In Situ Reconfigurable Continuum Robot with Varying Curvature Enabled by Programmable Tensegrity Building Blocks

Reconfigurable continuum robots exhibit programmable interaction capability, enabling them to cope with challenges poorly addressed by conventional rigid robots. However, the regulation of module type and/or sequence may result in time-consuming and labor-intensive problems. Therefore, situ reconfiguration schemes are required develop a simple yet robust solution for robot design. Herein, inspired structure characteristics seahorse tail, an original template based on tensegrity building block (TBB) creating reconfigurable robotic paradigm is proposed. As length stretchable struts TBB could be programmed, five typical homologous types from derived. Then, ten TBBs into assembled multi-body dynamic framework employed mechanical model predicting profile after deformation. Theoretical predictions demonstrate that shape can customized switching TBBs, without disassembling robot. Furthermore, tailored configurations applied conformally interact varying-curvature objects. The experimental results suggest proposed offers facile rapid scheme robots, which greatly improves capability.