Inspired by the locomotion exhibited by snakes, elephant’s trunks or octopus tentacles, continuum robots can follow complex paths even in confined spaces. They stand out due to their high miniaturization potential, especially using SMA wires as actuator elements which allow for reducing the size of the driving unit drastically. To be able to not only bend in a constant curvature, but to recreate more complex shapes, like an S-shape, it is necessary to stack multiple independently controllable modules onto each other. In this paper, we present the electrical, mechanical as well as the actuator design process of an SMA driven continuum robot composed of two independently controllable modules. First, characterization measurements as well as an outlook on the future work conclude the paper.
|