Snake-Like Flexible Mechanical System With Applications in Exploratory Activities

Abstract

This paper presents a flexible mechanical system of the snake-like robot type. Our mechanical system is a hyper-redundant system consisting of 23 rigid solid-type elements (vertebra) actuated by means of 6 flexible wires. The developed constructive solution is intended to be a system with very high flexibility with applicability in various fields of activity in which exploration and operation in small or dangerous spaces is a priority. Also, due to the small size of the components, the geometry of the active surfaces, and the mode of operation, the proposed system can be a solution for medical applications such as Single Port Access (SPA) surgery. The virtual design is made using SOLIDWORKS software. The kinematic and dynamic simulation of the constructive solution is performed with the ADAMS software. The ADAMS-View module allows dynamic analysis on models that contain both rigid and deformable bodies, such as drive wires. Using dynamic simulation, depending on the mode of actuation (sequence and duration) of the elastic wires, the deformed shape as well as the working space of the flexible unit is obtained, which allows us to validate the constructive solution. Using rapid prototyping techniques based on the virtual prototype we will create a flexible mechanical system.