Design and analysis of a cable-driven continuum robot with used in situ inspection

Purpose This paper aims to present a kinematics performance analysis and control for a continuum robot based on a dynamic model to achieve control of the robot. Design/methodology/approach To analyze the motion characteristics of the robot, its kinematics model is derived by the geometric analysis method, and the influence of the configuration parameters of the robot on workspace is investigated. Moreover, the dynamic model is established by the principle of virtual work to analyze the mapping relationship among the bending shape, the forces/torques applied to the robot. To achieve better control of the robot, a control strategy for continuum robot based on the dynamic model is put forward. Findings Results of the simulations and experiments verify the proposed continuum structure and motion model, the maximum position error is 5.36 mm when the robot performs planar bending motion and the average position error of the robot in spatial circular motion is 5.84 mm. The proposed model can accurately describe the deformation movement of the robot and realize its motion control with a few position errors. Originality/value The kinematics analysis and control model proposed in this paper can achieve precise control of the robot, which can be used as a reference for the motion planning and shape reconstruction of continuum robot.