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Design of a discrete bending joint using multiple unit PREF joints for isotropic 2-DOF motion

  • Special Issue: Soft Robotics
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Abstract

Miniature steerable robots are required for various medical applications. Although a typical continuum joint mechanism has a great advantage of miniaturization, it is difficult to have a small bending radius of curvature. With a discrete joint, it is easy to secure definite bending with strength; however, a coarsely structured joint cannot provide a stable distal rolling motion to the end-effector. This paper proposes a method to construct a 2-DOF discrete bending joint using multiple pulleyless rolling joints with an example of a 4-segmental joint. The effects of the stacking sequence on its performance are analyzed. Then, three evaluation criteria are established, and the best stacking sequences are determined. The proposed design method is valid for various numbers of unit joints, and it can be easily applied to the structural design of soft robots resembling snakes or elephant trunks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Daegu-Gyeongbuk Research Center, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), 1, Technosunwhan-ro 10-gil, Yuga-myeon, Dalseong-gun, Daegu, 42994, Korea

    Jung-wook Suh

  2. Daegu Research Center, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), 330, Techno-sunwhan-ro, Yuga-myeon, Dalseong-gun, Daegu, 42994, Korea

    Ki-young Kim

Authors
  1. Jung-wook Suh
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  2. Ki-young Kim
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Correspondence to Ki-young Kim.

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Recommended by Guest Editor Sungwan Kim.

Jung-wook Suh received the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea, in 2007, 2009 and 2013, respectively. He is currently a senior researcher at the Daegu- Gyeongbuk Research Center, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Daegu, Republic of Korea. His research interests include robotics and mechanism design for medical devices and robots.

Ki-young Kim received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea, in 2005 and 2012, respectively. He is currently a senior researcher at the Daegu Research Center, Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM), Daegu, Republic of Korea. His research interests include medical robotics and mechanism design of surgical instruments for robotic surgery.

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Suh, Jw., Kim, Ky. Design of a discrete bending joint using multiple unit PREF joints for isotropic 2-DOF motion. Int. J. Control Autom. Syst. 15, 64–72 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-016-0474-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-016-0474-z

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