Patent ID: 11897129
Assignee: VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
Field: Handling (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 13:
14. A system comprising:
a bendably articulatable body;
a movement actuator configured to
controllably adjust a bending movement of the bendably articulatable body through direct actuation by adjustably applying a bending force to the bendably articulatable body, and

controllably adjust the bending movement of the bendably articulatable body through indirect actuation by controllably adjusting a flexural rigidity of the bendably articulatable body; and
an electronic controller configured to control movement of the bendably articulatable body by providing control signals to the movement actuator, wherein the electronic controller is configured to:
operate the movement actuator under macro-scale control by adjusting the bending force applied to the bendably articulatable body until the bendably articulatable body bends to an intermediate position within a threshold distance of a target position, and
operate the movement actuator under micro-scale control by adjusting the flexural rigidity of the bendably articulatable body until the bendably articulatable body bends from the intermediate position to the target position.