In nature, many creatures show extraordinary dexterity, such as octopuses with flexible tentacles or elephants with long trunks.
Inspired by these natural structures, researchers are working to develop continuum robots that provide robustness and security while providing a high degree of flexibility.
, Ideally, a continuum robot will be characterized by multiple degrees of freedom (DOF) and multiple joints, and the number exceeds what is needed for most missions.
These characteristics allow them to dynamically adjust and modify their shapes to avoid obstacles and surprises.
However, due to their complex movements, it is difficult to determine their shape and motion characteristics.
, Traditional analysis techniques rely on complex modeling to solve the kinematic and dynamic problems of continuum robots, increasing computing costs.
In addition, flexible sensors built into the continuum robot can also be used to track its shape and motion, but this method requires many low-resolution sensors, which makes the system cumbersome.
A more promising solution is to use a single sensing module at the end of the continuum robot.
However, most previous research in this area focused on the robot’s posture and did not solve the problem of contact detection.
According to foreign media reports, in response to this gap, a research team led by Associate Professor Van Anh Ho of the University of Advanced Science and Technology (JAIST) of Hokuriku, Japan, has developed a new system called ConTac that can determine the shape and contact of robotic arms with soft skin.
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