Novel design of a contractible, tubular continuum manipulator

Abstract

Continuum manipulators have advantages in narrow space detections and operations than the rigid-body robots. In this paper, we novel designed a continuum manipulator with contractible/extensive abilities that give the manipulator more agile and flexible motion than those without these. The robotic system is composed of the continuum deforming body, driving tendons, and a mechanism. To enhance the displacement accuracy of the tendons and compact the package, the mechanism was designed as a controlled winding roller with rotation and translation motion. A prototype of the robotic system was made to evaluate the motion ability of the proposed design.