13 accepted papers
Continuum robots are widely employed in confined environments with narrow passages and spatial constraints. However, achieving general curves with non-constant curvature remains challenging, as existing systems typically rely on multiple flexible segments arranged in series, coupled with complex dri
Continuum robots are widely employed in spatially constrained environments with narrow passages. However, achieving general curves with non-constant curvature remains challenging, as existing systems typically rely on multiple flexible segments arranged in series, coupled with complex drive systems …
Existing works on controlling a concentric tube robot (CTR) mostly focus on the trajectory of its tip position or pose. In order to safely send CTRs in a confined lumen space, we propose to continuously steer the CTRs so that its entire shape will always attempt to approximate target curves over tim…
Gravitational loading from a transradial prosthesis imposes continuous mechanical stress on the residual limb, potentially causing discomfort and even prosthesis rejection. This letter presents the Floating Prosthesis, a wearable passive exoskeleton designed for gravity compensation (GC) in transrad
Elasticity is one of the representative parameters that reflect the mechanical properties of soft materials. Detecting the underneath elasticity distribution called elastography is a key step for understanding and interacting with objects. Existing solutions for capturing the interior elasticity dis…
Modular robotic structures simplify robot design and manufacturing by using standardized modules, enhancing flexibility and adaptability. However, the need for manual input in design and assembly limit their potential. Current methods to automate this process still require significant human effort a
In the force feedback of physical human-robot interaction, stiffness is rendered to represent the hardness of the manipulated object, aiding users in executing accurate maneuvers. Active feedback based on electric motors usually cannot simultaneously achieve both high force and high backdrivability,
This letter focuses on the flexible tube of a bronchoscope robot used in pulmonary intervention surgery, which is considered as a continuum robot. The dynamics model is proposed based on the Koopman operator, leveraging real data to solve for the system matrix parameters accurately. To enhance contr
Teleoperated techniques enable remote human-robot interaction and have been widely accepted in robot-assisted surgeries. However, it is still hard to guarantee the safety of teleoperated surgery due to the imperfect input commands limited by remote perception, preventing teleoperated surgery from be…
Tissue retraction is an important task in head and neck surgery to leave space for surgical operations. Because the contact between the retractor and soft tissue is not trivial to model, the retraction operation has not been well addressed by robots in modern robot-assisted surgery. We propose a hum
Conventional coverage path planning algorithms are mainly based on the zigzag and spiral patterns or their combinations. The traversal order is limited by the linear or inside-outside manner. We propose a new set of coverage patterns induced from geometric folding operations, called the geometric fo…
This paper proposes a new path planning strategy - the Rapid Visible Tree (RVT) algorithm to guide a robot to its goal in a complex environment without dangerous collisions. By fusing the visibility information with the classic tree-based searching method, RVT only takes the noisy points locally acq…