Continuum robot control

Recent relevant papers:

C. Watson and T.K. Morimoto. "A Simple Dynamics Model for Cable Driven Continuum Robots with Actuator Coupling," In IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2025.

Y. Xu, C, Watson, J. Lin, J.T. Hwang, and T.K. Morimoto. "Shape Control of Concentric Tube Robots via Approximate Follow-the-Leader Motion." IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 9, no. 8, pp. 7198-7205, Aug. 2024.

C. Watson and T.K. Morimoto, "Learning Non-Parametric Models in Real Time via Online Generalized Product of Experts." IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters 7.4 (2022): 9326-9333.

Concentric tube robots (CTRs) are miniaturized continuum robots that are promising for robotic minimally invasive surgeries. Control methods to date have primarily focused on controlling the robot tip. However, small changes in the tip position can result in large deviations in the shape of the robot body, motivating the need for shape control to ensure safe navigation in constrained environments. In this letter, we propose a shape control method that approximates follow the leader motion and is applicable to arbitrary tip navigation tasks without requiring a predefined trajectory or specific tube design.

Many robotics problems involve phenomena that are difficult to model from first principles. We have developed an approach that is nonparametric, models uncertainty, and requires minimal hand-tuning. Our proposed algorithm offers a combination of benefits unavailable from other online learning algorithms, including the simultaneous online optimization of local model parameters, a clear and interpretable data partitioning strategy, and principled fusion of multiple model predictions without the need for joint training. In addition to comparing the performance of our algorithm to other online and offline modeling approaches in simulation, we also demonstrate how it can be used for online learning tasks that involve physical hardware and dynamic environments. We demonstrate online learning of the kinematics of a concentric tube robot in free space and in the presence of dynamic environmental constraints.

Report abuse