The maintenance of critical industrial components is often hindered by limited access, tortuous passages, and complex geometries. In highly constrained environments, inspection tasks are currently performed with borescopes, but even skilled operators struggle with hard-to-reach targets, and the limited mobility prevents in situ repair when defects are identified. Thanks to an active shape control, snakelike and continuum robots can outperform borescopes for short-range inspection as well as enable intervention. However, their actuation technology limits their scalability in length, as longer bodies pose control challenges due to their intrinsically low stiffness and space constraints. To overcome the limitations of both borescopes and continuum robots, here, we propose a modular design at their intersection, with both active tendon-driven and passively flexible segments. The main elements of the novel design, including the actuation and control interface, are described, and the system is demonstrated in scenarios for aerospace assets, nuclear installations, and robotassisted surgery.

Troncoso, D., Robles-Linares, J., Russo, M., Elbanna, M., Wild, S., Dong, X., et al. (2022). A Continuum Robot for Remote Applications: From Industrial to Medical Surgery With Slender Continuum Robots. IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION MAGAZINE, 2-13 [10.1109/MRA.2022.3223220].

A Continuum Robot for Remote Applications: From Industrial to Medical Surgery With Slender Continuum Robots

Russo, M;
2022-01-01

Abstract

The maintenance of critical industrial components is often hindered by limited access, tortuous passages, and complex geometries. In highly constrained environments, inspection tasks are currently performed with borescopes, but even skilled operators struggle with hard-to-reach targets, and the limited mobility prevents in situ repair when defects are identified. Thanks to an active shape control, snakelike and continuum robots can outperform borescopes for short-range inspection as well as enable intervention. However, their actuation technology limits their scalability in length, as longer bodies pose control challenges due to their intrinsically low stiffness and space constraints. To overcome the limitations of both borescopes and continuum robots, here, we propose a modular design at their intersection, with both active tendon-driven and passively flexible segments. The main elements of the novel design, including the actuation and control interface, are described, and the system is demonstrated in scenarios for aerospace assets, nuclear installations, and robotassisted surgery.
2022
Pubblicato
Rilevanza internazionale
Articolo
Esperti anonimi
Settore ING-IND/13 - MECCANICA APPLICATA ALLE MACCHINE
English
Robots
Tendons
Motion segmentation
Inspection
Service robots
Maintenance engineering
Navigation
Troncoso, D., Robles-Linares, J., Russo, M., Elbanna, M., Wild, S., Dong, X., et al. (2022). A Continuum Robot for Remote Applications: From Industrial to Medical Surgery With Slender Continuum Robots. IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION MAGAZINE, 2-13 [10.1109/MRA.2022.3223220].
Troncoso, D; Robles-Linares, J; Russo, M; Elbanna, M; Wild, S; Dong, X; Mohammad, A; Kell, J; Norton, A; Axinte, D
Articolo su rivista
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/313561
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