Work

Elastic Stability of Concentric Tube Robots: A Stability Measure and Design Test

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: Concentric tube robots are needle-sized manipulators which have been investigated for use in minimally invasive surgeries. It was noted early in the development of these devices that elastic energy storage can lead to rapid snapping motion for designs with moderate to high tube curvatures. Substantial progress has recently been made in the concentric tube robot community in designing snap-free robots, planning stable paths, and characterizing conditions that result in snapping for specific classes of concentric tube robots. However, a general measure for how stable a given robot configuration is has yet to be proposed. In this paper, we use bifurcation and elastic stability theory to provide such a measure, as well as to produce a test for determining whether a given design is snap-free (i.e. whether snapping can occur anywhere in the unloaded robot's workspace). These results are useful in designing, planning motions for, and controlling concentric tube robots with high curvatures.

Source: IEEE Transactions on Robotics

DOI: 10.1109/tro.2015.2500422

Authors: Hunter B. Gilbert, Richard J. Hendrick, Robert J. Webster III

Institution: Vanderbilt University

Language: English

Topic: Soft Robotics and Applications

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

Award: Robotic Natural Orifice Skull Base Surgery