WHAT IS A CONTINUUM ROBOT?
History
Continuum robots are a type of joint-less robots that utilize a continuous backbone for rigidity. The very first version of a continuum robot was the tensor arm manipulator invented in 1968 by V.C.Anderson. It was a spine-like elephant trunk arm controlled via a large number nylon micro-filaments.
Features
Unlike the most robots with discrete mechanisms that were inspired by human limbs, continuum (or serpentine) robots can bend through a series of continuous arcs like snakes or biological tentacles. This feature allows the robot to do more special movements, such as grasp and dance. For example, the picture on the right shows a continuum robot grasping a glass object. It is able to adapt to the object's shape with its compliant backbone [1]. If you want to observe how exactly the robot moves, please check our Videos page to see more demo videos of continuum robot applications.
Applications
Continuum robots' flexibility lends itself to various applications in different industries, such as nuclear repair and maintenance, aerospace manufacture and assembly, as well as robotic surgery like endoscopy. With the deepening of people's cognition of bionics, the prospect of continuum robots is very broad.
WHY CHOOSE OUR DIY INSTRUCTIONS?
The continuum robot technology is currently widely used in research but an accessible design that can be utilized to teach high school students about this technology is not currently available. Therefore, we want to generate a DIY design guide for those students to start their first step on understanding continuum robots as well as learning practical robot building skills.
Our design kit aims to lead students through a robot building process that includes mechanical assembly, wiring, coding and crafting skills. In our instructions, we provide choices in each category for users with different technical backgrounds to choose from and let them decide how they want their own robot to look.
References
[1] I. D. Walker, “Continuous Backbone ‘Continuum’ Robot Manipulators,” International Scholarly Research Notices , Jul. 2013.