equations that can be solved not only for the shape variables but also for the actuation forces and torques for the first time. This new approach opens the way to torquecontrolled CTRs, which is poised to enhance elastic stability and improve interaction forces' control at the end-effector.

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Section: Variable-strain Ctr Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Sliding-Rod Variable-Strain Model for Concentric Tube Robots

Renda

Messer

Rucker

et al. 2021

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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show abstract

Section: Variable-strain Ctr Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Equation (26) can be solved numerically for the unknowns p 1 and p θ2 that appear in F ij , ξ 1 , and g θ2 through equations (19), (20), (14), and (9). Note that the integration of (9) becomes very simple in this case.…”

Section: A Single Overlapping Sectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, a general soft robot is composed of flexible and rigid elements arranged in a parallel or serial fashion and capable of locomoting in the environment. A novel coordinates system has been proposed to model these kinds of systems, which discretizes the continuous Cosserat model of the flexible components onto a finite set of strain basis functions [9], [10]. This Piecewise Variable-strain (PVS) approach is a generalization of traditional robotics' geometric model [11] to the case of highly flexible or soft robots [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Sliding-rod Variable-strain Model for Concentric Tube Robots

Renda¹,

Messer²,

Rucker³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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<div>In this work, the Piecewise Variable-strain (PVS) approach is applied to the case of Concentric Tube Robots (CTRs) and extended to include the tubes’ sliding motion. In particular, the currently accepted continuous Cosserat rod model is discretized onto a finite set of strain basis functions. At the same time, the insertion and rotation motions of the tubes are included as generalized coordinates instead of boundary kinematic conditions. Doing so, we obtain a minimum set of closed-form algebraic equations that can be solved not only for the shape variables but also for the actuation forces and torques for the first time. This new approach opens the way to torque-controlled CTRs, which is poised to enhance elastic stability and improve interaction forces’ control at the end-effector. </div>

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Bioinspired Continuum Robots with Programmable Stiffness by Harnessing Phase Change Materials

Zhang¹,

Wang²,

Chen³

et al. 2023

Adv Materials Technologies

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are referred to as continuum robots. [1] Compared with traditional robots composed of rigid links and joints, continuum robots featured with both softness and compliance exhibit reduced complexity in interactions with the environment in application scenarios, such as minimally invasive surgery, [2] environment exploration, [3] and safe human-robot interaction. [4] As a promising candidate for constructing safe human-centered robots, continuum robots are shifting the mechanical design of intelligent machines from the sole use of rigid materials toward the use of compliant materials. [5] However, these robots are challenged by the inherent contradiction between softness and load-bearing capacity when dealing with stress application scenarios, since the carrying capacity of compliant materials is much worse than that of rigid materials. [6] Aiming at this inherent challenge in existing continuum robots, a hybrid robotic system that combines both soft and rigid materials may figure out the contradiction between the structural stiffness and shape adaption capability. [7] Tensegrity structures, created by Fuller, may provide a novel paradigm for the continuum robotic design. [8] The combination of rigid components and high softness endows this structure with desirable characteristics found in both classically rigid and Continuum robots offer significant advantages over traditional ones in some specific scenarios, such as urban search and rescue, minimally invasive surgery, and inspection of cluttered environments. However, motions and/or operations of existing continuum robots always suffer from those limitations in varying curvature interaction scenarios because of the homogeneity and singleness of the structural stiffness. Herein, inspired by the mechanism of an elephant trunk for regulating local stiffness, a three-segment continuum robot constructed by tensegrity structure, which relies on a stiffness tunable material, with its Young's modulus switchable between 1.79 and 271.62 MPa to achieve the robotic stiffness programmable characteristics, is proposed. For predicting the robotic configuration with varying stiffness distribution, a mechanical model based on the framework of the finite element method is derived. Theoretical predictions reveal that the curvature of each segment can be regulated by programming stiffness of the smart materials; therefore, the customizable design can offer an effective route for real-time robotic interactions. By evaluating motion characteristics, stiffness performance, and conformal interaction capability, the experimental results demonstrate that the robot can freely regulate the configuration on-demand, which may provide a foundation for the application of continuum robots with programmable stiffness for interacting with unstructured environments.

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A Geometric Variable-Strain Approach for Static Modeling of Soft Manipulators With Tendon and Fluidic Actuation

Cited by 79 publications

References 31 publications

A Sliding-Rod Variable-Strain Model for Concentric Tube Robots

A Sliding-Rod Variable-Strain Model for Concentric Tube Robots

A Sliding-rod Variable-strain Model for Concentric Tube Robots

Bioinspired Continuum Robots with Programmable Stiffness by Harnessing Phase Change Materials

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