Abstract
The Continuum Robot has a multiredundant dof structure, which is extremely advantageous in the unstructured environment, and can complete such tasks as aircraft fuel tank inspection. However, due to its complex kinematics and coupling of joint motion, its motion path planning is also a challenging task. In this paper, a path planning method for Continuum Robot based on an equal curvature model in an aircraft fuel tank environment is proposed. Considering the complexity of calculation and the structural characteristics of Continuum Robot, a feasible obstacle avoidance discrete path is obtained by using the improved RRT algorithm. Then, joint fitting is performed on the existing discrete path according to the kinematic model of Continuum Robot, joint obstacle avoidance was conducted in the process of fitting, and finally, a motion path suitable for the Continuum Robot was selected. A reasonable experiment is designed based on MATLAB, and simulation and analysis results demonstrate excellent performance of this method and feasibility of path planning.
Highlights
In the fuel tank of civil aviation aircraft, there are a large number of obstacles such as tubing, diaphragm, and stringers, as well as a large number of flammable and explosive gases
Compared with the traditional rigid connecting rod robot, the Continuum Robot has the characteristics of multiple redundant degrees of freedom and the separation of the driver and controller, which can theoretically reach any point in space [2, 3]. erefore, it is more flexible, safe, and suitable for aircraft fuel tank inspection tasks [4]
E entry direction of the Continuum Robot is perpendicular to the inlet direction of the aircraft fuel tank. e first joint fitting was performed within the range of singlejoint accessibility. en, the joint fitting is carried out on the basis of this joint, and obstacles are effectively avoided in the fitting process, until it reaches the point near the target, where formula (4) is satisfied, and once path planning is completed
Summary
In the fuel tank of civil aviation aircraft, there are a large number of obstacles such as tubing, diaphragm, and stringers, as well as a large number of flammable and explosive gases. Deng et al proposed a path planning method based on spatial configuration diagram, discretized the workspace into unit cubes, and used Bellman–Ford algorithm to find and generate smooth paths [21] This algorithm may lead to no solution, it is and easy to make the path excessive bending, resulting in wasted joints. Researchers have proposed many algorithms for path planning of Continuum Robots, but they are not directly applicable to aircraft fuel tank inspection environments; the project team proposed a method of dimension reduction and region clipping to simplify path planning and projected the obstacle space into a two-dimensional plane, simplifying the obstacle avoidance task [4]. Is paper proposes a path planning method for Continuum Robots, which can avoid obstacles and complete path planning for Continuum Robots in complex fuel tank environment and can be used for inspection of aircraft fuel tank compartments and multiple compartments. E second part introduces the path planning method of Continuum Robot. e third part designs the path planning experiment of Continuum Robot and carries out the simulation verification
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