13 accepted papers
Fiber jamming modules (FJMs) offer flexibility and quick stiffness variation, making them suitable for followthe-leader (FTL) motions in continuum robots, which is ideal for minimally invasive surgery (MIS). However, their potential has not been fully exploited, particularly in designing and manufac…
Accurate time synchronization is crucial for multisensor fusion, which is widely used in mobile robotics, autonomous driving, and virtual reality. Despite many advancements, precise multi-sensor synchronization is still challenging due to the sensors’ internal characteristics, data filtering, disjoi…
In minimally invasive surgery, miniaturisation and in situ adjustable stiffness of robotic manipulators are desired features. Previous research proposed a simple and effective tendon-driven curve-joint manipulator design using a variable neutral-line mechanism, which highly satisfies both criteria.…
Telerobotic systems combined with miniaturised snake-like or elephant-trunk robotic arms can improve the ergonomics and accessibility in minimally invasive surgical tasks such as knee arthroscopy. Such systems, however, are usually designed in a specific and integral approach, making it expensive to…
Soft robot has demonstrated promise in unstructured and dynamic environments due to unique advantages, such as safe interaction, adaptiveness, easy to actuate, and easy fabrication. However, the highly dissipative nature of elastic materials results in small stiffness of soft robot which limits cert…
While Product of Exponentials (POE) formula has been gaining maturity in modeling the kinematics of a serial-link robot, the Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H) notation is still the most widely used due to its intuitive and concise geometric interpretation of the robot. This paper has developed an analytical…
Endowing continuum robots with compliance while it interacts with the internal environment of the human body is essential to prevent damage to the robot and the surrounding tissues. Compared with passive compliance, active compliance has the advantages in terms of increasing the force transmission a…
The Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H) model and the product of exponentials (POE) model have been two popular methods for modeling the kinematics of a serial-link robot. While these two models are equivalent in essence, no study has revealed how to convert from the POE model to the D-H model. The conversion
Continuum robots are increasingly used in minimally invasive surgeries. To date, the concentric tube mechanism and the cable-driven mechanism have been two prevalent mechanisms for constructing continuum robots. As these two mechanisms complement each other, it is worth exploring the possibility of
Robotic challenges like the Amazon Picking Challenge (APC) or the DARPA Challenges are an established and important way to drive scientific progress. They make research comparable on a well-defined benchmark with equal test conditions for all participants. However, such challenge events occur only o…
Minimally invasive surgery-based nasopharyngeal cancer treatment is promising, but currently, it is not a common treatment choice because of the absence of suitable tools. In this letter, a multi-channel concentric tube robot is proposed for the treatment of nasopharyngeal cancer based on natural or
Comprised of multiple telescoptic precurved tubes that can independently rotate and translate, concentric tube robots (CTRs) are favorable in minimally invasive surgeries thanks to their small size and considerable dexterity along with curvilinear accessibility. However, there is a lack of investiga…
Continuum tubular robots, which are constructed by telescoping pre-curved elastic tubes, are capable of balancing the force application and steerability during minimally invasive surgeries. These devices are able to reach the desired surgical sites in body cavities without colliding with critical bl…