Variable Stiffness of Continuum Robotics: A Review

Variable Stiffness of Continuum Robotics: A Review

연구 분야: Artificial Intelligence

학회: International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Applications

Continuum robots have advantages such as strong adaptability, high safety, and excellent flexibility, allowing them to move flexibly in unstructured environments, thereby attracting extensive attention. In practical applications, continuum robots need high compliance to adapt to complex and narrow environments while maintaining a certain degree of stiffness to ensure stable and precise operations. Therefore the ability to achieve the transition between rigidity and flexibility in continuum manipulators is crucial for ensuring the safety of human-robot interaction and functional performance. This paper reviews the mechanisms of variable stiffness in continuum robots, including material-based methods, structural methods, and hybrid methods. The comparison of different variable stiffness methods is based on the application needs, design requirements, and performance metrics of continuum robots, including stiffening capability, response time, space occupation, and implementation safety. A comprehensive analysis of existing methods is provided, and future development directions are proposed.