Modeling of notched variable stiffness continuum flexible Snake-like Robot

Abstract

Flexible snake-like robot is the research frontier of minimally invasive surgical robot system. In this paper, we discussed the structure of a notched continuum flexible snake –like robot. According to the constant curvature hypothesis, the kinematics model has been established, and its workspace was estimated. When the robot has equal stiffness, due to the effect of internal and external factors, the deformation does not reach the arc state. In order to improve the deformation, and make closer to the arc, we use the method of changing the stiffness of Robot in structure. Verification by finite element analysis and experiment, the results show that the notch continuum flexible snake-like robot variable stiffness makes the deformation is closer to the l / 2 arc, it is proved that the effectiveness of the improved snake robot is verified.