Continuum Robot Design

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21 papers5 papers in the last four weeks, up 25% on the four weeks before. 0.0% of all new papers.

Curvature by Design: A Support Structure for Continuum Robots
Nov 4, 2026Justus Sagemüller, Harald Minde Hansen, Kristin Y. PettersenContinuum Robot Design Mechanism Design
Department of Mathematics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden · Mechatronics, Robotics and Operation Section, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Meyrin, Switzerland · Department of Engineering Cybernetics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
SaddleSense: Saddle-Shaped Modules for 3D Shape Sensing with Single-Axis Off-the-Shelf Bend Sensors
Oct 31, 2026Dong Heon Han, Runze Zuo, Chankyo Kim +2Continuum Robot Shape Estimation Continuum Robot Design
Robotics Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. · Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
A Conveyor Belt Mechanism for Repositionable Magnetic Coupling Between Continuum Robots
Oct 29, 2026Ella Walsh, Eric Diller, Jessica Burgner-KahrsRobotics Continuum Robot Design
University of Toronto Robotics Institute
A Probabilistic, Rotation-Preserving Kernel Operator Surrogate for Continuum-Robot Design Spaces
Oct 19, 2026Branden Frieden, Alan Kuntz, Varun ShankarNeural Surrogate Modeling Continuum Robot Design
The Kahlert School of Computing at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. · The Departments of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37203, USA.
Adaptive Bendpoint Formation in Octopus-Inspired Soft Continuum Arms
Oct 18, 2026Jessica Gumowski, Julian Finn, Krishna Manaswi Digumarti +1Continuum Robot Design Soft Robotics
Centre for Robotics, Queensland University of Technology, Brisane, 4000 QLD, Australia. · School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics, Queensland University of Technology, Brisane, 4000 QLD, Australia. · CSIRO Robotics, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Pullenvale, QLD 4069, Australia. +1
Design and Characterization of a Unified Continuum Robot Actuation Platform
Oct 14, 2026Yunti Xu, Aedan Mangan, Miheer Potdar +2Modular Robotics Continuum Robot Design
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, San Diego, CA, 92093, USA.
ShowerFlex: Achieving Pseudo-Static Balancing in a Continuum Shower Hose
Oct 1, 2026Zhiyu Ren, Girish KrishnanMechanism Design Assistive Robotics
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Urbana, Illinois 61801
Anatomy-Aware Dexterity-Driven Design Optimization of Surgical Continuum Robots
Sep 25, 2026Tony Qin, Peter Connor, Khoa Dang +4Continuum Robot Design Robotics
Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University · Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Tendon-Driven Continuum Robot with Modular Stiffness and In-Situ Self Pose Estimation
Sep 14, 2026Guo Ning Sue, Zheng Cao, Junzhe Hu +5Modular Robotics Robotics
Carnegie Mellon University
Bridging Language and Physics: Automated Design of Continuum Robots with Large Language Models
Sep 8, 2026Jingyi Chen, Mohan Zhang, Laura Yao +5Robotics Continuum Robot Design
School of Computer Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China · Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA · Department of Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA
Rotate Disks to Reach Farther: Design and Modeling of a Novel Reconfigurable Tendon Driven Manipulator
Aug 16, 2026Sabyasachi Dash, Yangkun Liu, Will Hunter +2Continuum Robot Design Tendon-Driven Actuation
Department of Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Capstan-driven Continuum Surgical Robot: Design, Modeling, and Perception
Aug 13, 2026Gang Zhang, Yufu Qiu, Junyan Yan +3Continuum Robot Control Robot State Estimation
Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering and T Stone Robotics Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong · School of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China · state Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, China +1
Sliding Sensors: Configurable Confidence in State Estimation for Continuum Robots
Aug 5, 2026Ella Walsh, Spencer Teetaert, Eric Diller +2Robotics Robot State Estimation
University of Toronto Robotics Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
Continuous and large-scale: ELEANOR, the soft architected arm inspired by the elephant trunk
Jul 8, 2026Giovanna A. Naselli, Anderson B. Nardin, Seonggun Joe +6Bioinspired Robotics Robotic Grasping
Soft BioRobotics Perception Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, 16163 Genova, GE, Italy · Department of Autonomous Systems Engineering, Korea Aerospace University, Seoul, South Korea · Photocentric Ltd., Peterborough PE1 5XN, United Kingdom +2
U-Joint CAAMS: Experimental Evaluation of a Universal-Joint Continuum Manipulator for Aerial Manipulation
Jul 3, 2026Anuraj Uthayasooriyan, Musab Alibrahim, Krishna Manaswi Digumarti +2Aerial Robotics Continuum Robot Design
QUT Centre for Robotics · School of Electrical Engineering and Robotics · REF, QUT, Brisbane, QLD Australia 4000.
CoLI: A Reproducible Platform for Continuum Robot Learning via Monolithic 3D Printing and Isomorphic Teleoperation
Jun 18, 2026Ziyuan Tang, Chenxi Xiao*Robot Teleoperation Robotic Manipulation
School of Information Science and Technology at ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
Neural Operators for Design-Space Surrogate Modeling of Tendon-Actuated Continuum Robots
May 18, 2026Branden Frieden, James M. Ferguson, Alan Kuntz +1Tendon-Driven Actuation Fourier Neural Operator
The Robotics Center and the Kahlert School of Computing at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. · The Departments of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37203, USA.
Design of Magnetic Continuum Robots with Tunable Force Response Using Rotational Ring Pairs
May 13, 2026Alex Sayres, Giovanni PittiglioContinuum Robot Control Continuum Robot Design
FuTURE Lab, Department of Robotics Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Insitute (WPI), Worcester, MA 01605, USA
Distal-Stable Beam for Continuum Robots
Apr 1, 2026Ryouichi Saito, Takahiro Koide, Yuya Tanaka +3Continuum Robot Design Mechanism Design
Ryouichi Saito, Takahiro Koide, Yasutaka Nakashima, Motoji Yamamoto are with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan. · Takahiro Koide, Ayato Kanada are with the Department of Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering at The University of Electro-Communications, 1-5-1 Chofugaoka, Chofu-shi, Tokyo, 182-8585
Tendon-Actuated Robots with a Tapered, Flexible Polymer Backbone: Design, Fabrication, and Modeling
Mar 19, 2026Harald Minde Hansen, Nandita Gallacher, Nicholas B. Andrews +3Continuum Robot Control Tendon-Driven Actuation
Mechatronics, Robotics and Operation Section, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Meyrin, Switzerland · Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA · Department of Engineering Cybernetics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
Collaborative Continuum Robots: A Survey from an Automation-System Perspective
Dec 22, 2025Xinyu Li, Qian Tang, Guoxin Yin +4Multi-Robot Coordination Continuum Robot Control

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Curvature by Design: A Support Structure for Continuum Robots

Justus Sagemüller, Harald Minde Hansen, Kristin Y. Pettersen

Department of Mathematics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden · Mechatronics, Robotics and Operation Section, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Meyrin, Switzerland · Department of Engineering Cybernetics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

Continuum Robot Design Mechanism Design Robot Kinematics

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Constant- and piecewise-constant-curvature models are widely used to simplify the kinematics of continuum robots, although the assumed curvature profiles are not necessarily inherent mechanical properties of the robot and may therefore be violated during operation. Rather than assuming a prescribed curvature profile in the kinematic model and estimating deviations from it, this paper presents a multi-segment scissor-based support structure that mechanically constrains a continuum robot to exhibit prescribed constant or spatially varying curvature profiles. The design uses Taylor approximations to enable an overconstrained multi-joint linkage to predictably distribute global bending among the small-angle movements of multiple flexures. The geometric coupling is realized using compliant flexure joints, enabling the support structure to be manufactured as a single piece. The structure is integrated with a tendon-actuated continuum robot with a flexible backbone. Experiments show that the structure makes the robot resistant to deformations other than the prescribed curvature, significantly enhancing shape precision compared to classical flexible-backbone designs. This constrains the robot from making S-shapes when external loads are applied in the opposite direction of the bending. By mechanically constraining the admissible deformation, the proposed structure reduces the number of independent shape variables that must be estimated.