Kinematic Simulation of Serpentine Soft Robotic Arm

Abstract

In order to meet the demands of complex spatial environments, a novel design of a linear-driven continuous-type robotic arm was proposed. Based on geometric analysis, a simple modeling approach for the linear-driven continuous-type robotic arm was proposed, analyzing the kinematic mapping relationships among joint units, actuation units, and operational units. Additionally, a decoupled kinematic algorithm for flexible joints was provided. The motion model of the robotic arm was established using an improved Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H) parameter method, and a motion simulation model of the robotic arm was constructed using Matlab. The snake-like soft robotic arm could accomplish the expected motion trajectory. Therefore, in this paper, we modeled and decoupled the soft body robotic arm by using the improved D-H parametric method. This method can simplify the modeling process compared with the traditional D-H parametric method and is more suitable for flexible structure robots. The kinematic solution and control process of the snake-shaped flexible robotic arm is more stable and reliable, which lays the foundation for further investigation of the motion control and practical application of the robotic arm.