Design of FDM-printable tendon-driven continuum robots using a serial S-shaped backbone structure

Tendon-driven continuum robots (TDCR) are widely used in various engineering disciplines due to their exceptional flexibility and dexterity. However, their complex structure often leads to significant manufacturing costs and lengthy prototyping cycles. To cope with this problem, we propose a fused-d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBiomimetic intelligence and robotics Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 100188
Main Authors Zhu, Kaidi, Lueth, Tim C., Sun, Yilun
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 01.03.2025
Elsevier
Subjects
Continuum robot
FDM printing
Mechanics modeling
Tendon-driven mechanism
Mechanics modeling
Continuum robot
FDM printing
Tendon-driven mechanism
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ISSN2667-3797
2667-3797
DOI10.1016/j.birob.2024.100188

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Summary:Tendon-driven continuum robots (TDCR) are widely used in various engineering disciplines due to their exceptional flexibility and dexterity. However, their complex structure often leads to significant manufacturing costs and lengthy prototyping cycles. To cope with this problem, we propose a fused-deposition-modeling-printable (FDM-printable) TDCR structure design using a serial S-shaped backbone, which enables planar bending motion with minimized plastic deformation. A kinematic model for the proposed TDCR structure based on the pseudo-rigid-body model (PRBM) approach is developed. Experimental results have revealed that the proposed kinematic model can effectively predict the bending motion under certain tendon forces. In addition, analyses of mechanical hysteresis and factors influencing bending stiffness are conducted. Finally, A three-finger gripper is fabricated to demonstrate a possible application of the proposed TDCR structure.
ISSN:2667-3797
2667-3797
DOI:10.1016/j.birob.2024.100188