← Search

Enrico Franco

6 accepted papers

2026

Design, Control and Evaluation of a Novel Soft Everting Robot for Colonoscopy

ICRA 2026poster

Colonoscopy is a medical procedure used to examine the inside of the colon for abnormalities, such as polyps or cancer. Traditionally, this is done by manually inserting a long, flexible tube called a colonoscope into the colon. However, this method can cause pain, discomfort, and even the risk of p…

Cited by 0Source ↗Scholar ↗
2024

Development of a Low Pressure Pouch Sensor for Force Measurement in Colonoscopy Procedures

IROS 2024poster

This paper presents a novel pneumatic pouch sensor, designed to mount on a colonoscope, that can effectively estimate the contact forces with the environment. The pouch sensor was designed to maximize the sensing range, and it was fabricated using a 2D laser welding technique from our track record.…

Cited by 0Source ↗Scholar ↗
2024

Hybrid Manipulator With Force Estimation for Lower Gastrointestinal Interventions

RA-L 2024

This letter introduces a novel hybrid manipulator composed of two pneumatically-actuated soft segments and a tendon-driven continuum segment, connected in series. The soft segments enhance the mobility of the tendon-driven manipulator, enabling functionalities such as triangulation while maintaining

Cited by 7Source ↗Scholar ↗
2023

Discrete-time model based control of soft manipulator with FBG sensing

ICRA 2023poster

In this article we investigate the discrete-time model based control of a planar soft continuum manipulator with proprioceptive sensing provided by fiber Bragg gratings. A control algorithm is designed with a discrete-time energy shaping approach which is extended to account for control-related lag…

Cited by 3Source ↗Scholar ↗
2023

Model Based Position Control of Soft Hydraulic Actuators

ICRA 2023poster

In this article, we investigate the model based position control of soft hydraulic actuators arranged in an an-tagonistic pair. A dynamical model of the system is constructed by employing the port-Hamiltonian formulation. A control algorithm is designed with an energy shaping approach, which account…

Cited by 4Source ↗Scholar ↗
2022

Development of a 6 DOF Soft Robotic Manipulator with Integrated Sensing Skin

IROS 2022poster

This paper presents a new 6 DOF soft robotic manipulator intended for colorectal surgery. The manipulator, based on a novel design that employs an inextensible tube to limit axial extension, is shown to maximize the force exerted at its tip and the bending angle, the latter being measured with a sof…

Cited by 19Source ↗Scholar ↗