A 3D Static Modeling Method and Experimental Verification of Continuum Robots Based on PseudoRigid Body Theory Continuum robots composed of elastic backbones have a broad application prospect in the narrow and restricted environment because they overcome the disadvantages of traditional articulated robots, such as being bulky and inflexible. Statics plays an important role in the planning and control of the continuum robot composed of the elastic backbone. PseudoRigid Body (PRB) theory has shown great potential in the description of flexible body statics. The PRB 3R model accurately describes the large deformation of the flexible body and has high computational efficiency. However, PRB 3R models mostly focus on the planar static modeling, and there are few applications in threedimensional (3D) statics. In this paper, a 3D static modeling method of cabledriven continuum robot based on PRB 3R theory is proposed. By introducing the equilibrium constraint equations of resultant forcemoment and bending plane normal of the elastic backbone, the state of the continuum robot is determined. The 3D static equations established by the proposed method take into account the comprehensive effects of the elastic force, external force, gravity and friction. A static verification experiment system of the cabledriven continuum robot is designed to verify the proposed method. The accuracy of the proposed method is verified by comparison with experimental data. The maximum position error between simulation and experimental results is 7.6%.

Design and experimental validation of a cabledriven continuum manipulator and soft gripper In this investigation, a cabledriven continuum manipulator as well as its soft gripper are designed and developed. The continuum manipulator is made up of two sections, including nine threading plates and eight spring steels. The four cables from the top to the end drive the Section I to bend and deform. The other four cables from the middle to the end drive the Section II to bend and deform. The grasping force and the wrapping area are both considering into the topological optimization process of the soft gripper in order to get a satisfying grasping performance. Moreover, the experiment system including the continuum arm, the soft gripper, and the cabledriven control mechanism is developed. The grasping performance of the soft gripper and the motion control of the continuum arm are validated experimentally.