Abstract
Continuum robots can work in narrow and complicated space well because they are more flexible and more adaptable. The joint of the continuum robot is an important factor affecting its performance. However, it is difficult for existing joints to reconcile between load capacity and flexibility. Besides, they also suffer from complex assembly and big friction. This paper presents a rolling joint for continuum robots that has one gear tooth and one tooth space in each rolling elements. The curvature diameter of the rolling elements is equal to the reference diameter of the gear and the centers of the two circles coincide. The joint can rotate with no slip and small friction. The use of just one gear tooth solves the misalign of the gear teeth. In addition, it also has the advantages of simple assembly, large axial bearing capacity and strong torsional stiffness. The kinematics and statics model of the joint was established based on homogeneous transformation and Hertz Formula, respectively. The results of simulations and tests show that the rolling joint made of structural steel can at least bear the axial load of 1000 N and the torsion load of 3 N·m, the gear tooth can ensure the two rolling elements rotate without slip, and the torsional stiffness of the continuum robot can be strengthened and stabilized because of the gear teeth in its joints.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Robinson, G., Davies, J.B.C.: Continuum robots-a state of the art. In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Detroit, Michigan, vol. 4, pp. 2849–2854 (1999)
Axinte, D., Dong, X., Palmer, D., et al.: MiRoR - miniaturised robotic systems for holistic in-situ repair and maintenance works in restrained and hazardous environments. IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron. 23(2), 1 (2018)
Buckingham, R.: Snake arm robots. Ind. Robot. Int. J. 29(3), 242–245 (2002)
Buckingham, R., Graham, A.: Snaking around in a nuclear jungle. Indus. Robot Int. J. 32(2), 120–127 (2005)
Watanabe, H., Kanou, K., Kobayashi, Y., et al.: Development of a “steerable drill” for ACL reconstruction to create the arbitrary trajectory of a bone tunnel. In: IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Francisco, California, pp. 25–30 (2011)
Dong, X., Raffles, M., Guzman, S.C., et al.: Design and analysis of a family of snake arm robots connected by compliant joints. Mech. Mach. Theory 77, 73–91 (2014)
Anderson, V.C., Horn, R.C.: Tensor arm manipulator design. Trans. ASME 57, 1–12 (1967)
OC Robotics: A World First-Laser cutting for nuclear decommissioning at Sellafield. https://www.ocrobotics.com/lasersnake2--news--a-world-first--laser-cutting-for-nuclear-decommissioning-at-sellafield. Accessed 01 Nov 2016
Deashapriya, K.P., Sampath, P.A.G., Wijekoon, W., et al.: Biomimetic flexible robot arm design and kinematic analysis of a novel flexible robot arm. In: International Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, pp. 385–390 (2016)
Halverson, P.A., Howell, L.L., Magleby, S.P.: Tension-based multi-stable compliant rolling-contact elements. Mech. Mach. Theory 45(2), 147–156 (2010)
Mcmahan, W., Jones, B.A., Walker, I.D.: Design and implementation of a multi-section continuum robot: Air-Octor. In: IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Edmonton, pp. 2578–2585 (2005)
Yoon, H.S., Yi, B.J.: Design of a master device for controlling multi-moduled continuum robots. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Part C J. Mech. Eng. Sci. 231(10), 1921–1931 (2017)
Jiang, S., Chen, B., Qi, F., et al.: A variable‐stiffness continuum manipulators by a SMA‐based sheath in minimally invasive surgery. Int. J. Med. Robot. Comput. Assist. Surg. 16(2), e2081 (2020)
Suh, J.W., Lee, J.J., Kwon, D.S.: Underactuated miniature bending joint composed of serial pulleyless rolling joints. Adv. Robot. 28(1), 1–14 (2014)
Jeanneau, A., Herder, J., Laliberté, T., et al.: A compliant rolling contact joint and its application in a 3-dof planar parallel mechanism with kinematic analysis. In: International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, pp. 689–698 (2004)
Buckingham, R.O., Graham, A.C.: Robotic arms with coaxially mounted helical spring means. U.S. Patent, 8, 069, 747 (2011)
Hwang, M., Kwon, D.: K‐FLEX: a flexible robotic platform for scar‐free endoscopic surgery. Int. J. Med. Robot. Comput. Assist. Surg. 16 (2020)
Chironis, N.P., Sclater, N.: Mechanisms and Mechanical Devices Sourcebook. McGraw-Hill, New York (1996)
Suh, J., Kim, K., Jeong, J., et al.: Design considerations for a hyper-redundant pulleyless rolling joint with elastic fixtures. IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron. 20(6), 2841–2852 (2015)
Cooper, T.G., Wallace, D.T., Chang, S., et al.: Surgical tool having positively positionable tendon-actuated multi-disk wrist joint. U.S. Patent, 6817974 B2 (2004)
Jelínek, F., Pessers, R., Breedveld, P.: DragonFlex – smart steerable laparoscopic instrument. J. Med. Dev. 7(2), 020911 (2014)
Denavit, J., Hartenberg, R.S.: A kinematic notation for lower-pair mechanisms based on matrices. J. Appl. Mech. 21(5), 215–221 (1995)
Hertz, H.: On the contact of elastic solids. Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik (Crelles Journal) 92, 156 (1880)
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFB1311200) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U1813221). We thank Yunxian Gao for helpful suggestions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Cao, S., Yu, J., Li, G., Pan, J., Pei, X. (2021). Design and Analysis of a Rolling Joint Based on Gear Tooth for Continuum Robots. In: Liu, XJ., Nie, Z., Yu, J., Xie, F., Song, R. (eds) Intelligent Robotics and Applications. ICIRA 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13016. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89092-6_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89092-6_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-89091-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-89092-6
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)