Cooperative project by self-bending continuum arms

Abstract

Designing a multi-robot system provides numerous advantages for many applications such as low cost, multi-tasking and more efficient group work. However, the rigidity of the robots used in industrial and medical applications increases the probability of injury. Therefore, lots of research is done to increase the safety factor for robot-human interaction. As a result, either separation between the human and robot is suggested, or the force shutdown to the robot system is applied. These solutions might be useful for industrial applications, but it is not for medical applications as a direct interaction between the human and the machine is required. To overcome the rigidity problem, a soft robot arm is presented in this paper. Studying the structure and performance of a contraction pneumatic muscle actuator (PMA) is illustrated, then useful strategies are used to implement a multi PMA continuum arm to increase the performance options for such types of the actuator. Moreover, twin arms are constructed to organise a collaborative project depending on the performance abilities of the proposed arms and end effectors.