Abstract:
Continuum manipulators have proven their importance in applications requiring high articulation and their use in confined space usability. However, their control continues to remain a challenge. This paper proposes a novel control method for tendon-driven flexible continuum manipulators (FCMs). The proposed kinematic control exploits the fact that any three-dimensional motion of the FCM can be transformed into planar motion along a bending plane. Thus, a virtual actuation space is proposed with a virtual tendon and the angle of the bending plane as inputs with continuous adjustment of the initial state of FCM. A detailed formulation of the control methodology in the virtual actuation space is discussed in the paper. The methodology is validated experimentally for multiple positions with errors around 5% to 10%.