Finite circular elements for modeling of continuum robots

This paper presents a new approach to dynamics modeling of continuum robots. In this approach, continuum robots are considered as a series of circular elements. First, the dynamics of an element is modeled. Then, a method is proposed to couple dynamics of any number of elements. Hence, a continuum robot can be modeled by any desired number of circular elements. As far as the authors know, this is the first time that a method for finite circular elements is presented. Besides good precision, this model requires reasonable computational efforts. Thus, the proposed model can be used in real-time control applications. Finally, the model is validated using experimental data. The model simulation results match the experimental trajectories with good precision, which shows the merit of the proposed approach.