A generalised, modular, approach for the forward kinematics of continuum soft robots with sections of constant curvature

摘要

Continuum robots are an emerging class of manipulators which exhibit constantly deformable motion and the appearance of infinite degrees of freedom. These structures increase the scope of tasks achievable by robots with their ability to deform into infinite configurations, navigate unpredictable terrain and grasp unfamiliar objects. Often inspired by biological structures such as snakes, and elephant trunks, they exhibit movements which are smooth and have the ability to interact and adapt to their surrounding environments. One of the most significant challenges faced by designers of soft robots is that of being able to accurately predict and model their movements through time and space. This paper introduces a generalised kinematic model to incorporate the constant curvature property of many soft manipulators in order to represent their structure as a series of clearly defined arcs. From this representation frames can be assigned in a kinematic model, and used to design manipulators based on their required specifications in order to optimise their efficiency when implemented.