Abstract
Smooth-backboned “continuum” robot structures offer novel ways to create robot shapes and movements. In this paper, we show how circumnutation, a motion strategy commonly employed by plants, can be implemented and usefully exploited with continuum robots. We discuss how the kinematics of circumnutation, which combines local backbone growth with periodic backbone bending, can be created using extensible continuum robot hardware. The underlying kinematics are generated by adapting kinematic models of plant growth. We illustrate the effectiveness of that approach with experimental results with a tendril-like robot exploring a congested environment.
Highlights
Continuum robotics has emerged as a new subfield of robotics [1]
We review the way this is done by plants and synthesize corresponding elements for thin continuum robot tendrils
This paper discusses a new and novel approach to motion planning for long, thin tendril continuum robots
Summary
Continuum robotics has emerged as a new subfield of robotics [1]. Continuum robots are biologically-inspired robots [2], taking inspiration from compliant structures including elephant trunks, octopus arms and kangaroo tails. Rather than being comprised of rigid links connecting joints, these robots incorporate continuous backbones. They have the capability to bend anywhere along their length. Thin continuum robots are sometimes termed tendril robots, defined as having an overall diameter that is orders of magnitude less than their backbone length. These structurally-compliant designs can access and explore areas that are either congested or narrow like densely-packed equipment, dense undergrowth or inside the human body [3,4,5,6,7]. A long, thin (relatively high length to diameter ratio) variant of continuum robots, directly inspired by plant tendrils [9], has been proposed for remote inspection operations [10]
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