High speed vision-based 3D reconstruction of continuum robots

摘要

Continuum robots offer better maneuverability and inherent compliance and are well-suited for surgical applications as catheters where gentle interaction with the environment is desired. However, sensing their shape and tip position is a challenge as traditional sensors cannot be employed in the same way that they are in rigid robotic manipulators. In this paper, a vision-based shape sensing algorithm for real-time 3D reconstruction of catheters based on the views of two arbitrary positioned cameras is presented. Customized high-speed algorithms are developed for the segmentation and feature extraction from the images. The algorithm is experimentally validated for accuracy by measuring the tip position, bending and orientation angles and for precision by estimating known 3D circular and elliptical shapes of the catheter. Experimental results demonstrate good accuracy and performance of the proposed high speed algorithms.