Continuum robots have excited increasing attention and efforts from the robotic community due to their high dexterity and safety. This paper proposes a design for a type of multimodule continuum robot equipped with an elastic backbone structure and tendon-driven actuation system. The kinematic model of the robot is formulated where the maximum bending angle of a module is obtained by identifying the interference between the backbone structure and the tendons. A superposition method is then used to determine the configuration space of the robotic module. Finally, an approximation method is presented to estimate the workspace of the tendon-driven continuum robot that reduces the computational complexity in comparison with the previously used scanning method. Experiments are provided to validate the proposed methods.
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June 2017
Research-Article
Workspace Analysis of Tendon-Driven Continuum Robots Based on Mechanical Interference Identification
Kun Cao,
Kun Cao
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: k.cao.tju@gmail.com
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: k.cao.tju@gmail.com
Search for other works by this author on:
Rongjie Kang,
Rongjie Kang
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: rjkang@tju.edu.cn
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: rjkang@tju.edu.cn
Search for other works by this author on:
David T. Branson, III,
David T. Branson, III
Faculty of Engineering,
University of Nottingham,
University Park,
Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
e-mail: David.Branson@nottingham.ac.uk
University of Nottingham,
University Park,
Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
e-mail: David.Branson@nottingham.ac.uk
Search for other works by this author on:
Shineng Geng,
Shineng Geng
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: Andy_2015@tju.edu.cn
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: Andy_2015@tju.edu.cn
Search for other works by this author on:
Zhibin Song,
Zhibin Song
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and
Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: songzhibin@tju.edu.cn
Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: songzhibin@tju.edu.cn
Search for other works by this author on:
Jian S. Dai
Jian S. Dai
Fellow ASME
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: jian.dai@kcl.ac.uk
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: jian.dai@kcl.ac.uk
Search for other works by this author on:
Kun Cao
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: k.cao.tju@gmail.com
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: k.cao.tju@gmail.com
Rongjie Kang
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: rjkang@tju.edu.cn
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: rjkang@tju.edu.cn
David T. Branson, III
Faculty of Engineering,
University of Nottingham,
University Park,
Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
e-mail: David.Branson@nottingham.ac.uk
University of Nottingham,
University Park,
Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
e-mail: David.Branson@nottingham.ac.uk
Shineng Geng
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: Andy_2015@tju.edu.cn
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: Andy_2015@tju.edu.cn
Zhibin Song
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory and
Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: songzhibin@tju.edu.cn
Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: songzhibin@tju.edu.cn
Jian S. Dai
Fellow ASME
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: jian.dai@kcl.ac.uk
Key Laboratory of Mechanism Theory
and Equipment Design of Ministry of Education,
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Tianjin University,
No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District,
Tianjin 300072, China
e-mail: jian.dai@kcl.ac.uk
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Mechanisms and Robotics Committee of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN. Manuscript received October 6, 2016; final manuscript received March 16, 2017; published online April 25, 2017. Assoc. Editor: Oscar Altuzarra.
J. Mech. Des. Jun 2017, 139(6): 062303 (11 pages)
Published Online: April 25, 2017
Article history
Received:
October 6, 2016
Revised:
March 16, 2017
Citation
Cao, K., Kang, R., Branson, D. T., III, Geng, S., Song, Z., and Dai, J. S. (April 25, 2017). "Workspace Analysis of Tendon-Driven Continuum Robots Based on Mechanical Interference Identification." ASME. J. Mech. Des. June 2017; 139(6): 062303. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4036395
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