Affiliation:
1. School of Aeronautics and Astronautics Sun Yat‐Sen University Shenzhen 518107 P. R. China
2. Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen 518055 China
3. Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robotics and Intelligent Systems Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen 518055 China
4. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Human‐Augmentation and Rehabilitation Robotics in Universities Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen 518055 China
5. School of Mechanical Engineering Dalian University of Technology Dalian 116024 P. R. China
6. School of Advanced Manufacturing Sun Yat‐Sen University Shenzhen 518107 P. R. China
Abstract
AbstractContinuum robots offer significant advantages over traditional ones in some specific scenarios, such as urban search and rescue, minimally invasive surgery, and inspection of cluttered environments. However, motions and/or operations of existing continuum robots always suffer from those limitations in varying curvature interaction scenarios because of the homogeneity and singleness of the structural stiffness. Herein, inspired by the mechanism of an elephant trunk for regulating local stiffness, a three‐segment continuum robot constructed by tensegrity structure, which relies on a stiffness tunable material, with its Young's modulus switchable between 1.79 and 271.62 MPa to achieve the robotic stiffness programmable characteristics, is proposed. For predicting the robotic configuration with varying stiffness distribution, a mechanical model based on the framework of the finite element method is derived. Theoretical predictions reveal that the curvature of each segment can be regulated by programming stiffness of the smart materials; therefore, the customizable design can offer an effective route for real‐time robotic interactions. By evaluating motion characteristics, stiffness performance, and conformal interaction capability, the experimental results demonstrate that the robot can freely regulate the configuration on‐demand, which may provide a foundation for the application of continuum robots with programmable stiffness for interacting with unstructured environments.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Subject
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering,Mechanics of Materials,General Materials Science
Cited by
2 articles.
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