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Design of a Bio-inspired Extensible Continuum Manipulator with Variable Stiffness

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Abstract

This paper presents a continuum manipulator inspired by the anatomical characteristics of the elephant trunk. Specifically, the manipulator mimics the conoid profile of the elephant trunk, which helps to enhance its strength. The design features two concentric parts: inner pneumatically actuated bellows and an outer tendon-driven helical spring. The tendons control the omnidirectional bending of the manipulator, while the fusion of the pneumatic bellows with the tendon-driven spring results in an antagonistic actuation mechanism that provides the manipulator with variable stiffness and extensibility. This paper presents a new design for extensible manipulator and analyzes its stiffness and motion characteristics. Experimental results are consistent with theoretical analysis, thereby demonstrating the validity of the theoretical approach and the versatile practical mechanical properties of the continuum manipulator. The impressive extensibility and variable stiffness of the manipulator were further demonstrated by performing a pin-hole assembly task.

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Data Availability

Data available on request from the authors.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2018YFB1305400), the Major Research Plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 92048301), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52025054), and the Joint Research Fund between the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC) and Shen Zhen(No. U1713201).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China

    Dongbao Sui, Sikai Zhao, Tianshuo Wang, Yubin Liu, Yanhe Zhu & Jie Zhao

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  1. Dongbao Sui
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  2. Sikai Zhao
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Correspondence to Yubin Liu or Yanhe Zhu.

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Sui, D., Zhao, S., Wang, T. et al. Design of a Bio-inspired Extensible Continuum Manipulator with Variable Stiffness. J Bionic Eng (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42235-022-00213-0

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