Page 233 - Flexible Robotics in Medicine

Tendon-driven linkage for steerable guide of flexible bending manipulation 221

of links of increasing length were considered in the parameter optimization of bendable
joint design, as shown in Table 9.1 and Fig. 9.3. The length of the upper linkage is S1 and
the length of the support linkage is S2.

For a constant length of the upper linkage, the bending angle of a single bendable segment
is increasing accompanied with increasing length of the support linkage when the support
linkage is vertical to the upper linkage. Meanwhile, the bending radius of the bendable joint
simultaneously rises up, which requires a large volume for object manipulation. Therefore,
the support linkage with a length of 12 mm was selected for prototype manufacturing in this
study. The prototype of the flexible robot system is shown in Fig. 9.4. It consists of two

Figure 9.3
Parameter optimization for bending achievement: (A) definition of linkage and (B D) three sets
of parameter adjustment.

Figure 9.4
Prototype of the flexible robot for tracheostomy.