Design and analysis of a novel cable-driven backbone for continuum robots

In this study, it has been tried to provide a new model for the structure of a backbone arm, to repel the shortcoming in the generation and transmission of the motion for the continuum robots. Backbone arms such as natural structures include continuum backbones with superior properties such as the ability to adapt to the environment. The actuation power is distributed over the robot’s length and makes the shape continuously deformable. In this paper, it has been suggested to add a linkage between the backbones and the branched tendons for power transfer between the drive and backbones. The ratio of the drive torque to backbone torque is introduced as the transfer ratio. The new design is capable to create a variety of transfer ration during a cycle of motion. The state space equations are extracted by Lagrange equations. Dealing the interference of bone-bone and bone-links as geometric constraints are applied to the design and it determines the allowable range of the continuum robot's geometric parameters. This design is examined with planar simulations. To show the effectiveness of the proposed design, several simulation results are illustrated. Optimum geometrical parameters for the constant torque ratio are calculated.In contrast to previous cases with the widely used; the goal is achieved with this novel backbone continuum robot.