摘要
Continuum manipulators(CM)are soft and flexible manipulators with large numbers of degrees of freedom and can perform complex tasks in an unstructured environment.However,their deformability and compliance can deviate distal tip under uncertain external interactions.To address this challenge,a novel tension-based control scheme has been proposed to modulate the stiffness of a tendon-driven CM,reducing the tip position errors caused by uncertain external forces.To minimize the tip position error,a virtual spring is positioned between the deviated and the desired tip positions.The proposed algorithm corrects the manipulator deviated tip position,improving tension distribution and stiffness profile,resulting in higher stiffness and better performance.The corresponding task space stiffness and condition numbers are also computed under different cases,indicating the effectiveness of the tension control scheme in modulating the manipulator's stiffness.Experimental validation conducted on an in-house developed prototype confirms the practical feasibility of the proposed approach.
