A novel, soft, cable-driven parallel robot for minimally invasive surgeries based on folded pouch actuators
File(s)applsci-14-04095-v2.pdf (7.42 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This paper introduces a soft, cable-driven parallel robot for minimally invasive surgeries. The robot comprises a pneumatic inflatable scaffold, six hydraulic, folded pouch actuators, and a hollow, cylindrical end-effector offering five degrees of freedom. A key development is the design of the pouch actuators, which are small, low-profile, simple structures, capable of a high stroke of 180° angular displacement. The scaffold, actuators, and plastic cables are economically and rapidly fabricated using laser cutting and welding techniques. Constructed primarily from soft plastic materials, the robot can be compactly folded into a cylinder measuring 110 mm in length and 14 mm in diameter. Upon inflation, the scaffold transforms into a hexagonal prism structure with side lengths of 34 mm and edge lengths of 100 mm. The kinematic model of the robot has been developed for workspace calculation and control purposes. A series of tests have been conducted to evaluate the performance of the actuator and the robot. Repeatability tests demonstrate the robot’s high repeatability, with mean and root mean square errors of 0.3645 mm and 0.4186 mm, respectively. The direct connection between the end-effector and the actuators theoretically eliminates cable friction, resulting in a hysteresis angle of less than 2°, as confirmed by the tracking results. In addition, simulated surgical tasks have been performed to further demonstrate the robot’s performance.
Date Issued
2024-05
Date Acceptance
2024-05-09
Citation
Applied Sciences, 2024, 14 (10)
ISSN
2076-3417
Publisher
MDPI AG
Journal / Book Title
Applied Sciences
Volume
14
Issue
10
Copyright Statement
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app14104095
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
4095
Date Publish Online
2024-05-11