A continuum arm robot comprising: a tool, a tip section comprising a number of sections a manipulatable robotic section having multiple degrees of freedom, a stiffening section comprising a passive core with an inflatable section surrounding the passive core and a valve for allowing a fluid into the inflatable outer; and a passive section comprising a length of flexible conduit, wherein the core of the passive section and the stiffening section contain the cables for manipulating the tip section and the fluid conduit for supplying the fluid to the inflatable outer.

A control system for a compliant robotic system including at least two compliant robots having actuator packs, the control system including: an individual local control system associated with each actuator pack, the local control system providing control signals to the actuator causing movement within the robots, an overall control system controlling the overall motion of robots when proximate within a workspace, the overall control signal providing signals to the actuators associated with the robots, so as to cause linked movement of the continuum arm robots, and wherein each individual control system is provided with a clock synchronized with the other, and wherein the overall control system is provided with a redundancy control system that limits the motion of the compliant robots within certain degrees of freedom, so that the motion of the at least two complaint robots does not conflict when operating under the overall control system.

Various embodiments of a bio-inspired robot operable for detecting crack and corrosion defects in tubular structures are disclosed herein.

A method of initializing the layout of one or more robotic arms controllable by an input object, comprising: entering a paused mode, in which control of movement of the robotic arms by the input object is paused; measuring an input object initialization layout, defined by the layout of at least one segment of the input object; actuating at least a portion of the robotic arms to match the input object initialization layout; and entering a controlled mode, in which movements of the input object control the robotic arms.

An example actuator is provided to be used in robots and robotic devices. The actuator includes: a first plate, a second plate, and an elastic element disposed between the first plate and the second plate and including a center portion and an edge portion, the center portion corresponding to a first thickness and the edge portion corresponding to a second thickness larger than the first thickness, a first shear stress associated with the center portion being approximately equal to a second shear stress associated with the edge portion.

This multi-articulated manipulator is rich in reliability and follow-up property in medical applications. The multi-articulated manipulator is composed of more than one hollow outer shell, joint members to connect the outer shells each other, a grasping member fastened for rocking movement to the foremost outer shell, and a power transmission shaft to actuate the grasping member and the outer shell in a bending manner independently from each other. The power transmission shaft is composed of a universal join allowed to bend independently from each other and transmit the rotating torque, and a transmission shaft capable of making expansion and shrinkage and able to transmit rotating torque. The power transmission shaft at the foremost end thereof has male threads mating with the nut made at the boss portion inside the outer shell.

A control system for a continuum robot includes a kinematics calculation unit configured to calculate a length of a wire in a bendable portion. The kinematics calculation unit includes a wire length calculation unit configured to calculate, for each of a plurality of minute sections obtained by dividing the bendable portion in a longitudinal direction thereof, a length of the wire in the minute section based on a bending angle, a turning angle, and a torsional angle of the minute section, and an addition unit configured to add the lengths of the wire in the plurality of minute sections obtained by the wire length calculation unit to calculate the length of the wire in the bendable portion.

A modular robotic snake-arm assembly is described which is animated principally by an articulated drive shaft that threads the length of the snake-arm. The articulated drive shaft is driven by a motor in the fixed base. One or more clutch mechanisms in each segment couple with the articulated drive shaft so as to cause all snake arms further from the base to reorient in either one or two angles, in either direction. Snake-arm segments can be coupled end-to-end to form a robotic snake arm of great length.

Robot arms and methods of controlling robot arms. In an example, a hand control is located on a robot arm and provides translation and/or rotation control of actuators that may for example rotate in unison. In another example, a hand control on a robot arm is also provided at an end effector, which may control actuators in the robot arm for example by having the actuators rotate together or oppositely in unison. In a further example, a hand control situated on a robot arm between actuators controls upstream and downstream actuators with different control strategies. In a master slave example, actuators in a master robot control actuators in a slave robot, and the actuators may be provided at an angle and be arranged to hold position in normal operation when unpowered. Nonbackdrivability is also provided by providing sufficient friction between stator and rotor in actuators of a robot arm. In a Scara robot, a fixed part of a base is secured to a floor, while a moving end is supported by a bearing element.

A growth-type soft robot includes a housing including an external body including an internal accommodation space and one side open and a fixing portion formed on a periphery of an open region of the external body, a growth unit including an outer periphery having one end connected to the fixing portion, an inner periphery spaced apart from an inner side of the outer periphery and extending to the accommodation space, and a bent portion connecting the other end of the outer periphery to one end of the inner periphery to form a front end space, and a data collecting unit including a cable extending along a central portion surrounded by the inner periphery and a sensing module acquiring external information, wherein the other end of the inner periphery forms a folded region, and a length of the growth unit is adjustable by air supplied to the front end space.