Aerial manipulators have seen a rapid uptake for multiple applications, including inspection tasks and aerial robot–human interaction in building and construction. Whilst single degree of freedom (DoF) and multiple DoF rigid link manipulators (...
Background: The application of continuum manipulators as assistive robots is discussed and tested through the use of Bendy ARM, a simple manually teleoperated tendon driven continuum manipulator prototype. Methods: Two rounds of user testing were per...
This paper presents the design, construction, and implementation of a soft robotic system comprising a continuum manipulator arm equipped with a compliant gripper. Three main objectives were pursued: (1) developing a soft silicone gripper as an alter...
A parallel continuum manipulator (PCM) is a mechanism of closed-loop morphology with flexible elements such that their deformation contributes to its mobility. Flexible hexapods are six-degrees-of-freedom (DoF) fully parallel continuum mechanisms alr...
Aerial continuum manipulation systems (ACMSs) were newly introduced by integrating a continuum robot (CR) into an aerial vehicle to address a few issues of conventional aerial manipulation systems such as safety, dexterity, flexibility and compatibil...
This paper presents the design and implementation of a flexible manipulator formed of connected continuum kinematic modules (CKMs) to ease the fabrication of a continuum robot with multiple degrees of freedom. The CKM consists of five sequentially ar...
Aiming at the challenge of trajectory planning for a continuum manipulator in the confined spaces of gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) chambers during intelligent operation and maintenance of power equipment, this paper proposes a configuration space (C...
Hyper-redundant continuum manipulators present dexterous kinematic skills in complicated tasks and demonstrate promising potential in underground exploration, intra-cavity inspection, surgery, etc. However, the hyper-redundancy, which endows much dex...
We present the basic module of a modular continuum arm (soft compliant manipulator for broad applications (SIMBA)). SIMBA is a robotic arm with a hybrid structure, namely a combination of rigid and soft components, which makes the arm highly versatil...
Soft continuum robots and manipulators (SCRaMs) are elongated structures that can be used in many applications, such as exploration, inspection, and minimally invasive surgery. Multi-segment SCRaMs employ numerous actuators to perform their tasks. Th...
Continuum manipulators, with their characteristics of flexibility and dexterity, have gained significant interest in various applications across industries such as inspection, manufacturing, space exploration, and medical surgery. However, because of...
Reinforcement learning algorithms usually focus on a specific task, which often performs well only in the training environment. When the task changes, its performance drops significantly, with the algorithm lacking the ability to adapt to new environ...
In rigid lower-mobility parallel manipulators the motion of the end-effector is partially constrained due to a combination of passive kinematic pairs and rigid components. Translational mechanisms, such as the Delta manipulator, are the most common o...
In the field of rigid parallel manipulators, the Delta parallel robot is one of the most popular choices in the industry due to its ability to adapt to a wide range of applications, particularly pick-and-place tasks. In this paper, the authors presen...
Inspired by the characteristics of living organisms with soft bodies and flexibility, continuum robots, which bend their robotic bodies and adapt to different shapes, have been widely introduced. Such robots can be used as manipulators to handle obje...
The large number of joints in a continuum manipulator complicates its dynamic modeling, making model simplification inevitable for practical motion control. However, due to external disturbances and internal noise, a controller based on the simplifie...
This study presents a two-segment continuum robot with piecewise stiffness, designed to enhance the precision, adaptability, and safety of tracheal intubation procedures. The robot employs a continuum manipulator (CM) as its end-effector, featuring a...
Continuum robots have garnered significant attention for their high flexibility and adaptability to complex environments. However, achieving the same level of high-precision control as rigid robots remains a significant challenge. This paper introduc...
This article investigates the model-based control in configurations space of a soft continuum manipulator for minimally invasive surgery. The main control challenges for these types of systems are the presence of model uncertainties and nonlinearitie...
Soft continuum robots are compliant mechanisms that rely on a deformable structure in order to achieve a desired posture. One of the challenges in designing and controlling this type of robot is to obtain the necessary proprioceptive information with...
Current optical tweezering techniques are actively employed in the manipulation of nanoparticles, e.g., biomedical cells. However, there is still huge room for improving the efficiency of manipulating multiple nanoparticles of the same composition bu...
Continuum robots represent a class of highly sensitive, multiple-degrees-of-freedom robots that are biologically inspired. Because of their flexibility and accuracy, these robots can be used in maxillary sinus surgery. The design of an effective proc...
Despite research related to flexible or continuum curvilinear robots, there lacks a common simulation tool for continuum robots, which are unlike rigid robots. Thus, in this paper, a robotics toolbox is utilized to model a wire-driven flexible manipu...
Wire-driven continuum manipulators are gaining more attention due to their flexibility and dexterity features. In comparison with traditional manipulators, the continuum structure is compliant and safe for human tissue and is able to easily adapt to...
Continuum robots with outstanding compliance, dexterity, and lean bodies are successfully applied in medicine, aerospace engineering, the nuclear industry, rescue operations, construction, service, and manipulation. However, the inherent low stiffnes...
Magnetic continuum millirobots have presented outstanding potential in ultrahigh-precision engineering including minimally invasive surgery, due to their flexible mechanical structures and dexterous manipulation. Traditional continuum millirobots exh...
In the present work, a parallel continuum manipulator for trunk rehabilitation tasks for patients who have suffered a stroke was analyzed and redesigned. The manipulator had to perform active assistance exercises for the motor recovery of the patient...
Traditional rigid robot application in the medical field is limited due to the limited degrees of freedom caused by their material and structure. Inspired by trunk, tentacles, and snakes, continuum robot (CR) could traverse confined space, manipulate...
Magnetically controlled micro-robots hold immense potential for revolutionizing advanced medical applications, garnering significant research interest. This potential is underscored by the dual focus on magnetic control systems—both as driving...
In this paper, the design and testing of a novel valve for the intuitive spatial control of soft or continuum manipulators are presented. The design of the valve is based on the style of a hydraulic flapper valve, but with simultaneous control of thr...
Three-dimensional shape sensing in soft and continuum robotics is a crucial aspect for stable actuation and control in fields such as minimally invasive surgery, engine repairs and search and rescue operations, as the estimation of complex curvatures...
The appearance of all-dielectric micro–nano photonic devices constructed from high refractive index dielectric materials offers a low-loss platform for the manipulation of electromagnetic waves. The manipulation of electromagnetic waves by all-...
This paper presents a miniature manipulator under Cartesian control for minimally invasive transluminal endoscopic surgery. The manipulator had four degrees of freedom (DoFs) and a diameter of only 3.5 mm. The compact size of the manipulator allowed...
Soft continuum robots, with their flexible and deformable structures, excel in tasks requiring delicate manipulation and navigation through complex environments. Accurate shape sensing is vital to enhance their performance, safety, and adaptability....
This paper outlines the outcomes of a multidisciplinary initiative aimed at creating flexible arms that leverage key aspects of soft-bodied sea animal anatomy. We designed and prototyped a flexible arm inspired by nature while focusing on integrating...
Soft continuum robots, inspired by the adaptability and agility of natural soft-bodied organisms like octopuses and elephant trunks, present a frontier in robotics research. However, exploiting their full potential necessitates precise modeling and c...
A minimally-invasive manipulator characterized by hyper-redundant kinematics and embedded sensing modules is presented in this work. The bending angles (tilt and pan) of the robot tip are controlled through tendon-driven actuation; the transmission o...
Continuum robots possess highly flexible backbones, enabling remarkable adaptability and dexterity for motion in confined environments. However, this flexibility also introduces significant nonlinearities and uncertainties, making motion planning und...
Continuum robots (CRs) exhibit high compliance and environmental adaptability in confined, tortuous spaces, yet their inherent low stiffness and load capacity limit performance in precise positioning and stable support tasks. To solve the “soft...
Rigid robots have found wide-ranging applications in manufacturing automation, owing to their high loading capacity, high speed, and high precision. Nevertheless, these robots typically feature joint-based drive mechanisms, possessing limited degrees...
The rapid growth in the number of interconnected devices on the Internet (referred to as the Internet of Things—IoT), along with the huge volume of data that are exchanged and processed, has created a new landscape in network design and operati...
This study presents a topological design and modeling framework for 3D-printed robotic grippers, tailored for combined precision and coarse robotics assembly. The proposed methodology leverages topology optimization to develop multi-scale-compliant m...
Underwater manipulators are important robotic tools in the exploration of the ocean environment. Up to now, most existing underwater manipulators are rigid and with fixed 5 or 7 degrees of freedom (DOF), which may not be very suitable for some compli...
Bound states in the continuum (BICs) correspond to a particular leaky mode with an infinitely large quality-factor (Q-factor) located within the continuum spectrum. To date, most of the research work reported focuses on the BIC-enhanced light matter...
Bound states in the continuum (BIC)-based all-silicon metasurfaces have attracted widespread attention in recent years because of their high quality (Q) factors in terahertz (THz) frequencies. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate an all-si...
In order to plan for the future, we must understand the past. This paper investigates the manner in which both naturalists and the wider community view one of the most intriguing of all questions: what makes a species special? Consideration is given...
Preclinical studies provided some important insights into the action of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) in taste perception. This review examines the literature to uncover some molecular mechanisms and connections between GLP-1 and the gustatory codi...
The mechanics of an elastic sheet reinforced with fiber mesh is investigated when undergoing bilateral in-plane bending and stretching. The strain energy of FRC is formulated by accounting for the matrix strain energy contribution and the fiber netwo...
This paper presents a multi-axis force/torque sensor based on simply-supported beam and optoelectronic technology. The sensor’s main advantages are: (1) Low power consumption; (2) low-level noise in comparison with conventional methods of force sensi...
Soft continuum robots are constructed from soft and compliant materials and can provide high flexibility and adaptability to various applications. They have theoretically infinite degrees of freedom (DOFs) and can generate highly nonlinear behaviors,...
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