Statics modeling of an underactuated wire-driven flexible robotic arm

In this paper, statics model of an underactuated wire-driven flexible robotic arm is introduced. The robotic arm is composed of a serpentine backbone and a set of controlling wires. It has decoupled bending rigidity and axial rigidity, which enables the robot large axial payload capacity. Statics model of the robotic arm is developed using the Newton-Euler method. Combined with the kinematics model, the robotic arm deformation as well as the wire motion needed to control the robotic arm can be obtained. The model is validated by experiments. Results show that, the proposed model can well predict the robotic arm bending curve. Also, the bending curve is not affected by the wire pre-tension. This enables the wire-driven robotic arm with potential applications in minimally invasive surgical operations.