Abstract
Stability and reliable operation under a spectrum of environmental conditions is still an open challenge for soft and continuum style manipulators. The inability to carry sufficient load and effectively reject external disturbances are two drawbacks which limit the scale of continuum designs, preventing widespread adoption of this technology. To tackle these problems, this work details the design and experimental testing of a modular, tendon driven bead-style continuum manipulator with tunable stiffness. By embedding the ability to independently control the stiffness of distinct sections of the structure, the manipulator can regulate it's posture under greater loads of up to 1kg at the end-effector, with reference to the flexible state. Likewise, an internal routing scheme vastly improves the stability of the proximal segment when operating the distal segment, reducing deviations by at least 70.11%. Operation is validated when gravity is both tangential and perpendicular to the manipulator backbone, a feature uncommon in previous designs. The findings presented in this work are key to the development of larger scale continuum designs, demonstrating that flexibility and tip stability under loading can co-exist without compromise.
Abstract (translated)
在各种环境条件下保持稳定可靠的操作仍然是软性和连续式操作器的开放挑战。无法承受足够的负载并有效拒绝外部干扰是两个限制连续设计规模的因素，这阻止了这种技术的大规模应用。为解决这些问题，本文详细描述了具有可调刚度的模块化索具驱动的珠子式连续操作器的的设计和实验测试。通过嵌入能够独立控制结构不同部分的刚度，操作器可以在末端效应器上调节其姿态，达到超过1kg的负载。同样，内部路由方案在操作远端段时极大地提高了近端段的稳定性，将偏差减少至少70.11%。当重力既与操作器主干成角度又与操作器底部成垂直时，操作被验证。本文的工作成果对大型连续设计的发展至关重要，表明在施加负载下，灵活性和尖端稳定性可以共存而不妥协。
URL
https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.01925
