Demonstration-based Programming of Multi-Point Trajectories for Collaborative Continuum Robots

Abstract Soft robots can sense deformations caused by small external forces such that the robot itself is a suitable interface for teaching motions. We present an operational concept for collaborative continuum robots, consisting of an adapted force-free control as haptic interface for recording points and a replay algorithm to execute point-to-point motions with an extension to multi-point trajectories. The proposed method is general with the exception of an estimate of transition times between arbitrary static configurations which depends on the dynamic constraints of the considered robot. In-spite of it’s simplicity the provided setup illustrates the potential of interactive continuum robots for individualized assistance.