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Development and analysis of a bio-inspired wire-driven variable stiffness double spring based tapered multi-section flexible robot

Alok Ranjan Sahoo (IT, IIIT Allahabad Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India)
Pavan Chakraborty (IT, IIIT Allahabad Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India)

Industrial Robot

ISSN: 0143-991x

Article publication date: 6 October 2021

Issue publication date: 11 February 2022

428

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a tendon actuated variable stiffness double spring based continuously tapered multi-section flexible robot and study its capability to achieve the desired bending and compression for inspection in cluttered environments.

Design/methodology/approach

Spring-based continuum manipulators get compressed while actuated for bending. This property can be used for the advantage in cluttered environments if one is able to control both bending and compression. Here, this paper uses a mechanics based model to achieve the desired bending and compression. Moreover, this study tries to incorporate the tapered design to help in independent actuation of the distal sections with minimal effects on proximal sections. This study is also trying to incorporate the double spring based design to minimize the number of spacers in the robot body.

Findings

The model was able to produce desired curvature at the tip section with less than 4.62% error. The positioning error of the manipulator is nearly 3.5% which is at par with the state-of-the-art manipulators for search and rescue operations. It was also found that the use of double spring can effectively reduce the number of spacers required. It can be helpful in smooth robot to outer world interaction without any kink. From the experiments, it has been found that the error of the kinematic model decreases as one moves from high radius of curvature to low radius of curvature. Error is maximum when the radius of curvature is infinity.

Practical implications

The proposed manipulator can be used for search operations in cluttered environments such as collapsed buildings and maintenance of heavy machineries in industries.

Originality/value

The novelty of this paper lies in the design and the proposed kinematics for a spring-based continuously tapered multi-section manipulator.

Keywords

Citation

Sahoo, A.R. and Chakraborty, P. (2022), "Development and analysis of a bio-inspired wire-driven variable stiffness double spring based tapered multi-section flexible robot", Industrial Robot, Vol. 49 No. 2, pp. 187-199. https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-04-2021-0070

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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