Cooperative Continuum Robots: Enhancing Individual Continuum Arms by Reconfiguring Into a Parallel Manipulator

Continuum robots are able of in-situ inspection tasks in cluttered environments and narrow passages, where conventional human operators cannot intervene. However, such intervention often requires the robot to interact with environment, low stiffness payload continuum limits their capabilities. In this letter, we propose a paradigm shift from individual multiple robots, which can reach target environment different paths then physically connect, reconfiguring into parallel architecture enhance precision, stiffness, payload. The main challenges modelling controlling cooperative outlined, an experimental comparison between cooperating that connect through novel shape-memory-alloy-based clutch highlights advantages proposed technology.