Towards a follow-the-leader control for a binary actuated hyper-redundant manipulator

Tappe, Svenja; Pohlmann, Jan; Kotlarski, Jens; Ortmaier, Tobias

doi:10.1109/iros.2015.7353820

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Further approaches have been presented for planar path following for hyper-redundant snake robots, e.g. [3], [4], [5], [6], and for binary actuated hyper-redundant robots [7]. An overview on snake robot locomotion can be found in [8], [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Considerations for follow-the-leader motion of extensible tendon-driven continuum robots

Neumann

Burgner-Kahrs

2016

2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

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Path following and follow-the-leader motion is particularly desirable for minimally-invasive surgery in confined spaces which can only be reached using tortuous paths, e.g. through natural orifices. While path following and followthe-leader motion can be achieved by hyper-redundant snake robots, their size is usually not applicable for medical applications. Continuum robots, such as tendon-driven or concentric tube mechanisms, fulfill the size requirements for minimally invasive surgery, but yet follow-the-leader motion is not inherently provided. In fact, parameters of the manipulator's section curvatures and translation have to be chosen wisely a priori.In this paper, we consider a tendon-driven continuum robot with extensible sections. After reformulating the forward kinematics model, we formulate prerequisites for follow-the-leader motion and present a general approach to determine a sequence of robot configurations to achieve follow-the-leader motion along a given 3D path. We evaluate our approach in a series of simulations with 3D paths composed of constant curvature arcs and general 3D paths described by B-spline curves. Our results show that mean path errors <0.4 mm and mean tip errors <1.6 mm can theoretically be achieved for constant curvature paths and <2 mm and <3.1 mm for general B-spline curves respectively.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Considerations for follow-the-leader motion of extensible tendon-driven continuum robots

Neumann

Burgner-Kahrs

2016

2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

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“…2 The computer controls every DOF of the hyper-redundant shaft via individual actuators, which are either embedded in the shaft or placed at the instrument’s base outside the patient. 10–15 Instruments with actuators at their base are easiest to miniaturize, the thinnest one currently existing having a diameter of Ø8 mm. 14 A drawback of using a computerized virtual track is that every DOF of the hyper-redundant shaft must be controlled by an individual actuator, with ten being the maximum found number of DOFs in literature of medical instruments.…”

Section: State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanical Follow-the-Leader motion of a hyper-redundant surgical instrument: Proof-of-concept prototype and first tests

Henselmans

Smit

Breedveld

2019

Proc Inst Mech Eng H

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One of the most prominent drivers in the development of surgical procedures is the will to reduce their invasiveness, attested by minimally invasive surgery being the gold standards in many surgical procedures and natural orifices transluminal endoscopic surgery gaining acceptance. A logical next step in this pursuit is the introduction of hyper-redundant instruments that can insert themselves along multi-curved paths referred to as Follow-the-Leader motion. In the current state of the art, two different types of Follow-the-Leader instruments can be distinguished. One type of instrument is robotized; the movements of the shaft are controlled from outside the patient by actuators, for example, electric motors, and a controller storing a virtual track of the desired path. The other type of instrument is more mechanical; the movements of the shaft are controlled from inside the patient by a physical track that guides the shaft along the desired path. While in the robotized approach all degrees of freedom of the shaft require an individual actuator, the mechanical approach makes the number of degrees of freedom independent from the number of actuators. A desirable feature as an increasing number of actuators will inevitably drive up costs and increase the footprint of an instrument. Building the physical track inside the body does, however, impede miniaturization of the shaft’s diameter. This article introduces a new fully mechanical approach for Follow-the-Leader motion using a pre-determined physical track that is placed outside the body. This new approach was validated with a prototype called MemoFlex, which supports a Ø5 mm shaft (standard size in minimally invasive surgery) that contains 28-degrees-of-freedom and utilizes a simple steel rod as its physical track. Even though the performance of the MemoFlex leaves room for improvement, especially when following multiple curves, it does validate the proposed concept for Follow-the-Leader motion in three-dimensional space.

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“…[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] These actuators can be embedded in the shaft near the DOF they actuate. [15][16][17][18][19] Embedding the actuators within an Ø5 mm shaft is highly challenging while maintaining sufficient power output at safe temperatures. With the addition of a transmission system, the actuators can also be placed outside of the shaft at the controller-side of the instrument, for example, using cables that connect the actuator placed outside the shaft to the DOF in the shaft.…”

Section: State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

The MemoSlide: An explorative study into a novel mechanical follow-the-leader mechanism

Henselmans

Gottenbos

Smit

et al. 2017

Proc Inst Mech Eng H

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Follow-the-leader propagation allows for the insertion of flexible surgical instruments along curved paths, reducing the access required for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery. Currently, the most promising follow-the-leader instruments use the alternating memory method containing two mechanical memory-banks for controlling the motion of the flexible shaft, which reduces the number of actuators to a minimum. These instruments do, however, require concentric structures inside the shaft, limiting its miniaturization. The goal of this research was, therefore, to develop a mechanism conforming the principles of the alternating memory method that could be located at the controller-side instead of inside the shaft of the instrument, which is positioned outside the patient and is therefore less restricted in size. First, the three-dimensional motion of the shaft was decoupled into movement in a horizontal and vertical plane, which allowed for a relatively simple planar alternating memory mechanism design for controlling planar follow-the-leader motion. Next, the planar movement of the alternating memory mechanism was discretized, increasing its resilience to errors. The resulting alternating memory mechanism was incorporated and tested in a proof-of-concept prototype called the MemoSlide. This prototype does not include a flexible shaft, but was fully focused on proving the function of the alternating memory mechanism. Evaluation of the MemoSlide shows the mechanism to work very well, being able to transfer any planar path that lays within its physical boundaries along the body of the mechanism without accumulating errors.

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Towards a follow-the-leader control for a binary actuated hyper-redundant manipulator

Cited by 20 publications

References 18 publications

Considerations for follow-the-leader motion of extensible tendon-driven continuum robots

Considerations for follow-the-leader motion of extensible tendon-driven continuum robots

Mechanical Follow-the-Leader motion of a hyper-redundant surgical instrument: Proof-of-concept prototype and first tests

The MemoSlide: An explorative study into a novel mechanical follow-the-leader mechanism

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