Real-Time Obstacle Avoidance for Continuum Manipulator: Towards Safer Application in Human Environments

The rigid-link manipulators have been extensively employed in industrial setting nowadays. However, problem arises when such manipulators are assigned to work alongside human or employed in cluttered, complex, and tight environment. Hence, continuum manipulator, with its inherent compliant and flexibility, is preferable in this aspect. In this paper, we present our recent work presenting a real-time pose estimation and obstacle avoidance for continuum manipulator in dynamic environments. The approach is shown to work in a model of both single-segment and multi-segment continuum manipulator and also in a real tendon-driven single-segment continuum manipulator in dynamic environment, and thus, suitable to be used in human environments.